Harford Legacy Farm Commemorative Book

Harford Legacy Farm | 24

The Greatest Canning County in America!

Sharon Stowers, Ph.D., RDN, Harford Community College

It all began in George Baker's Aberdeen kitchen in the 1860s and grew to approximately 700 canneries between 1880 - 1959. While the tin canning of food dates back to the early 1800s in England, in the U.S., food canning became critical during and after the Civil War, feeding soldiers and expanding the urban population with little access to garden plots.

Harford County became famous for its canned tomatoes and corn, which were often processed right on the farm. Thomas W. Spencer owned Chrome Valley Farm, a farm and canning operation in Jarrettsville. His granddaughter, Jane Burgess, became "a tomato snob" due to her childhood memories of fresh tomatoes canned on their property.

Right: Workers picking crops for canning at Mooreland Farm, 1920s Below: Image courtesy of The Historical Society of Harford County, Inc.

The county's canning industry began to decline with the development of Aberdeen Proving Ground in 1917, which displaced many farms and canneries. After World World II, the expansion of rapid transportation and refrigeration hastened the decline in the local canning industry. In 1999, the last can of tomatoes was shipped from Harford County.

Images courtesy of Harford County Government