Property Record
300 N Marquette Rd
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Prairie City Canning Company |
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| Other Name: | General Cigar Company |
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| Reference Number: | 3929 |
| Location (Address): | 300 N Marquette Rd |
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| County: | Crawford |
| City: | Prairie du Chien |
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| Year Built: | 1912 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20022019 |
| Historic Use: | industrial building |
| Architectural Style: | Astylistic Utilitarian Building |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | The Prairie City Canning Company was established in 1912 by a collection of canning industry tradesmen from Cassville and Prairie du Chien. The group constructed the 30,000 square foot brick building located at the southeast corner of Washington Street and Marquette Road in 1912 with the south wing being completed within a year. The facility processed and canned tomatoes and, to a lesser extent, cabbage for sauerkraut and was the first tomato cannery in the state. East of the cannery, at the foot of the bluffs, a field of 695,000 tomato plants and 135,000 cabbage plants served as the factory’s product source, in addition to 155 acres outside of the city where contracted farmers grew tomatoes for the company. During World War II, labor shortages during the tomato harvest led the Prairie du Chien school board to allow students (primarily girls) time off to work as pickers for the Canning Company. The facility produced 1,500,000 cans of tomatoes in a season and employed over 200 people during its peak years of operation. The company’s products were shipped throughout Wisconsin and neighboring states under the brand names “Fort Crawford,” “Home State,” and “Du Chien.” By 1943, the Prairie City Canning Company’s success had proved that the Wisconsin climate could support commercial tomato production and had led thirteen other tomato canneries to open in the state. In 1947, the cannery closed and the building was sold to the General Cigar Company for the sorting and packing of tobacco. The cigar company used the facility and its adjacent fields for a series of experiments in producing shade grown tobacco to be used in cigar wrappers. Today, the building is known as “The Cannery” and functions as a retail space for home and garden products. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Prairie Du Chien Courier Press 5/10/1999. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |