Press Releases

MONTEREY, Calif. - The year 2002 is truly historic for Cannery Row! Not only is it the 100th birthday of literary great John Steinbeck, who immortalized Cannery Row in his 1945 masterpiece Cannery Row and its sequel Sweet Thursday (1954), it is also the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Cannery Row's first canning operation. In 1902, Japanese entrepreneur Otosaburo Noda and Harry Malpas founded the first canning operation on Ocean View Avenue, officially renamed Cannery Row in 1958. Monterey was once known as the "Sardine Capital of the World", but the bay's sardines mysteriously disappeared in the late 1940's. Since then, Cannery Row has been transformed into a unique village of fine restaurants, hotels, visitor attractions and eclectic shops, which rate as one of the Monterey Peninsula's top destinations. To celebrate its centennial, Cannery Row will play host to a variety of events including a weekly Sweet Thursday lecture series with live music by Dixieland Monterey, Penguin Book's official re-release party for Steinbeck's America and Americans, merchant specials and a year-end sweepstakes. For a complete listing of events, log onto: www.canneryrow.com, www.canneryrow.org or contact Cannery Row's official historian, Michael Hemp, at 831.648.8132.