Site information:

In River Walk Park on Sacramento River, about 750 ft N of Tower Bridge, West Sacramento

38.583097,-121.508796

Plaque information:

State plaque

Plaque text:

First Pacific Coast Salmon Cannery

Founded in the town of Washington (Broderick), Yolo County by Hapgood, Hume, and Company in 1864, California’s first salmon cannery was located on a barge moored here on the banks of the Sacramento River. This small canning operation was the beginning of the salmon canning industry on the West Coast. Salmon caught in the Sacramento River were canned by the cooker-boiler method, rather than the salt preservation method commonly used at that time. The new process allowed for wider markets and lower prices. In 1866, declining salmon runs in the Sacramento River caused Hapgood, Hume and Company to move their canning operation to the Columbia River in Oregon.

Plaque placed by California State Parks, River Cats Foundation, West Sacramento Historical Society, City of West Sacramento, and the West Sacramento Chamber of Commerce, April 1, 2009.