
Fire had destroyed the Kaysville Cannery in September of 1923 at a loss of nearly $150,000. Most of the records were saved, but the tomato season finished by sending wagon loads to the other cannery in Kaysville.
The following spring a new factory was built where the old one had burned down. This time it was made of brick and was much larger. John A. Barnes and Barnes Company became the new owners.
Ole Sessions, a son of Esther Sessions, was hired and in 1924 was the overseer of the Barnes Estate and manager of operations at the new factory. Mr. Sessions held this position for 35 years until the factory shut down, but he continued to look after the Barnes’ interest.
The new factory was completed and began operation in September 1935. Machinery was driven by a steam engine. There were two boilers heated by coal. The factory had three wells supplying water for the steam boilers and cooking. They were located at the back where a cement holding pond was also located.
During the Tomato Campaign over 150 people worked in the factory, most of them were women who peeled the tomatoes. The factory provided many with employment when times were bad during the depression years. For several years peas, apricots and other produce were processed in the Syracuse factory.
During World War II the factory could not keep up with the demand. During the 1960’s farm acreage, peas and tomatoes diminished in Syracuse. Local factories were closed, some never reopened. The Barnes-Kaysville cannery was no exception. After waiting several years the factory structure was sold to G.H. Dredge Company as a warehouse for storage. Part of the land was also sold to C.H. Dredge for a trucking firm. Utah Onion bought the segment of C.H. Dredge Company in 1977 with Jerry Hartley as President, Dick Hirabayashi as Vice President and Brent Bodily as Secretary. They had approximately 25 growers with 5 to 20 acres in Davis/Weber and Box Elder counties with packing sheds in Syracuse and Corinne.
In 2005 Brad Dahl, Shawn Hartley and Trent Hartley bought the company. In 2017 a new modern facility was built and changed the name to Onions 52. Approximately 100 people are employed during the busy season and handle one million bags of onions each year.