People uprooted from Alert Bay (12)

Alert Bay, a seasonal gathering place for the ʼNa̱mǥis First Nation, was established as a village by non-Indigenous settlers in 1865. In 1870, a small salmon saltery was built which operated until 1941. In 1881, a store and cannery were built, and a sawmill was established between 1886-1887. By 1896, a weekly steamship transported passengers and freight.

Tsuruzo Kawaguchi and Hirokichi Shintani co-owned the T.K. & H.S. Boat Shop Company in Alert Bay’s shipyard. Baseball games were played regularly with community members from nearby Englewood and Sointula. The Alert Bay sawmill was in operation until 1928 when BC Packers Ltd. changed its packaging from wood to cardboard. From 1930 until 1942, Katsuo Minakawa was the only barber in the community.