LOUISA COUNTY, IOWA

The Republican Centennial Edition, Wapello, Louisa County, Iowa
Thursday, July 12, 1956, Section Three, Page 53
Transcribed by Shirley Plumb, July 1, 2019

THE BAXTER CANNING COMPANY
Picture of factory

    Back in the 1890’s, Wapello had the Baxter Brothers Canning Company located out on the highway where Dearmin, the sale barn, Pine Motors and Wilson Implement are today.

    As long as the placed operated, it was a wonderful thing for the community as 250 people were employed and roughly another 1000 did contract growing of vegetables for them.

    According to a record of 1898 of the company, they packed 1,700,000 cans of sweet corn, 75, 000 cans of tomatoes, 50,000 cans of squash, 20,000 cans of beans and 25,000 cans of succotash.

    There was an investment of $20,000 in the most modern canning machinery of the times and the factory had a capacity of 100,000 cans a day, however, the largest day’s run was 98,3000.