Milford Museum to host talk on Delmarva’s canning industry legacy

The Milford Museum will continue its American History Series on Saturday, May 10, with a deep dive into one of the region’s most important agricultural legacies: the canning industry.

The presentation, led by agricultural historian and former Delaware Secretary of Agriculture Ed Kee, will take place at 1:00 p.m. at the Milford Public Library.

For more than a century, the Delmarva Peninsula and Baltimore were at the heart of the nation’s canned food industry. From the 1840s through the 1940s, canneries dotted the landscape, transforming the area into a major hub of food processing.

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By the end of the 19th century, Maryland boasted more than 387 canneries, while Delaware had 49—growing to 111 by 1919. At its peak, Delaware’s canning industry employed over 1,800 workers.

Locally, Milford was home to as many as eight canneries operating well into the 1960s.

Other towns like Frederica, Harrington, Bridgeville, Lincoln City, and Milton also played a role, with most canneries specializing in tomatoes. Nearly every town in Kent and Sussex Counties hosted a facility.

However, as competition from states like California increased, the industry began to decline.

Today, four vegetable processing firms still operate in the region—two in Delaware, one in New Jersey, and one in Maryland—processing crops like peas, lima beans, and sweet corn. Of the four, three are now freezing operations, and just one continues canning.

Ed Kee brings a wealth of experience and scholarship to the discussion.

With a career that includes three decades at the University of Delaware Cooperative Extension and two terms as Delaware’s Secretary of Agriculture, Kee has authored more than 30 scholarly articles and five books on agricultural history.

He was instrumental in founding LEAD Delaware and helped create the Delaware Young Farmers Program, which offers 0% interest loans to beginning farmers.

The event is free and open to the public. It is part of a monthly series sponsored by the Milford Museum and funded by the Delaware Heritage Commission. Each program focuses on topics in local, state, or national history and is held on the second Saturday of the month at the Milford Public Library, located at 11 S.E. Front Street.