The Canner’s Steam Plant was one of many facilities built on Terminal Island after World War II, as the seafood canning industry boomed at the Port of Los Angeles. Five canneries in the area had grown so successful that they needed their own plant to provide steam for cooking and canning. They formed the Canner’s Steam Company cooperative and built the plant in 1951.

Generating steam from a single source enhanced the canning process and helped increase efficiency throughout Fish Harbor. The participating canneries were French Sardine Co. (Star-Kist); Van Camp Seafood Co. (Chicken of the Sea); California Marine Curing and Packing Co.; South Coast Fisheries Inc.; and Terminal Island Sea Foods, Ltd.

The building’s simple design features a low, pitched roof and a continuous ribbon of windows along the front façade to cast natural light into the interior. It remains largely intact and is a critical link to Los Angeles’ once-mighty canning industry.