Aberdeen Cannery

In 1878 Aberdeen Cannery was built and it operated until 1902. Regrettably, no pictures of the cannery are available. There is very little photography of the Skeena River between the 1860’s and 1902.

In 1895, the cannery was destroyed by fire. It was re-built and put out a salmon pack in 1896.

According to a news report in the Victoria Daily Times, there was a fire at the Aberdeen Cannery on Nov 19, 1900. See the article below.

In 1902 another fire destroyed the cannery, and this time it was not rebuilt. Instead of rebuilding the Aberdeen Cannery they built the Oceanic Cannery on Smith Island.

In 1901 the Dominion Government constructed a telegraph line east along the Skeena to Aberdeen Cannery where the line headed north to Port Simpson. There was a telegraph station at Aberdeen, even after the cannery was destroyed by fire. Robert Donaldson was the operator and he was responsible for delivering the telegrams in the area to Port Essington and other settlements. The telegraph station was later moved to Haysport.

After being purchased by several companies the site reverted to the Crown in 1939.