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11 Most Endangered
Cannery Row
Year Listed: 1998
Location: , California
Current Status: Favorable
Threat: Development
Significance
Early in the 20th century this neighborhood became the focus of an extensive canning industry that made Monterey the sardine capital of the world. By World War II the canneries and related facilities stretched for most of a mile along Oceanview Avenue, hugging the shore of Monterey Bay. John Steinbeck's novel Cannery Row, based on characters the author had known in the 1930s, appeared in 1945--ironically, just before sardine fishing went into steep decline. By the time the last cannery closed in 1973, artisans and restaurants had begun to move into Cannery Row and tourism had become the area's main industry. By the 1990s, two million visitors were flocking to the Row annually, and intensive development threatened to overwhelm the historic character that the tourists are seeking.
Updates
Plans continue for numerous mixed-use development projects on Monterey’s Cannery Row. A large hotel is currently under construction, and an IMAX theater and large mixed-use residential and commercial complex proceeding through the local permitting and environmental review processes. All three projects will be sited on large, currently vacant sites on Cannery Row, immediately adjacent to the surviving historic core of buildings. Thankfully public pressure from preservationists, conservationists, and others led to the establishment of the Cannery Row Conservation District in April 2004. The City of Monterey designated the district to create a framework for allowing Cannery Row to grow and change while retaining its historic character. Although heavy development pressures persist, building improvements and new construction on Cannery Row are now reviewed by the Architectural Review Committee and Historic Preservation Commission according to design guidelines developed for the district.
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