With corporate headquarters in New York City, American Can was a major employer in Lubec’s economy for two-thirds of the Twentieth Century. The business, part time in its latter years, closed in 1972. The American Can Company was formed in 1901 by the merger of many small factories around the nation. Through the 1970s the company employed many thousands of people across the United States. The building in Lubec was demolished in 1995.