Blue Channel Corporation

Front: In 1939, the Blue Channel Corporation opened a crab canning factory on this site. Founded by inventor Sterling Harris, the company worked with food scientist Dr. Carl Fellers to patent a process that eliminated the blue coloration of canned Atlantic blue crab meat without altering its flavor. The company kept principal offices in Beaufort and briefly operated on Lady’s Island before moving here to Port Royal and expanding. Reverse: For years, Blue Channel was the nation’s top producer of Atlantic blue crab and one of the largest crab packing firms in the country. The crabs processed here were caught and picked primarily by African American men and women of the local Gullah community, who had long crabbed and fished along the Sea Islands. Blue Channel moved its canning operations to the Beaufort Industrial Park in 1978 and closed in 1990.