Platt and Company Oyster Packers

Platt and Company Oyster Packers. The Baltimore Museum of Industry is housed in Landra Beach Platt's 19th century oyster, fruit and vegetable cannery. Platt and Company built this facility in 1865 along the waterfront of Baltimore's industrial community of Locust Point. In the years after the Civil War, canning was a big business. In particular there was a high demand for Chesapeake Bay oysters. By 1880, the canning industry in Baltimore was processing over $10,000,000 of goods and employed close to 30,000 workers. Of the many canneries in operation, Platt's was one of the largest and most modern. This facility encompassed much of what is now the campus of the BMI, from present day Key Highway to the water, where boats were unloaded with oysters as well as fruits and vegetables to be canned., Originally built at the foot of Clement Street in 1865 by Landra Beach Platt., Composite two-story structure with a one-story shed toward the rear. The two-story façade features Italianate cornices and a corner turret., The one-story rear has a shed roof construction built with lateral bracing similar to that of 19th century barn construction., [Side of marker:] , The area surrounding the main entrance of the Museum is a two-story addition built around 1900. It is brick with metal casement windows on the east façade which are most likely not original to the structure. Originally there were two loading doors where the entrance is located. A railway once ran along the east side of the building. From this structure to the wharf were a variety of wooden sheds for preparing oysters and vegetables before they were packed in cans.