Cannery Row was a working fish street before it became a visitor street

Cannery Row is easy to meet as a visitor street, with hotels, restaurants, shops, and the aquarium nearby. The older story is louder and messier: fishing boats, canneries, workers, fish meal, sardines, and the smell of an industrial waterfront.

During World War II, Monterey became known as the Sardine Capital of the World. Within a few years, the waterfront industry faded for lack of sardines. That quick rise and fall is one reason the street still feels layered instead of simple.

John Steinbeck helped make the name famous with his 1945 book “Cannery Row.” The real waterfront also included Ed Ricketts, whose marine lab helped shape the area’s scientific story. Later, the Monterey Bay Aquarium opened in the old Hovden Cannery site.

The street’s name is part of the change. Ocean View Avenue was officially renamed Cannery Row in 1958. That switch says a lot: the place kept its working past in the name, even as it slowly became a new kind of waterfront.