In 1898, Ann’s Grandfather, E.E. Harris; his cousin, R.L. Harris; and one of Matthew’s cousins, R.M. Chatham, started the Elkin Canning Company in the barn outside his house on West Main Street. The company canned fruit brought in by local farmers — mostly blackberries. Markets developed rapidly and, within a few years, the canning operation was moved to the basement of the building at 125 West Main Street in historic downtown Elkin.

During the peak years, as many as 20,000 cans of blackberries per year were shipped to the coal miners of West Virginia, who considered blackberries in their lunch pails as good luck when they went underground to mine coal. T.H. Eidson, a resident of Elkin, invented a special canning machine used by the Elkin Canning Company.

The company operated until the early 1920's when it closed. One of the original labeled cans, a label and a poster of the blackberry label, are on display in the tasting room. The Blackberry, Raspberry, and Boysenberry wine labels were all developed from the original blackberry canning label.

Today, Brushy Mountain Winery continues in the tradition and spirit of the old Elkin Canning Company at 125 West Main — taking fruit from local farmers and artfully transforming it into wines of excellence

125 West Main Street • Historic Downtown Elkin, NC • (336) 835-1313

WINTER HOURS (starting January)
Open Friday and Saturday Noon–5:00 pm, except by appointment