Do you enjoy tomatoes? I found the coolest spot today if you’re a tomato lover.
This old warehouse shadows over Kings Creek, hundreds of farm acres, and the nearby railroad. A perfect location for a large canning factory.
The Somerset Packing Co. was opened in the late 1800’s. There were several canneries in south Somerset County, Maryland at this time. These canneries were always located close to railroads and the Pocomoke River so the produce, from local farms, could be shipped to other areas of the United States via trains or steamboats.
The Somerset Packing Co. was a tomato cannery in Pocomoke, MD. This company provided many locals full-time jobs from the late 1800’s to the early 2000’s. The tomatoes were harvested from nearby farm lands. These pictures were taken at the cannery in July of 1940.
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| (Source.) |
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| (The largest, and meanest, boiler I've ever seen.) |
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| (The old packaging and canning lines are no longer in the building.) |
Proof of tomatoes! I knew that I was in the right spot as soon as I saw these blowing around the warehouse.
I'm assuming that the Somerset Packing Co. and cannery closed due to the recession and decrease of farming in the area. Hopefully this gem of a site remains visible in the area to preserve some rich history. The building and land is currently for sale/rent as a warehouse/storage space.
A little slice of tomato history from the Eastern Shore of Maryland!
nice writeup! I love photographing old abandoned places. Would you happen to be able to share the location to this one, if it’s not been razed yet?
Hi! I wish I could remember the road name that this cannery is on, but I’m drawing a blank. If it helps any, I know it is located just off of Route 13 where the railroad tracks cross the highway in Pocomoke, MD. I haven’t visited in over a year so I’m unsure if it has been razed. Good luck and thanks for reading!
No problem, thanks so much! I’ve enjoyed readying your stories on the abandoned places you visit (if you can’t tell, it’s my hobby as well).
Are you very familiar w/ the Eastern Shore area?
Glad you enjoyed some of the posts about abandoned places on the shore. I’ve been living on the shore since 2005 and spent many, many hours driving around looking for neat places that were ‘off the beaten path’… I feel like many people just drive past abandoned homes/buildings and never take a second look. I want to know what happened at those places, ’ya know? Happy abandoned house hunting!
I totally agree. There’s actually one place I’m really interested in and haven’t seen much on it. I was hoping to know if it was still there before I drive all the way over to it.