Run by the Astoria Packing Company, of which Marshall J. Kinney was president, the complex quickly became the "largest and most extensive salmon-packing establishment on the Pacific Coast".

By 1904, the complex supported three production lines; Kinney continued cannery operations until the 1920s when it was primarily used as a central machine shop and warehouse for the Columbia River Packers Association.

[5] During 1881 the complex, then referred to as the "largest and most extensive salmon-packing establishment on the Pacific Coast", reportedly packed 26,000 cases of salmon.

[5] According to the Chief of Engineers of the United States Army, as printed in the Annual Report of the Secretary of War (1890), the cannery packed 7,500 cases of salmon worth nearly $40,000 during the season of 1887.

On the west side stood a 200' x 170' wood frame warehouse which, after 1910, housed the machine shop and stored cannery equipment, cans and labels, and marine engines.

The complex continued cannery operations until the 1920s when it was primarily used as a central machine shop and warehouse for the Columbia River Packers Association.