Departure Bay
Departure Bay lies on the east coast of
Vancouver Island, in the city of
Nanaimo. This area is part of the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw Peoples who have
lived on this land for thousands of years. The location of Departure Bay was one of
the main Snuneymuxw winter village sites.
After European settlement, Departure Bay became a hub for coal mining. According
to this
despatch, the Harewood Railway Company Act,
1864 enabled the construction of a tramway that stretched from the coal mines to Departure
Bay, this line was completed by the Harewood Colliery Company Limited -- in which
Robert Dunsmuir was a significant member.
With the dwindling of coal mines, in 1892 the Hamilton Power Company -- responsible for manufacturing nitroglycerine (an explosive
chemical used in dynamite) -- expanded their company and opened a second plant in
the Departure Bay area. The explosives created at the plant were used by miners, farmers,
and local contractors; as well as shipped from the dock at Departure Bay to elsewhere.
It is possible that dynamite was manufactured here until the mid-1980s.
Today Departure Bay is known for being the location of the Pacific Biological Station,
operated by the government of Canada. It should be noted that this station stands
in the place where Indigneous longhouses, of the Snuneymuxw group, used to stand.