Fruit processors shape Traverse City's downtown, history

TRAVERSE CITY — Fruit trees blossom and warm breezes sweep up from the south: It's May in Northern Michigan. Fruit from those trees will either be eaten whole, or processed into a variety of tempting foods.

In the 21st century processing facilities usually are located around the edges of urban areas, including around Traverse City. But well into the 20th century, much local processing was done in four plants which stood within the city limits.

Area residents have vivid memories of those plants. They remember riding the "Big Trucks," dumping lug after lug of cherries, and sorting fruit on ever-moving conveyor belts. The work could be strenuous, wet and cold. But at least for some, it also served up camaraderie and fond memories.

The four plants included Morgan-McCool, the T.C. Canning Company, F & M Packing and Cherry Growers, Inc.

Morgan-McCool traced its roots to the John C. Morgan Company, founded in Lakeside, MI in 1877. Morgan opened a Traverse City branch in 1891, leasing a cider mill from Perry Hannah. In 1895 he decided to move his entire operation to Traverse City, and built his own plant on the land that is today's Open Space.

Trucks delivering produce to the Morgan plant would line up, stringing south along Union Street. This industry routine repeated itself across the city.

"I remember as a young kid the excitement of riding to town with my dad on the trip from near Bowers Harbor, mostly to Morgan-McCool, in what we referred to as the "Big Truck." Loaded down with the day's harvest of cherries, we would wait in a line of what seemed like 100 other farmers and their "BIG TRUCKS " for the guy to scoop samples of cherries from various lugs. Then he would disappear, but shortly return with a piece of paper with a grade for the quality of the fruit. Then the line of trucks slowly edged forward and was unloaded," recalled Gregory Buchan.

The Morgan company merged with F & M Packing in 1965, becoming Morgan-McCool, Inc. By the early 1970s it was obvious that fruit processing polluted the bay. The Morgan land was sold to Tempo Construction and the plant moved to Cass Street. The bayside buildings were torn down in the spring of 1973.

F & M Packing had opened in 1930, stretching along the north side of East State Street between Railroad Avenue and Hope Street. Today that space hosts quiet condominiums. Bob Walton grew up in Traverse City and has vivid memories of working at F & M in the summer of 1967.

"I feared the tall guy in boxing. He was a sniper with a thrown cherry. You would be crossing the courtyard, not a care in the world and suddenly a hard sting on your cheek followed by laughter from a low window. You never knew when you were in his sights," Walton recalled.

He also remembers falling into one of the rinsing vats.

"Wooden planks over the tanks allowed the worker, in this case me, to strategically position a 4-inch hose, and oneself, and rinse the cherries. Some acrobatics were needed. Also there were steam pipes here and there in the attic spaces. All were insulated except that one over the tanks. A moment came where I reached out to steady myself and grabbed that hot naked steam pipe. Quickly reacting to the pain, I lost my balance and fell into the approximately 8-foot-deep vat. Luckily, the water was about the temperature of cold tap water. While chilled, I was able to swim to the side and pull myself out," Walton said.

Tom Lhamon briefly worked at T.C. Canning. As in all the processing facilities, water was a permeating presence. Rinsing vats were filled with splashing water, cherries were moved in water, and water hosed away the sticky juices dripping from the pitting machines.

"It was the coldest, wettest job I ever had," declared Lhamon.

T.C. Canning was the second of the four facilities to open, beginning operations in 1903. Some of its buildings still stand, stretching between Cass Street and Lake Avenue on the north side of Eighth Street. They have been the home of Thirlby Automotive since 1972.

Mary Brown-McChrystal and her college roommate worked there in the summer of 1971.

"I sat at a moving belt line full of pitted cherries. There were two long benches of women facing each other. Our job was to pull out random stems, leaves and pits. Only women worked sorting cherries. The men, much fewer in numbers, ran the equipment and supervised the operation. No one wore gloves. Our hands turned purple and stayed that way all summer. My roommate was a bridesmaid in a wedding and had dyed purple hands," recalled Brown-McChrystal.

Kathleen Hayes also started out working at the conveyor belt, but the constant movement gave her motion sickness. Luckily, the management found her other work, first in the cafeteria kitchen and then at the end of the line. There she put cherries in gold covered tins, making sure the proper number were added to each container.

The fourth processing plant, Cherry Growers, Inc., opened in 1930. However, its "founding" was actually a reorganization of the Grand Traverse Packing Company, which had opened in 1921. Cherry Growers operated where Northwestern Michigan College's Great Lakes Campus now sits.

NMC purchased, and began moving tech classes into, parts of the Cherry Growers’ Front Street complex in 1968. Then in 1969 the Great Lakes Maritime Academy was established, and it occupied many of the rest of the buildings. Those buildings were torn down and replaced by the Great Lakes Campus complex in 2003.

New vistas, new businesses, new buildings. Major changes have come to the Traverse City locations that once hosted fruit processing plants.

But memories of hard work, and even some fun, remain.

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