Sunnyvale, California: Fruit Cocktail Can Water Tower
Once a symbol for the old Libby's cannery (in 1922 it was the world's largest). The water tower resembles the company's first fruit cocktail can. Heritage landmark plaque at the base.
Sunnyvale Business Park
- Address:
- 490 W. California Ave., Sunnyvale, CA
- Directions:
- West of N Mathilda Ave at California Ave.
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The area around the water town actually looks like offices. There is a private property sign. I drove right up to the tower though and no one said anything. There is a cute little park surrounding the tower.
[CS, 04/08/2013]
On California Ave., it was the water tower for the old Libby's cannery, which legend says, is where fruit cocktail was invented. The tower is probably about 150 up in the air, with the 'can' about 25 feet tall, 15 feet across.
When the cannery was torn down, the water tower was spared. The city named it a local historical landmark. I've been told the Federal Aviation Administration also stressed the importance of the landmark, citing its use as a navigational landmark. The can is now painted with the label of a generic can of fruit cocktail.
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June 2002 - Elizabeth Herndon sent us a photo and added this note: "I humbly protest that the repainting of the water tower was not made over as a 'generic' can of fruit cocktail; I remember the hollering that local historians made when the funky '70s-era can was painted over so we had a normal water tower (the cannery was a big part of Sunnyvale's identity as a town for 100 years or so). They put up a big enough fuss to make sure that the repainting was made to represent the first Libby's label."