photographs written historical and descriptive...

Baysirle Cannery 1290 Hop~ Street l\lviso Santa Clara County California.

HABS No. CA-2686

PHOTOGRAPHS

WRITTEN HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE DATA

Historic American Buildings Survey National Park Service

Department of the Interior San Francisco, California

Location:

Present Owner:

HISTORIC AMERICAN BUILDING SURVEY BAYSIDE CANNERY

HAS5 LAL lf ~-AlVJ I- 7

HABS No. CA-2686

1290 Hope Street Alviso, California 95002

U.S.G.S. Milpitas, California Quadrangle (7.5) Universal Transverse Mercator Coordinates: Zone 10 E590400 N412690

U.S. Federal Government; Department of Interior Fish and Wildlife Service

Present Occupant: San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory (Office) U.S. Fish and Wildlife (Storage)

Present Use:

Significance:

Office; Storage

The Bayside Cannery is significant for its association with the Chew, family, founders and owners of the Bayside Cannery in Alviso, California. Thomas Foon Chew, the son of the founder Sin Yin Chew, developed the cannery operations into one of the largest canneries in the county and it was the third largest cannery in the United States in 1931. The cannery was the first major Chinese owned industry in Santa Clara County. Thomas Chew employed hundreds of people in his business from a variety of ethnic backgrounds; the cannery contributed substantially to the economic vitality of the Santa Clara County. Besides the cannery operations in Alviso, Chew built two other canneries in the region and owned thousands of acres of farm and orchard land.

The Bayside Cannery is also significant as the last of the main cannery buildings built specifically for use in Chew's canning operations (the Bayside Cold Storage Warehouse to the south was built prior to the development of the cannery complex and was originally known as the Union Warehouse). Built ca. 1929, as part of the large expansion project undertaken by Chew, the cannery's facade was designed in the Spanish Colonial Revival style with a clay tile pent roof, corner towers, and stucco exterior. The interior of the cannery is utilitarian in nature, however, the Howe truss system supporting the roof is of special note. The trusses have been reinforced with diagonal and lateral cross bracing built to withstand earthquakes. The other extant buildings associated with the cannery are the Bayside Cannery Office (907 Elizabeth Street) and the China Camp or Boarding House (906 Elizabeth Street). These structures are east of the main cannery building.

PART I. HISTORICAL INFORMATION

A. Physical History:

BAYSIDE CANNERY HABS NO. CA-2686 (Page 2)

1. Date of erection: Circa 1929. The estimated construction date of 1929 is based on building permits, 1908 and 1930 Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, site evolution, building style, and oral interviews.

A building permit was issued in April, 1929 to Thomas Foon Chew of the Bayside Cannery that specified the construction of "30 cottages, an 118 ft. by 224 ft. warehouse, an addition to the cannery, and other undesignated improvements" (San Jose Mercury, April 6, 1929). The extant cannery building was most likely the "addition to the cannery". The cannery office building, now on the southeast corner of Elizabeth and Hope streets, was originally on the northwest corner where the cannery is currently located. According to oral interviews, the office was moved when the 1929 expansion of the cannery occurred (Timothy Chew interview) .

The Spanish Colonial Revival style facade also indicates a somewhat later construction date. Although used in the 1910s, the style gained popularity in the 1920s. The more stylized, prominent entrance also suggests the success of the cannery and the 1929 expansion effort.

2. Architect: Not Known.

3. Original and subsequent owners, occupants, uses: Ca. 1908 to 1931: The Bayside Cannery was originally owned by the Chew family who started the business ca. 1908 in Alviso. Thomas Foon Chew expanded the business over the years into one of the largest cannery operations in Santa Clara County. Chew died unexpectedly in 1931 leaving the business heavily in debt.

1932-1936: After Chew's death, the business went into receivership and continued to operate until 1936 when it was sold to the Bay Shore Canning Company who operated the cannery for a few years.

1940s: Emil and Dominque DeAore leased the building during WWII for their canning operations. The DeAores owned a cannery in the neighboring town of San Jose. Tomatoes were canned in the Alviso plant for overseas shipment during the war. The cannery operations ceased after the war.

1950s: Cribari & Sons purchased the building for use in their wine and food business in the 1950s. The Cribari's may have used the building as part of their distilling operations. In 1958, portions of the cannery, adjacent the slough, were demolished to make way for the construction of a levee on the east bank of Alviso Slough.


1960s: The building changed hands many times during the 1960s and was used as a boat building and storage facility. Owners during this period included George Lwellan, Chic Karahara & Steve Dorsa, a consortium of dentists, Ivan Cady, and Jack Ruby.

1969-1977: Jack Ruby purchased the property in June, 1969 (Office of Recorder of Deeds, Santa Clara County, CA., Book 8563, p. 343). Ruby used the buildings as a boat works facility known as the Alviso Boat Works and Marina.

1977-Present: Jack Ruby sold the building to the United States of America, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in July, 1977. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service still own the property.

4. Builder, contractor, suppliers: Not Known.

5. Original plans and construction: None located.

6. Alterations and additions: (The following alterations are based on physical evidence and the dates are estimates based on oral interviews, aerial photographs, and Sanborn Fire Insurance maps).

Exterior The existing cannery building was once part of a larger cannery complex as seen in early aerial photographs and Sanborn Fire Insurance maps. The original cannery building, as seen on the 1908 Sanborn map, was directly northwest of the existing building (Figure 1). The rear portions of the cannery buildings in the complex were demolished in 1958 when the first levee was constructed along Alviso Slough (Anderson-Nichols & Co., p. IS-31). Concrete foundations, and concrete and brick wall (ruins), west and northwest of the extant cannery building, indicate the location of the other buildings once part of the cannery complex.

A majority of the alterations to the extant cannery building include modifications to the window and door openings (1970s/1980s). The cupolas' windows have been covered with plywood on the exterior~ the majority of the window sashes are still intact in the interior. The exterior windows on the front elevation (east side) have been covered with boarding coated with a stucco finish. One of the large freight doors on the north side of the front facade has been enclosed. The stucco finish on the east facade (and part of the north and south sides) has been painted with murals depicting different scenes in Alviso' s history. These were painted in 1982.

Alterations on the south elevation are mainly limited to the window and door openings. New sliding freight doors made of plywood have replaced the original vertical wood doors. A single door, enclosed, is located on the eastern end of the south elevation. This door once lead to the interior office. There is

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also evidence of some type of a loading dock on the south elevation near the western most freight door. The board and batten siding has been cut-away near the ground indicating the location of a ramped loading dock.

Some of the windows on the south elevation have been changed to aluminum sliding windows including all the upper windows on the rear two-story section. The lower windows on this two-story portion, although intact, have been covered with corrugated fiberglass panels.

The west elevation of the two-story section has also been modified. Originally, the structure extended further west, however, ca. 1958 a portion of the building was removed (Figures 2 and 3). Physical evidence of this earlier structure is apparent on the west elevation~ the floor joists on the second floor have been cut-off and plywood sheaths previously open areas on the second floor. The north elevation of this two-story section has also been modified with the installation of plywood walls, aluminum sliding windows, and a single door. This elevation once opened into another building attached to the north face. The cannery building to the north has been demolished.

The west elevation of the main portion of the cannery building also shows evidence of removal of an attached structure. A two-story structure was once attached to this elevation but was removed ca. 1958 (Figure 2 and 3).

Interior There has been minimal alterations to the interior structural features of the cannery. The original interior office (now used as a classroom), located in the southeast corner, has been enlarged over the years with the addition of other rooms on the north and west sides of the office. The area above the new room additions are now used for open storage areas. A new stairway has been added that leads to storage areas and the original storage loft.

Other additions include the installation of a restroom and storage closet north of the main staircase that leads to what is now used as the second floor offices. New strip fluorescent lights have also been added throughout the building. It also appears that the posts that support the structure were cut off at the bottom and new concrete footings installed. The new footings were probably installed because of periodic flooding which may have caused the deterioration of the posts. Other posts have been reinforced with the addition of diagonal bracing. None of the original equipment associated with the cannery remains.


Figure 2: Xerox copy of aerial photograph of the Alviso area including the Bayside Cannery complex~ estimated date 1940s~ Bob Gross collection, Alviso, CA.

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Figure 3: Copy of aerial photograph of the Alviso area, Bayside Cannery, 1960s. Bob Gross collection, Alviso, CA.

B . Historical Context

History of Alviso


(The majority of the following history of the City of Alviso was extracted from the report entitled, Port of Alviso, San Jose, Santa Clara County Application for California Point of Historical Interest. This report was prepared by the City of San Jose, Department of Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement, August 14, 1995. The portion of the history in quotations is taken directly from the report.)

"As early as 1792, an embarcadero, or wharf, was located about one-half mile south of Alviso on a navigable slough. The Embarcadero de Santa Clara served as a shipping point between the Santa Clara Valley and the Spanish military presido at San Francisco (Laffey, Phase II, p. 4). From the 1820s, sailing ships visited the embarcadero to collect hides, tallow, and produce from Mission Santa Clara. Richard Henry Dana in Two Years Before the Mast wrote that the embarcadero at Santa Clara was one of the principal San Francisco landings and did 'a greater business in hides than any in California'. Mission Indians used large launches to carry huge numbers of hides to

. ships from carretas that brought them to the landing. These same boats returned to the embarcadero filled with merchandise and supplies for Mission Santa Clara and the Pueblo de San Jose (Arbuckle, p. 93)."

"The name of the embarcadero was changed to Alviso about 1838 (Basin Research Associates, Inc. p. 6). The area that became the town of Alviso was part of the Mexican land grant Rincon de los Esteros awarded to Ignacio Alviso by Governor Alvarado in 1838. The embarcadero itself was included in the Rancho Embarcadero de Santa Clara granted to Barcilia Bernal by Governor Pico in 1845 (Laffey, Phase II, p. 4)."

"The agricultural productivity of the Alviso area and the Santa Clara Valley created demand for both surface and water transportation to regional and world markets. Alviso, located about 35 miles by water from San Francisco, was ideally situated as a shipping port because of its proximity to the embarcadero about one-half mile away, and San Jose seven miles to the south. Seagoing vessels of deep draft anchored downstream at the Port of Alviso for trading purposes. By 1841, the Port of Alviso was an important port in the San Francisco Bay when Commodore Charles Wilkes visited it (Butler, p. 3)."

"The town of Alviso was named for Ignacio Alviso (see above) who died in 1848. Alviso was laid out in 1849, and incorporated in 1852 by a group of American speculators who believed Alviso would become one of the most important towns in the State because of its location on the San Francisco Bay and its proximity to San Jose, the newly designated state capital. The Alviso Port was the major commercial shipping depot for the entire Santa Clara Valley. In 1853, A.B. Rowley and George Adams constructed a steam flour mill, which was the largest mill in the County, to process Santa Clara Valley wheat for a growing local population. Wharves, warehouses, hotels, taverns, stores, and residences were built in Alviso as the local economy grew with the influx from the Gold Rush. In 1858, the Guadalupe River access from Alviso to the Bay was enhanced by a channel through Alviso Slough (Butler, p. 2)."


"Although the port developed as a major passenger and freight link between San Francisco and the southern bay area, it never met the expectations of the developers. In 1864, Alviso declined in importance as a commercial port when completion of the San Francisco-San Jose Railroad offered alternatives to shipping freight by steamboat to San Francisco. The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 sealed the Port's doom. The importance of the Port of Alviso continued to diminish, except as a point of shipment for local produce to San Francisco. Small steamers carried produce, such as strawberries, and some passengers when they were able to compete with prevailing rail rates. The completion of the Southern Pacific narrow-gauge railroad through Alviso in 1876 revived the small town's business as a shipping center for local products."

In 1881, Alviso was described as a quiet place, containing several handsome brick warehouses and groceries, hotels, and residences. Some of the early industries in Alviso included the Alviso Mills, Alviso Salt Works, Alviso Shell Company, the San Jose Watch Factory (unsuccessful), and a passenger-commerce stagecoach service. The South Bay Yacht Club, at the southern end of town, was organized in 1892 for boaters in the Santa Clara Valley (still in existence today).

Alviso's population reached 967 by 1890 and plans were being made by ambitious entrepreneurs to develop the Port of Alviso. The marshlands of Alviso were optimistically surveyed and named "New Chicago at the Port of Alviso" (Laffey, Phase II, p. 4) and advertisements promoting the area read, "Alviso, where the rails and sails meet". However, these development plans never came to fruition as prospective buyers had to take rowboats to view the lots. The 1890s saw a decrease in activity in the town as the population fell from %7 people in 1890 to 529 by the turn of the 20th Century. The next major industry to locate in Alviso was the Bayside Cannery.

Bayside Cannery Sai Yin Chew came to the United States from China ca. 1878. Chew is credited with starting the Precita Canning Company ca. 1890 at Broadway and Sansome streets in San Francisco (Simas, p. 5). After the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Chew decided to move to Alviso where he started another cannery. Chew's family included his wife, Shi Chin, his son, Thomas Poon Chew, and his wife, Shi Lee, and son, Charles. Other Chinese families were living in Alviso at the turn of the 20th Century, mainly working as farm laborers (U.S. Census, 1900).

Thomas Poon Chew, of ten referred to as Thomas Poon, started working with his father at the age of 17. The Chew family started packing tomatoes in the cannery ca. 1908 and steadily built-up the successful business. In 1908, the cannery consisted of a wooden, one-story cannery, two brick warehouse buildings (one to the north and the other to the south), a water tower, a small wooden box storage building, a concrete storage tank, an oil tank, and an artesian well. The cannery complex was adjacent to Alviso Slough. The complex had electric lights, was steam powered, and was fueled with oil. Other buildings directly south of the cannery buildings may have been part of this 1908 complex including a wagon house, another warehouse building, a dwelling, and an office building (Figure 1 ).

In the 1910 United States Census of Santa Clara County, Alviso Township, there were eleven men employed at the cannery living in Alviso which included a manager (Sai Yin


Chew), general foreman (Thomas Foon Chew), two foreman, superintendent, bookkeeper, machinist, watchman, warehouse foreman, and two laborers. All the employees at that time were Chinese with the exception of one of the foreman and a laborer which were of Japanese descent. Other people of Japanese descent at that time were listed as "farm or fruit farm workers".

As the cannery grew, Thomas Foon Chew took over management of the cannery from his father. His father, Sai Yin, became active in the apple drying portion of the business (Timothy Chew interview). The cannery prospered and grew under Thomas Chew's management as he modernized the facility. Chew was known for his progressive ideas and fair mindedness. Chew also hired competent people to work in the cannery who had the technical ability needed to operate the business.

When the cannery first was in operation, the majority of the employees were of Chinese descent. As the business grew, Chew began hiring people of other nationalities including Italians, Portuguese, Japanese, Filipinos, and Irish. Although the workers were only seasonal, the Bayside Cannery employed hundreds of people and contributed substantially to the vitality and economy of the county.

Thomas Chew not only paid fair wages to workers in the cannery but provided housing, meals, and transportation. Employees who lived outside the Alviso area were brought to work by truck each morning. The trucks would leave the cannery at five o'clock in the morning and pick up workers throughout the area. The trucks would arrive back at the cannery about seven a.m. to start the work day and the benches would be removed from the trucks so the vehicles were ready for hauling produce. At the end of the work day, generally eight or nine pm, the benches would be put back into the trucks to transport the workers back home. The majority of the workers in the cannery were women.

As the business grew, Chew enlarged the cannery complex. At one time, Chew purchased a right-of-way from the city and moved a part of Alviso Slough away from the cannery buildings. Employees of the cannery remember many times when water would come into the building at high tide and the employees had to stand on boxes to keep out of the water; the town of Alviso was subject to tidal and storm flooding (Mattos, 1997).

Thomas Chew built two other canneries in the region; one at Isleton near Sacramento, and the other at Mayfield, now Palo Alto. The Isleton plant was constructed in 1919-20 and was the plant where the asparagus was packed. Chew hired a man, William de Back, who devised sorting and processing equipment for packing green asparagus (previously only white asparagus was packed). The asparagus packed at the cannery came from land on Sherman Island near the facility that Chew owned. Thomas Foon Chew was named the "Asparagus King" after he successfully began packing green asparagus.

Chew not only employed hundreds of people at the cannery but owned substantial amounts of land in the surrounding areas which he leased out to various farmers including people of Portuguese, Japanese, and Chinese descent. Chew started purchasing land near Yuba City, Dos Palos, and in other areas in the Santa Clara Valley. Besides his cannery holdings, he amassed thousands of acres of farm land.


Various types of fruits and vegetables were canned at Alviso's Bayside Cannery including spinach, cherries, apricots, plums, peaches, pears, tomatoes, catsup, tomato sauce, hot sauce, fish sauce, salad fruits and vegetables and later fruit cocktail. A brokerage firm, Walter M. Field and Company, handled the distribution of the canned goods across the country and overseas. The Bayside Cannery packed under more than one label including Del Monte, and McNeil and Libby. The "Bayside" label was reserved for the highest quality products. By 1920, the Bayside was one of 40 canneries operating in Santa Clara County; the Bayside was the only cannery owned by a Chinese family. At the peak of Bayside's operation it was estimated that the canning volume was 600,000 cases or about three million dollars gross per year (Wright, p. 30).

In 1929, Chew undertook a monumental building campaign at the Alviso Bayside Cannery. A building permit was issued in the spring of 1929 to Thomas Foon Chew for $70,000. The proposed improvements to the Bayside Cannery included the construction of 30 cottages, a warehouse, an addition to the cannery and other undesignated improvements (San Jose Mercury, 6, April 1929). The Alviso Salt Company also was issued permits totalling $400,000. The town was booming with building activity.

The 1930 revised Sanborn Fire Insurance Map shows the substantial size of the Bayside Cannery complex (Figure 4). The complex included the main cannery building, three warehouses, a cold storage warehouse, a box factory, and shook storage building, a well and water tower, over 45 worker's cottages, a mess hall and boarding house, three buildings with dormitory rooms, a Chinese school, a cafeteria, a garage and truck storage facility, a box shed, and office. A railroad spur, along the north side of the complex connected the cannery with the main railroad line.

A San Jose newspaper states of the new construction: The Bayside Cannery company is expected to be opened here about July 8, it was recently announced by Tom Foon Chew, owner and manager. The first run will be apricots. When the cannery opens, business will boom as Chew sent hundreds of his local white employees to his plant in Isleton several months ago to work in the spinach and asparagus canning. Twenty new cottages for the workers have been built or moved into the property owned by the cannery. Those moved here are from the Flickinger Cannery near Berryessa. In preparation for the new cottages, the low ground around the plant had been built up with the dirt taken from the streets of Santa Clara. A fleet of trucks have been kept busy hauling the dirt into the cannery property (San Jose Mercury Herald, June 19, 1930).

The prosperity of the 1920s was short lived. On February 24, 1931, Thomas Foon Chew died unexpectedly of pneumonia at the O' Conner Sanitarium in San Jose. Chew was 42 years old and left his wife, Lee Gum Ching Chew, and their seven children (Charles, Rose, Lillian, Henry, Francis, Ethyl, and Timothy). Regional papers proclaimed "The Asparagus King is Dead" as the area workers and officials mourned the loss of Chew. The funeral was the biggest funeral that was ever held in San Francisco's Chinatown. People of all nationalities, 25,000 in number, came to the funeral processional. Two hundred San Francisco Masons attended the service along

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with officials of the Scottish Rite; the Mayor of San Francisco, the San Jose City Manager, and the President of the State Chamber of Commerce. Chew was buried at the Chinese Cemetery on the peninsula.

In 1932, the National Underwriter (an insurance magazine) claimed that one of the largest life insurance payment was made to the estate of Thomas Poon Chew for $150,000. A year later, it was found that Chew's debts were more than anyone had known and all of the insurance payment went to pay off the debts (except $10,000). The Bayside Cannery eventually fell into receivership and in 1936, the cannery was sold to the Bay Shore Cannery Company.

Bayside Cannery: World War II to Present The cannery continued to operate at a reduced level for the remainder of the depression. During World War II, Emil and Dominque DeFlore (who owned a cannery in the neighboring town of San Jose) leased the building for their canning operations. The DeFlores canned surplus tomatoes for overseas shipment during the war. The cannery stood vacant after the war for several years.

According to local sources, Cribari & Sons purchased the building for use in their wine and food business in the 1950s (Gross interview). The Cribari's may have used the building as part of their distilling operations. In 1958, portions of the cannery, adjacent to the slough, were demolished to make way for the construction of a levee on the east bank of Alviso Slough (Figures 2, 3, and 5).

After the Cribaris ceased operations at the cannery, the building changed hands many times during the 1960s. The building was used as a boat building and storage facility during this time. Owners of the building during the 1960s included George Lwellan, Chic Karahara & Steve Dorsa, a consortium of dentists, Ivan Cady, and Jack Ruby.

Jack Ruby purchased the property in June, 1969 and used the buildings as a boat works facility known as the Alviso Boat Works and Marina. The building remained in Ruby's ownership until 1977 when the United States Government, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service purchased the property. U.S. Fish and Wildlife currently use the building for storage and the San Francisco Bay Bird Observatory have their offices and facilities in the building.

Port of Alviso: National Register Historic District The Port of Alviso was listed as a National Register Historic District in 1973 (Figure 6). The 60 acre district is bounded on the north by the Alviso Marina County Park, on the west by the Alviso Slough/Guadalupe River, on the south by Moffat Street, and on the east by a line down the center of Gold Street to Catherine Street, west on Catherine to the center of the block between El Dorado and Gold streets, then south to Moffat Street.

There were eleven resources listed in the nomination as contributing resources. These included the Union Warehouse, Tilden-Laine Residence, Tilden-Laine Store, Robert Trevey Residence, the Railroad Depot, Captain John Martin's House, La Montagne Boarding House, South Bay Yacht Club, Wade's Round the Horn House, Wade's Warehouse, and the Constables's Office and jail. The Bayside Cannery was not listed in the district nomination.


Figure 5: Copy of aerial photograph of Alviso, CA. and the Bayside Cannery Complex, circa early 1950s. Bob Gross collection, Alviso, CA.

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Figure 6: Listed an<l Identified Historic Resources an<l the Port of Alviso National Register Historic District, from Basin Research Associates, Inc., 1995: Figure 6).


The Bayside Cannery was listed, however, as part of an ensemble of buildings/sites identified in the State of California ethnic site survey. The seven buildings in the survey were considered eligible for National Register listing as a thematic district (Basin Research Associates, 1995). These buildings included the Bayside Cannery building, Bayside Cold Storage (or Union Warehouse), Bayside Cannery Office, Bayside Cannery "China Camp" site, the Bayside Apple Dryer site, the Thomas Foon Chew House site, and the Bayside Cannery Cabins site. The Bayside Cannery was designated a San Jose Historic Landmark in 1992. The Port of Alviso was also listed as a California Point of Historical Interest in 1995: the Bayside Cannery and the associated buildings were listed as significant resources.

PART II. ARCHITECTURAL INFORMATION

A. General Statement:

1. Architectural character: The Bayside Cannery has distinctive features of · the Spanish Colonial Revival style on its front facade including the low pitched hip roof, corner towers, red clay tile roofs, and stucco finish over the wood frame construction. These characteristics are only found on the front elevation and wrapping around the front comers of the building for a few feet. The remainder of the building is more utilitarian in nature with its wood frame construction covered with board and batten siding. Of interest is its long cupolas that crown the roof. These cupolas, originally lined with multi-pane windows, were used as a source of light for the building. The interior of the cannery is also very utilitarian in nature with its open floor plan and high ceilings. Of special note in the interior is the structural system. The triangular Howe truss system was reinforced with diagonal bracing to protect against earthquakes (see structural system section for more detail).

2. Condition of fabric: The Bayside Cannery is in fair condition. The exterior of the building suffers from weathering associated with its location on the waterfront and lack of maintenance. The majority of the interior structural members are in fair-good condition, however, some of the beams and posts have deteriorated due to poor drainage and leaks in the roofing system.

B . Description of Exterior:

1. Overall dimensions: Rectangular in plan, the main one-story volume of the cannery measures approximately 84 ft. east-west by 114 ft. north-south and is approximately 20 ft. high (Figure 7). The interior of this volume is open in plan with high ceilings that were once lit by multi-pane lights in the cupolas. The main volume is broken into two stories only in the southeast corner. The original office, now a classroom, a small workroom, a storage room, and loft/storage areas are located in this comer.

The two-story back ell measures 28 ft. north-south and 44 ft. east-west (Figure 7). This portion of the building is higher and has both an upper and lower floor. A staircase from the main building volume leads to the second floor of the ell.

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2. Foundations: The structure is built on a concrete slab.

3. Walls: The exterior is sheathed with a combination of stucco, and board and batten siding. The north elevation of the two-story back ell and a small portion on the west (rear) side are clad with plywood.

Smooth stucco sheaths the front (east) elevation and a small section of the exterior walls on the north and south sides (stucco sheathing wraps around the northeast and northwest corners). The front of building has corner towers capped with clay tile hip roofs. A long recessed panel embellishes the spandrel above the door and window openmgs.

The white stucco facade has been painted with murals showing various scenes in Alviso' s history. The scenes depict canning, boat building, sailing ships, a town scene, and a Native American fishing village. The murals were completed in 1982 by "Dawna" (artist's signature is on the bottom of the northeast corner of the building). The only other built-in decorative details on the front facade are the projecting stucco window sills.

The north and south elevations are clad with vertical board and batten siding: the boards are approximately 12" and the battens are 1" (thick) by 2 1/2" (wide). Some of the battens on the north and south elevations have been cut-away near the base of the wall. This indicates the location of a ramped loading dock.

Overlapping vertical boards (with few battens) sheaths the rear (west) elevation of the main building volume. The top one-third of this elevation is clad with flush vertical board siding. Another part of the cannery complex once abutted this elevation. The west and north sides of the back ell of the two-story section are covered with plywood with the exception of the first story of the west elevation which is sheathed with horizontal boards.

4. Structural systems, framing: Main Building: The front (east) interior wall is constructed somewhat differently to accommodate the stucco exterior finish. The walls are composed of flush horizontal boards (1" by 12") on the outside supported by full dimension 2" by 4" stud framing on the inside. A wire mesh covers the horizontal boards on the exterior under the stucco finish.

The north and south walls are framed with a different structural system. The doors and windows are framed with studs with some horizontal support members. The vertical board planks on the exterior are nailed to these horizontal members. Framing on the west wall employs two systems. The upper one third of the wall is composed of vertical 12" boards finished with 1" by 2 1/2" battens. The lower section is made up of vertical boards with some of the cracks covered with full dimension 2" by 2" battens. A 12" horizontal board separates the two wall systems.

The roof system and cupolas are supported by posts and trusses. The main volume of the building is divided into three, east-west bays. The northern most bay measures 42 ft. wide, the center bay 44 ft. wide, and the southern bay 28 ft wide. Five evenly


spaced 8" by 8" posts on concrete bases define the bays and support the main northsouth truss system. A metal plate separates the top of the post and lower chord of the truss. The truss system was constructed for protection against earthquakes. The triangular Howe trusses are cross braced to one another laterally and diagonally (sometime referred to as an octopus truss). The vertical iron components of the Howe truss act as tension members and the wood members act as compression members.

The upper chord of the trusses are 6" by 6" lumber, the bottom chord is composed of three 2" by 9" boards bolted together, the struts or diagonal bracing are 4" by 10" boards and the lateral braces between the trusses are two, 2" by 7" boards bolted together.

Purlins, extending east-west, rest on the top chord of the trusses. The purlins are constructed of 2" by 12" boards bolted together. The full dimension 2" by 4" rafters rest on the purlins. The ceiling is composed of approximately 1" by 6" boards; the interior of the cupolas are framed like the ceiling.

Two-Story Back Extension:: The structural frame for the back ell is somewhat different .. in construction. The floor joist supporting the second floor extend north-south and are constructed of 3" by 10" or 12" boards spaced 14" on center. The ceiling boards are 2" by 8" boards. The girders supporting the joists are composed of four, 2" by 12" beams bolted together that extend east-west. The girders span lengths of approximately 30 ft. The girders are supported by 8" by 8" posts. The posts rest on the concrete floor; a metal plate separates the concrete from the wooden posts.

5. Porches, stoops, balconies: None

6. Chimneys: None. Only vent pipes.

7. Openings:

a. Doorways and doors: East (front) elevation: There is only one remaining operable freight door located on this facade. The door is on the southern side of the elevation and is composed of two large freight doors measuring 16 ft. wide by 13 ft. high. The sliding doors are constructed of wood on the interior and sheathed with sheet metal on the exterior. The doors are slightly recessed from the building plane and have no trim. Another freight door was originally located on the northern side of the front facade but has been enclosed with a stucco panel.

South side: There are two freight doors located on this side. The larger freight door is located east of the smaller door and measures approximately 11 1/2 ft. wide by 11 ft. high. The double doors (replacements) are constructed of plywood with an applied board trim. The hardware includes a newer metal track on which the doors slide. The original flashing above the door is still intact. The smaller freight door is also constructed of plywood with a wide board trim. The door slides on a newer metal track; the original flashing above indicates the original length of the track was shorter than the newer track. Another single door, now enclosed, is located at the east end of the south elevation. This door originally lead into the office of the cannery.


West elevation: A sliding freight door is located on the first floor of the twostory section of the building. The northern portion of the door is covered with plywood and hangs on a metal track. This was originally an interior sliding door (originally extended further west when the building extended further west). Another sliding door is located near the center of the west elevation on the main one-story portion of the building. The door has been covered with plywood and trimmed with wood boards. This opening was originally 11 1/2 ft. high by 14 ft. wide; a smaller opening and track has been installed, measuring approximately 9 ft. by 9 ft.

North elevation: There are three doors located on the north elevation of the main body of the building. Two of the doors are freight doors and the narrower door is a pedestrian door. These doors retain some of the original door construction features. A freight door at the eastern end of the facade measures 8 ft. wide and 8 1/2 ft. high. The door is constructed of 12" wide vertical boards. Original door hardware includes a steel track and hangers. A narrower freight door is located in the center of the facade. Measuring approximately 4 1/2 ft. wide by 8 1/2 ft. high, the door is constructed of vertical board and batten. The door slides open from the interior of the building (the track is on the inside); there is no exterior hardware on this door. Another smaller board and batten clad freight door is located west of the central door and measures 5 1/2 ft. high by 6 ft. wide. This door also slides open from the interior.

b. Windows and shutters: Few of the original multi-pane, metal sash windows are still visible on the exterior elevations. The windows on the front ( east) facade have been covered with stucco panels. The windows are slightly recessed and are void of any trim with the exception of a projecting 5" stucco sill. The window measures 3 1/2 ft. high by 6 ft. wide. The original multipane metal sash windows (10 panes) are intact on the inside of the structure. A larger window on the south end of the front facade measures 6 ft. high by 7 ft. wide.

Four original metal sash windows are still intact on the south elevation (the glass has been replaced with plywood on the eastern most window). The windows have simple board trim constructed of 1" by 2" boards. One window on the eastern end of the building has been changed to a metal slider window and the original window directly to the east has been boarded over.

The south side windows on the upper floor of the two-story addition have been replaced with aluminum sliding windows. Five original 3 ft. by 6 ft., 18 pane windows on the first floor have been covered with corrugated fiberglass panels. The windows are still intact on the interior and have metal sashes. The remaining windows on the two-story ell are all newer aluminum frame sliders.

The windows on the north elevation are made up of a series of hopper and awning type windows that are made of horizontal boards. The band of windows are above the door level on the upper one-third of the elevation and were primarily used for ventilation.


The exterior of the cupola windows have been boarded over with plywood. The original windows can be seen on the interior and are a series of six-pane wooden sash windows.

8. Roof:

a. Shape, coverings: The roof on the main body of the cannery is comprised of a series of three hips covered with rolled asphalt roofing. The pent roof along the front (east side) of the cannery and hip roofs covering the corner towers are clad with red clay tiles. The rear two-story ell has a gable roof covered with rolled asphalt shingles.

b. Cornice, eaves: The eaves are shallow and project slightly over the body of the building. Exposed rafters support the overhang on the north, west, and south elevations. The clay tiles on the front (east) facade project slightly over the stucco wall surface. A friezeboard, measuring approximately 12" wide, extends around the perimeter of the cannery on the east, north, and south sides.

c. Dormers, cupolas, towers: The building has two cupolas that extend east-west the entire length of the cannery. The cupolas are off center; they are built over the northern two hip roofs. Originally, multi-pane clerestory windows extended the length of each cupola. These windows have been boarded over (the window frames and muntin bars are still intact on the interior). Some of the windows are missing and are open to the elements. The cupolas are covered with a hip roof sheathed with rolled asphalt shingles.

C. Description of Interior:

1. Floor plan: The current configuration is "L" shaped with a high, one-story main section and a two-story portion that forms the rear ell (Figure 7). The main portion of the cannery is open in plan with the exception small rooms currently used as a classroom and storerooms. These rooms are located in the southeast corner of the building. A loft/storage room is located above the classroom and storage room. A staircase leads to the original storage loft and the newer storage areas. Two other small rooms, in the southwest corner of the main building volume, house a restroom and storage area.

Posts that support the truss system are spaced evenly throughout the interior. Freight doors are located on all sides of the building; the largest doors are on the east, west, and south elevations. The two-story section of the building is used for storage below and offices above. A staircase ascends to the second floor of the rear ell.

2. Stairways: There is one main staircase in the cannery building. The stairs are in the southwest corner of the main section and are 7 ft. wide with 2" by 12" treads and 7 1/2" risers. Round wooden handrails flank the stair. The original railing and balusters (square) are on the north side of the staircase.

Another staircase is located in the southeast section of the main cannery building. This open staircase leads to the original loft and storage room above the current classroom.


The staircase is not original and was added at a later date. A built-in ladder, directly east of the staircase, leads to an opening that accesses the original loft/storage room. This ladder and opening are original details of the building.

3 . Flooring: The flooring in the building is composed of a concrete slab scored with expansion joints measuring from 8 ft. by 7 ft. to 10 ft. by 7 ft. Drains, with metal covers, are located in the concrete floor. The floor in the storage room is made up of tongue and groove flooring and the floor in the second story of the back ell is composed of built-up tar flooring.

4. Wall and ceiling finish: The majority of the interior walls and ceiling areas are unfinished. The walls are made-up of exposed wood framing and boarding. Only the walls in the classroom (original office), loft, and storage room are finished. The classroom has walls that are sheathed with a combination of sheet rock and narrow beaded flush boards. The ceiling is also sheathed with beaded boarding. The walls in the office area are finished with sheet rock and plywood, and the walls in the storage room and loft area are sheathed with narrow beaded board siding. The upstairs office in the rear ell is finished with sheet rock walls and beaded board ceiling.

5. Openings:

a. Doorways and doors: The interior of the freight doors on the east elevation are on a track with the original track hardware intact. The double doors slide open from the middle and are composed of vertical flush boards (some horizontal boards on the kick-plate area) with diagonal cross members on the bottom one-half and a boarded up window on the upper portion. The three freight doors on the north elevation are composed of vertical boards. The western most door and the center door slide on interior tracks (hardware intact). The eastern door slides on an exterior track. The other freight doors on the west and south elevations are constructed of plywood.

There are few interior doors in the cannery because of the open plan. A multipane glass door leads into the anti-room outside the classroom in the southeast comer of the cannery. This is the most decorative door in the building. The other doors are generally newer hollow core doors.

b. Windows: Windows in the building were constructed for ventilation and to allow natural light into the building. The large windows on the south elevation aid in the interior lighting of the cannery. The cupola windows also were designed to let natural light in the interior (see exterior windows for a detailed description of windows types).

6. Decorative features and trim: Because of its utilitarian nature, the cannery does not have interior decorative details.

7. Hardware: The only original hardware is on the sliding freight doors. The track systems used are original on the east and north elevation freight doors.


8. Mechanical equipment:

a. Heating, air conditioning, ventilation: The building has no heating system because of the mild climate of the region. The ventilation system was dependent on the cross breezes afforded by the freight doors and the awning/hopper type windows along the north elevation.

b. Lighting: The building has been rewired over the years and the original knob and tubing wiring replaced by metal conduit. The building currently is lit by a series of hanging strip florescent lights.

c. Plumbing: The building has plumbing along the southern portion of the west wall to accommodate the bathrooms, a sink, and washer and dryer. Some of the original piping system associated with the cannery is located along the upper portion of the northern wall. An iron pipe extends across the length of the wall and exits through a hole in the west wall. Other details include drains that are located in the concrete slab floor.

9. Original furnishings: None.

D. Site:

1 . General setting and orientation: The Bayside Cannery is located in T6S, RlW, Section 9, USGS 7.5 minute series Quadrangle Milpitas, California, 1981 (Figure 8). Located in the platted town of Alviso (incorporated into the City of San Jose in 1968), the town is at the southern end of San Francisco Bay between the Alviso Slough and the Guadalupe River. It is situated on low marshy land south of the Alviso Marina County Park and the San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge (est. 1972).

The cannery is located at the intersection of Hope and Elizabeth streets on the northwest comer. The building faces east on Hope Street. The southern part of the cannery was built along a vacated portion of Elizabeth Street; a driveway is now located between the cannery and the Union Warehouse to the south. Alviso Slough and the adjacent levee are west of the cannery building. Stairs, leading up to a pedestrian trail on top of the levee, are in the southwest corner of the parcel. A chain link fence separates the property from the levee. A vacant lot, covered with low vegetation, is between the cannery and Alviso Marina County Park/San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The marina was built in 1968 by Santa Clara County. The marina was abandoned ca. 1980 because of the difficulty to keep up with the dredging. It is now part of the Marina County Park/San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Commercial buildings are south and east of the building. The Southern Pacific Railroad tracks, which extend along El Dorado Street, are located about one block east of the cannery. Remnants of buildings once composing the Bayside Cannery complex are west and northwest of the extant building. These ruins were once concrete and brick warehouses associated with the cannery. Concrete slab foundations are directly west and northwest of the cannery which indicate the footprint of the other wooden cannery buildings that were once attached to the extant structure.

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2. Historic landscape design: None.


3. Outbuildings: There are no outbuildings, besides a trailer, associated with the cannery, only the ruins of other cannery buildings (see general setting and orientation). The trailer houses the caretakers of the property and is located west of the cannery.

Part III. SOURCES OF INFORMATION

A . Architectural drawings: None located.

B . Historic views: 1. Aerials, 1940s and 1960s. Collection of Robert Gross, Alviso, CA.

2. Santa Clara Public Library, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Main Library, San Jose, CA., Archives Collection~ 1960s aerial photograph.

C. Interviews:

Chew, Timothy. November 1, 1997. Phone interview. San Francisco, CA. Youngest child of Thomas Foon Chew.

Eddow, Ron. September 23, 1997. Phone interview. San Jose, CA. Staff person for the Santa Clara Historic Landmarks Commission and City of San Jose Planner.

Hom, Gloria Sun. October 7, 1997. Phone interview. Los Altos, CA. Granddaughter of Thomas Foon Chew.

Gross, Robert W. September 27, 1997. On-site interview. Alviso, CA. Previous owner and adjacent property owner.

Kirkpatrick, Pat. November, 1997. Phone interview. San Jose, CA. Granddaughter of Benjamin Chew(e). No relation to the Thomas Foon Chew family.

Kolar, Marge. October-November, 1997. Phone interviews. Newark, CA. Complex Manager, San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

Laine, Willis. October 22, 1997. Phone interview. Alviso, CA. Long-time Alviso resident and cannery worker in the 1940s.

Mattos, Mabel. October 22, 1997. Phone interview. Milpitas, CA. Cannery worker at Bayside Cannery during World War II.

Santos, Tony. October 28, 1997. Phone interview. Alviso, CA. Former mayor of Alviso, CA.

Vahl, Amelia. October 28, 1997. Phone interview. Alviso, CA. Resident of Alviso.

D. Bibliography:


Aldana, J. and G. Brave. Brochure on History of Alviso and National Register Historic District, n.d.

Alviso Branch Library. San Jose Public Library Collection on the History of Alviso and surrounding area.

Anderson-Nichols & Co., Inc. "Guadalupe River Planning Study, County Marina to Southern Pacific RR." Prepared for the Santa Clara Water District. Jan. 1983.

Arbuckle, Clyde. History of San Jose. San Jose, CA. 1985.

Basin Research Associates Inc. "Cultural Resources Assessment, Alviso Master Plan Area, City of San Jose, Santa Clara County, CA." San Leandro, CA. 1995.

Butler, Phyllis. "Port of Alviso National Register of Historic District." Registration form dated July 4, 1972.

City of San Jose. "Existing Conditions and Constraints Report: Alviso Master Plan." April, 1995.

City of San Jose. Memo, Proposed Landmark Designation of the Bayside Cannery Building (HL 92-69). From Nancy Hemmen, Historic Preservation Officer. May 26, 1992.

City of San Jose. "Port of Alviso, Santa Clara County: Application for California Point of Historical Interest." August 14, 1995.

Dillingham Associates. "Alviso Marian County Parks-Master Plan." Prepared for Santa Clara County Environmental Resources Agency, Department of Parks and Recreation. October, 1997.

Laffey, Glory Anne. Historical Overview and Context for the City of San Jose, Phase I and II. San Jose, California, 1992.

Lukes, Timothy and Gary Okihiro. ''The Alviso Cluster." Japanese Legacy: Farming and Community Life in California's Santa Clara Valley. Cupertino, CA: California History Center, c. 1985.

Paynes, Stephen M. Santa Clara County: Harvest of Change. Santa Clara County: Windsor Publishing, Inc., 1987.

Simas, Mary. "The Bayside Cannery Company, Alviso, California." The Trailblazer, Volume 19, No. 2, May, 1979.

San Jose News. 19 December 1945.


San Jose Mercury. 6 April 1929; 1 April 1930; 19 June 1930; 25 February 1931; 9 May 1931; 31 May 1932; 24 May 1933; 20 June 1941; 24 July 1985; 29 July 1985.

San Jose City Directory. City of Alviso. 1908 to 1945.

Sanborn Fire Insurance Map. Alviso, Santa Clara County, June, 1908 and revised map of 1930. The Sanborn Map Company, New York.

Speulda, Lou Ann. "Cultural Resource Report for the Alviso Water Tower, Santa Clara County, CA." Prepared for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Region 1, Tualatin River National Wildlife Refuge, Sherwood, OR, 20 October 1995.

Wright, J.C. "Thomas Foon Chew-Founder of the Bayside Cannery", pp. 20-44 in the Chinese Argonauts: An Anthology of the Chinese Contributing to the Historical Development of Santa Clara County. Los Altos, CA: Foothill Community College, c. 1971.

E. Likely sources not yet investigated:

1. County deed records pertaining to the Bayside Cannery in Santa Clara County's Office of Deeds and Records.

2. Other interviews with long-time Alviso residents and members of the Chew family.

3. National Archives: historic aerial photographs of the Alviso area.

PART IV. PROJECT INFORMATION

The Historic American Building Survey (HABS) documentation of the Bayside Cannery in Alviso, CA. was completed for the U.S. Department of Fish and Wildlife Service. The project is a property transfer which has the potential to effect a historic property according to Section 106 of the Historic Preservation Act.

The project supervisor was Lou Ann Speulda, Historian/Historical Archaeologist, Fish and Wildlife Service, Region 1, Cultural Resource Team, 20555 SW Gerda Lane, Sherwood, Oregon 97140. The HABS documentation was prepared by Sally Donovan, Donovan and Associates, Historic Preservationist, 1615 Taylor Avenue, Hood River, OR. 97031. Completed November, 1997.

F. Supplemental material:


1. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, 1908 and 1930 (seep. 4, 12)

2. Aerial photographs (seep. 6, 7, 14)

3. Sketch Map of Bayside Cannery (seep. 17)

4. Area map of Alviso (seep. 15, 24).

photographs written historical and descriptive...

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