Del Monte Building
This industrial structure served as part of the Del Monte Company's canning operations during Sunnyvale's fruit-processing heyday. Strategically located by the railroad, it reflects the city's role in feeding a growing nation and transitioning from small farming to large-scale agricultural commerce.
History
- The Del Monte Building, located at 600 East Evelyn Avenue, is one of the few physical remnants of Sunnyvale's once-thriving cannery industry.
- Operated by the California Packing Corporation—better known as Del Monte—the facility processed vast quantities of locally grown apricots, prunes, and peaches.
- Its location along the Southern Pacific Railroad was crucial, allowing for swift distribution to urban markets throughout the United States.
- At its peak, the Del Monte cannery employed hundreds of seasonal and year-round workers, many of them immigrants and women, contributing to a bustling industrial economy centered on agriculture.
Significance
- The structure itself, built of reinforced concrete and brick, reflects utilitarian design focused on durability, sanitation, and high-volume output.
- This building represents Sunnyvale's shift in the early 20th century from decentralized orchards to centralized, mechanized food production.
- As fruit processing declined in the postwar period, many canneries were demolished—but the Del Monte building remains as a silent witness to the city's agrarian-industrial chapter.
- It links labor, land, and logistics into a vital local economy that helped shape modern Sunnyvale.
Quick Facts
Address:
600 East Evelyn Avenue, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
Established:
1920
Category:
industrial