Step into the Cannery District and feel the innovation, community, and bustling modern industrialism of Bozeman’s most vibrant commercial, retail, and residential community.
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The still-standing original steel water tower is symbolic of the Cannery District’s roots in old Bozeman, overlooking the original canning warehouse, powerhouse and canning building.
Originally it was used as a water source for an early 1900s fire suppression system.
Peas that please
Over a century ago, the Bozeman Canning Company produced more than 75% of the nation’s pea supply. Original buildings from more than a century ago still stand and have been adaptively redesigned into shops, restaurants, gyms, and more.
The history of the Cannery District
1912: Peas for a Nation
In 1912, the Gallatin Valley was known as the “pea capital of the nation,” producing 75% of the nation’s crop.
The Bozeman Canning Company was founded in 1917 and opened in the summer of 1918, canning peas, beans, and carrots. Between 3,000 and 3,500 acres were contracted by three to four growers to feed the cannery. On average the facility produced 13,000 cases of peas each day.
1918: Peas that Please
They were marketed as “peas that please” and distributed across the nation with brand names such as “Gallatin Valley” and “Bridger Canyon.” The cannery was open 15-20 hours a day during peak harvest, employing 250-275 people. Because of the selective service draft during World War II, high school students and housewives were the backbone of the cannery workforce along with retirees, migrant workers, the not yet drafted, and hoboes.
Two wage scales existed – $0.40/hour for unskilled jobs and $0.55/hour for jobs requiring skill or heavy lifting.
2005: Redevelopment begins
Development begins on the Cannery District.
The goal: adaptively reuse the old granary and pea canning buildings into a vibrant hub of businesses, shop, restaurants, and more.​
2014: Cannery District expands its footprint
After successfully redesigning and leasing the granary and warehouse buildings, the Cannery team tackled the original core of the cannery processing buildings – The Canning Building, the Cannery Office Complex, the Canning Warehouse and the original Powerhouse building.
All these buildings were over 100 years old and required extensive modernization while considering the historic industrial agricultural “feel” of the overall complex.
2024: Bozeman’s vibrant hub of community and innovation
Cannery District pays homage to the original buildings through thoughtful design, transitioning the structures into functional, modern iterations of what they were more than a century ago.
Visit the Cannery District, Bozeman’s most historic and vibrant community.
