Editing Cannery Row

{{short description|Historic area in Monterey, California}}
{{other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
[[File:Line3012 - Flickr - NOAA Photo Library.jpg|thumb|right|Cannery Row looking towards its northern terminus where the [[Monterey Bay Aquarium]] stands today, partly housed within the surviving [[Hovden Cannery]] building.]]
[[File:Cannery Row at night.jpg|thumb|Cannery Row at night]]

'''Cannery Row''' is a waterfront street in the New Monterey neighborhood of [[Monterey, California]], known for formerly being home to a number of now-defunct [[sardine]] [[cannery|canneries]]. The last of these closed in 1973. The street, formerly '''Ocean View Avenue''', was officially renamed in January 1958 to honor [[John Steinbeck]] and his novel ''[[Cannery Row (novel)|Cannery Row]]'', though the nickname had existed before the book was published.<ref name="seemonterey.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.seemonterey.com/directory/cannery-row/|title=Cannery Row &#124; See Monterey County, CA}}</ref> In the novel's opening sentence, Steinbeck described the street as "a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream." The street borders the adjacent city of [[Pacific Grove, California|Pacific Grove]].

==History==
The first sardine cannery opened on Valentine's Day, 1908. Others joined it, and profited during the two World Wars, but a sardine shortage led to their failure. Entrepreneurs subsequently resurrected Cannery Row as a tourist attraction.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Canneries |url=https://canneryrow.com/our-story/the-canneries/ |access-date=2023-11-28 |website=Cannery Row |language=en-US}}</ref>

Cannery Row was the setting of John Steinbeck's novels ''[[Cannery Row (novel)|Cannery Row]]'' (1945) and ''[[Sweet Thursday]]'' (1954). Both were the basis for the 1982 movie ''[[Cannery Row (film)|Cannery Row]]'', starring [[Nick Nolte]] and [[Debra Winger]].  It is also mentioned in [[Bob Dylan]]'s song "[[Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands]]".

[[Pacific Biological Laboratories]], a biological supply house, was located at 800 Ocean View Avenue (now 800 Cannery Row) from 1928 to 1948, and operated by [[Ed Ricketts|Edward F. Ricketts]], who was the inspiration for several characters in Steinbeck novels. The laboratory is still preserved.{{when|date=June 2024}} Across from the laboratory still exists a Chinese-American-owned store mentioned in both ''Cannery Row'' and ''[[Sweet Thursday]]'', as well as a vacant lot that was the "home" of some of the homeless characters in the novel.{{when|date=June 2024}} The former reflects Chinese American history in the area, starting with Chinese immigrants who entered the fishing industry, exporting seafood and abalone shells to China, Europe, and other parts of the U.S.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sanctuaries.noaa.gov/news/dec22/in-search-of-ancestors.html |title=In Search of Ancestors: A Scientist's Lifelong Search for Family, Fishing, and Fortitude along Monterey's Coast |date=December 2022 |first1=Hans |last1=Van Tilburg |website=NOAA Office of National Marine Sanctuaries |first2=Elizabeth |last2=Moore}}</ref> At 851 Cannery Row, across from Pacific Biological Laboratories, is the original building that inspired the bar from the novel named La Ida Cafe.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://bookoblivion.com/2019/11/07/john-steinbeck-cannery-row-literary-tour/ | title=John Steinbeck's Cannery Row Literary Tour | date=7 November 2019 }}</ref>

[[File:Rickettslabfront.jpg|thumb|left|The Pacific Biological Laboratories of [[Ed Ricketts]] on Cannery Row]]

Cannery Row was adjoined by a grand mansion owned by Montana mining tycoon [[James Andrew Murray]]. Known as "Casa de las Olas" or the Murray Hacienda, the mansion was demolished in the 1940s to make way for the expansion of more canneries. A historical marker is located on the site.<ref>{{Cite book|title=James A. Murray : Butte's radical Irish millionaire|last=Farley|first=Bill|isbn=9780878426829|location=Missoula, Montana|oclc=1019743586|date = 2018-03-10}}</ref> The canneries failed after the collapse of the [[fishing]] industry in [[Monterey Bay]] in the mid-1950s, which resulted from a combination of factors, including unfavorable oceanic conditions, [[overfishing]], and competition from other species.<ref>{{cite book |title= Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Food Watch Pacific Sardine Report |date= March 11, 2013 |publisher= Monterey Bay Aquarium |url= http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/mba_seafoodwatch_pacificsardinereport.pdf |accessdate= September 19, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130921060216/http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/content/media/mba_seafoodwatch_pacificsardinereport.pdf |archive-date= September 21, 2013 |url-status= dead }}</ref> In his investigation of where the sardines had gone, Ed Ricketts finally concluded "They're in cans." Before the collapse, the fishery was one of the most productive in the world due to the [[upwelling]] of cold yet [[nutrient]]-rich water along the California coastline.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/explorations/02quest/background/upwelling/upwelling.html|title=NOAA Ocean Explorer: Sanctuary Quest: Background|website=oceanexplorer.noaa.gov}}</ref>

[[image:MontereyBayAquariumSteamPots.JPG|right|thumb|200px|Old Hovden Cannery steam boilers]]

==Today==
Today the area offshore from Cannery Row is the [[Edward F. Ricketts State Marine Conservation Area]] (part of the larger [[Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary]])<ref>{{cite book |title= Guide to the Central California Marine Protected Areas: Pigeon Point to Point Conception |date= September 2007 |publisher= [[California Department of Fish and Game]] |url= http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/pdfs/ccmpas_guide.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/pdfs/ccmpas_guide.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live |accessdate= December 6, 2010 }}</ref>  and is home to a large resurgent population of [[California sea lion]]s.

Cannery Row itself is now a [[tourist attraction]] with many [[restaurant]]s and [[hotel]]s, several of which are located in former cannery buildings, and a few historic attractions. Some privately owned fishing companies still exist on Cannery Row, housed on [[pier]]s located a short distance from the historic district frequented by tourists.

In recent years, Cannery Row has become increasingly popular among sport fishermen due to extensive public fishing facilities. MacAbee Beach and San Carlos Beach, which bookend Cannery Row<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.seemonterey.com/monterey-california/monterey-beaches|title=Monterey County Convention and Visitors Bureau: Monterey Beaches}}</ref> are both popular spots for kayak-launching; San Carlos Beach is one of Monterey Bay's most popular scuba-diving spots.<ref name="seemonterey.com"/>

[[File:Monterey Bay Aquarium Front.JPG|thumb|left|250px|Front entrance of the Aquarium]]
The [[Monterey Bay Aquarium]] (opened in 1984) is located at the north end of Cannery Row, at the former site of the major [[Hovden Cannery]]. [[Norwegians|Norwegian]] immigrant Knut Hovden founded Hovden Food Products Corporation which opened on July 7, 1916. By canning squid at the end of its life, Hovden Cannery managed to outlast its neighbors, finally closing its doors in 1973 when it became the last cannery on the row to close.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://ca-seafood.ucdavis.edu/news/wetfish/wf_intro.pdf |title=''Introduction to California's wetfish industry'' |access-date=2010-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100611203517/http://ca-seafood.ucdavis.edu/news/wetfish/wf_intro.pdf |archive-date=2010-06-11 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/video/video_popup_timeline_high_txt.asp?video=1_timeline |title=''Cannery Days: From the Bay to the Can'' (Monterey Bay Aquarium) |access-date=2010-06-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718023959/http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/video/video_popup_timeline_high_txt.asp?video=1_timeline |archive-date=2011-07-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

In 2023, Cannery Row opened a pirate-themed ride called "Treasure Hunt: The Ride".<ref>{{Cite web|title=It's a pirate's life for thee on Cannery Row's Treasure Hunt|url=https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/202307/9671/|access-date=2024-01-10|website=Theme Park Insider}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[John Steinbeck]]
*[[Ed Ricketts]]
*[[Bruce Ariss]]
* [[List of canneries]]
*[[Monterey Bay Aquarium]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|last=Hemp|first=Michael Kenneth|year=2003|title=Cannery Row: The History of John E. Steinbeck's Old Ocean View Avenue|publisher=The History Company|isbn=0-941425-01-0}}
*[https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1252560 NPR's Morning Edition: ''Ed Ricketts and the 'Dream' of Cannery Row'']
*''The Stevenson Plan, A Novel of the Monterey Peninsula'' (M. Bryce Ternet, 2013)

== External links ==
{{commons category|Cannery Row, Monterey}}
*[http://www.canneryrow.com Cannery Row]
*[http://www.canneryrow.org The Cannery Row Foundation]
*[http://www.caviews.com/can.htm The Pat Hathaway Photo Collection: Cannery Row, Historic Monterey]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20050805084439/http://www.monterey.org/museum/canneryrow/steinbeck.html City of Monterey's Cannery Row Walking Tour]

{{Monterey County tourist attractions|statel=collapsed}}
{{coord|36.6165|N|121.9006|W|display=title}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Seafood canneries]]
[[Category:Neighborhoods in Monterey, California]]
[[Category:Monterey Bay]]
[[Category:History of Monterey County, California]]
[[Category:History of the Monterey Bay Area]]
[[Category:Landmarks in California]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Monterey, California]]
[[Category:Culture of Monterey, California]]