ALERT BAY

ALERT BAY

Is a small community ,located on Cormorant Island an island off northeast coast of Vancouver Island about 300 kilometers north of Vancouver. It history dates back to when it was a seasonal gathering place for the Namgis (Nimpkish) First Nations people. A.W. Huson and his associated partners established a store and saltery for preserving salmon in 1870. They also encouraged and recommended Reverend A.J. Hall to move his mission from Fort Rupert (near where Port Hardy presently sits), in order to push and promote First Nations’ Labour force to inhabit near the saltery. in 1880, he arrived and the Namgis moved their village from the mouth of the Nimpkish River and shortly afterward Alert Bay began booming with a hospital, sawmill, residential school, as well as a small salmon cannery. Alert Bay’s population declined during the decade of the 1960s and 1970s because of rapid growth of other Vancouver Island communities such as Campbell River, Nanaimo and Port Hardy. Tourism plays a huge part in Alert Bay’s economy as well as commercial fishing and serves as the only community on Cormorant Island. It gets its name from HMS Alert which a British Royal Navy warship vessel that took on a naval survey of the coast in the 1860s. There is museum that tells the story of Alert Bay’s history and the world’s tallest totem pole (53 meters tall) is located here. Alert Bay is incorporated and does have services for travelers despite being somewhat of a remote community, and that fact that it has a population of less than 600 residents.

ALERT BAY’S POPULATION: 584