Cullman city officials and the McPhillips family helped unveil a historic marker on Second Avenue Southeast Friday, commemorating the former site of the old King Pharr Canning Company’s plant.

The McPhillips family brought King Pharr Canning Company, a major vegetable canning operation, to Cullman in 1946. It operated here until it closed in 1976 and in the process, became Cullman’s biggest employer.

Vegetables were canned at the plant and shipped nationwide. It canned and shipped thirty three vegetables nationally, including peas, green beans, Irish potatoes, okra, tomatoes, pimentos, sweet potatoes, and blackberries. Headquartered in Cullman, the company also had plants in Selma, Uniontown, Georgia and Louisiana.

At its peak in 1959, King Pharr had over 2,000 individual growers on contract and produced 30,000,000 cans annually. King Pharr’s impact on the local economy was enormous, officials said.

“The King Pharr Canning Company was a big part of our community for many years and was the first industry in Cullman,” Cullman Mayor Max Townson said. “We are pleased to have this marker placed on this site so that future generations will remember this important piece of Cullman’s history.”

Co-founder Warren McPhillips, who served as president of King Pharr from 1959-1976, was among the family members on hand to participate in the marker’s unveiling.

Townson thanked the McPhillips family for all of their contributions to the community and shared his own personal recollections of the King Pharr Canning Company. Others present also shared what they remembered about the company including the pleasant smells of the vegetables as they were being processed.

Julian McPhillips, speaking on behalf of the McPhillips family, thanked Townson and the City Council for allowing the marker to be placed at the site. Townson promised it would be well cared for, and that the area around the sign will be improved so that visitors can look at the sign and reflect on the company and its importance to Cullman’s history.

The marker reads: In 1946, the McPhillips family brought King Pharr Canning Company, a major vegetable canning operation to Cullman. Led by chairman Julian B. McPhillips of Mobile, and his two sons Julian L. McPhillips and W. Warren McPhillips (returning from Navy service in the Pacific), the local plant became Cullman’s biggest employers, ultimately employing up to 400 people locally, many hundreds more indirectly in harvesting crops, and over 1000 employees in all its plants.

The marker was jointly contributed to, in equal shares by: Susan and W. Warren McPhillips, Jr., of Atlanta; Linda and John S. McPhillips of Cullman; Louise and Frank D. McPhillips, Sr., of Birmingham; Leslie and Julian L. McPhillips, Jr., of Montgomery and grandsons of Julian and Lilybel McPhillips, and their spouses.

The marker is also supported by granddaughters Sandy McPhillips Pitre of Sante Fe, New Mexico; Frances McPhillips Brownlee or Chicago, Illinois; Libby McPhillips of Scottsdale, Arizona; Betsy McPhillips Williams of Chesapeake, Virginia; Mary Morrow McPhillips of Birmingham and Emily McPhillips Otis of Gardendale.

Tiffeny Owens can reached by towens@cullmantimes.com or by phone at 256-734-2131.