PORT ESSINGTON

PORT ESSINGTON

Is a former salmon cannery and forestry community, located at the junction of the Skeena and Ecstall Rivers. It was established as a campsite and homebase for the Kitsumkalum, Kitselas, and Tsimshian First Nations, who knew it as Spokeshute or Spukshut which meant “autumn camping place” in Tsimshian language. In 1871, a fur trader by the name of Robert Cunningham (1835-1905), a Irish-born entrepreneur, founded Port Essington established a Hudson’s Bay Company trading post which in turn, developed into a small village. In its heyday and glory, Port Essington was once home to 12 salmon canneries and even had its own sawmill and was even a stopover point for steamboats operating on the Skeena River, but was only accessible by anything that travels over water and had only wooden streets. Port Essington also flourished during many fishing periods and boasted hotels, restaurants, stores, had its own red light district. Between 1906 and 1910, The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was constructed on the north of the river and brought massive economic activity and had peak population of 2,000 residents. However, the town’s life died when the railway chose Prince Rupert as its main terminus and basically abandoned the community of Port Essington. Fires in both 1961 and 1965 destroyed the last buildings and as of today only charred fragments remain of the community of Port Essington.