John Cain American Can Company Building Collection

John L. Cain was a Democrat who served as Baltimore's 1st District City Councilman from 1991 to 2004. Representing the Canton neighborhood, he angered local businessmen by siding with community organizers and grassroots activists in the Waterfront Coalition over commercial redevelopment in Southeast Baltimore. A graduate of Baltimore City College and Concordia Collegiate Institute, Cain served in the U.S. Army and was a radio news director and editor of the East Baltimore Guide. He passed away January 17, 2020.

[Information for this historical note was gathered from a 1995 Baltimore Sun newspaper article and the website www.baltimorehon.com]

In 1895, the Norton Tin Can and Plate Company built their factory at Boston & Hudson Streets in Baltimore City's southeast waterfront district. By 1901 the site was acquired by the American Can Company and after merging with the Sanitary Can Company of New York, became the largest manufacturer of cans in the United States. Additional buildings were constructed on the site to keep up with production through the 1960s. A merger with the National Can Company in the 1980s closed the factory and left the site vacant, with failed attempts by Baltimore City government to rehabilitate the parcel. After a portion of the site was acquired by Safeway grocery store in 1994, the remaining 4.3 acres was purchased in 1997 by the Can Company LLC. Redevelopment of the complex as a mixed-use retail and commercial hub was completed by Struever Brothers, Eccles, and Rouse in 1998. MCB Real Estate purchased the site from Struever Brothers for 42.9 million dollars in 2017.

[Information for this historical note was gathered from the Explore Baltimore Heritage website, the Library of Congress Historic American Engineering Record, and an April 12, 2018 article from Baltimore Business Journal.]