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James Baker was one of five sons of George Washington Baker. George Washington
Baker was a farmer, and as a farmer in the Harford County area, was also an "amateur" canner, canning vegetables and some fruit in his basement, and later in a canning house.
At that time (1860s), all canning was done by hand, to include the rolling of tin into cylinders, cooking and filling, and finally soldering the tops to the cans. Because of the hands-on aspect of the canning operation, there was a great deal of spoliage due to air leaks.
In the mid-1860s, George Washington Baker invented a machine that took rolls of tin
in one end, food in another, and out popped canned vegetables. This was the beginning
of the automated canning process. Soon after, Mr. Baker sold the patent to manufacturers
in Baltimore. Mr. Baker, and as a result, the sons, became millionaires.
In the stock market crash of 1929, the Bakers lost everything. The house stayed in the Baker family until 1979, even though the surrounding 80 acres were sold off parcel by
parcel between 1930 and 1965. The house was placed on the Maryland List of Historical sites in 1983, nominated for national status by the state in 1984, and accepted by the
U.S. Department of Interior on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1986.
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