North Pacific Cannery was built in 1889 and continued to operate for 80 years. It is the only surviving cannery on the north west coast, and is now a National Historic Site. Most of the buildings survive to this day as the following photos will show. At one time it boasted a cold storage plant, a can-making factory that supplied many other canneries, a Smith Butchering machine, (still on site) two fish knives, two clinchers, five cooking retorts, a reduction plant to process fish meal and oil from fish offal, and housing for Chinese, Japanese and Indigenous workers. At its peak it had four canning lines.
On July 6, 1891, while doing a census in the area, Fred Greer recorded that a slide came down from behind North Pacific Cannery, carrying away three or four houses, killing 10 people and injuring several others.
North bank of Inverness Passage near entrance to Skeena River
1889
1968
Cannery Layout from 1915:
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North Pacific Cannery salmon can label Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery dock Courtesy Gladys Blyth Fonds and Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
North Pacific Cannery Courtesy Mitchell Family Fonds and Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
North Pacific Cannery some docks under construction Courtesy Gladys Blyth and Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site, the Smith Butchering machine that was able to remove the head, tail, fins, guts from a fish in about 1 second. It replaced 10 Chinese butchers that had done the work. Photo by Charlie LeRoss
North Pacific Cannery machine shop and net loft building. Courtesy Gladys Blyth and Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
North Pacific Cannery Courtesy Fred Jeffery and Northern BC Archives, UNBC
North Pacific Cannery and working dock Courtesy Gladys Blyth and Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
North Pacific Cannery Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery, canning label from the Anglo British Columbia Packing Co which purchased the cannery. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery winter time with ice in the river. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery, canning label from the Anglo British Columbia Packing Co which purchased the cannery. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery working on the nets Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery with First Nation housing in the background and tanks on the dock containing bluestone solution which was used to treat the cotton and linen nets to help preserve them. Not required when nylon replaced the cotton and linen. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery, canning label from the Anglo British Columbia Packing Co which purchased the cannery. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery, canning label from the Anglo British Columbia Packing Co which purchased the cannery. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery 1936, Wrathall Photo and Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
North Pacific Cannery, canning label from the Anglo British Columbia Packing Co which purchased the cannery. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery Indigenous Housing Courtesy Dr R G Large and Prince Rupert City and Regional Archives
North Pacific Cannery, canning label from the Anglo British Columbia Packing Co which purchased the cannery. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site, fuel dock which they hope to rebuild and connect to the main building. Photo by Charlie LeRoss
North Pacific Cannery, canning label from the Anglo British Columbia Packing Co which purchased the cannery. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery, canning label from the Anglo British Columbia Packing Co which purchased the cannery. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site, Fish reduction plant storage tanks on the left and the Managers House on the right. Photo by Charlie LeRoss
North Pacific Cannery, canning label from the Anglo British Columbia Packing Co which purchased the cannery. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site, main canning building. Photo by Charlie LeRoss
North Pacific Cannery, canning label from the Anglo British Columbia Packing Co which purchased the cannery. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific Cannery National Historic Site, Photo by Charlie LeRoss
North Pacific Cannery, canning label from the Anglo British Columbia Packing Co which purchased the cannery. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific National Historic Site Government of Canada plaque. Photo by Charlie LeRoss
North Pacific Cannery, canning label from the Anglo British Columbia Packing Co which purchased the cannery. Courtesy BC Archives
North Pacific National Historic Site. Photo by Charlie LeRoss
A contract between “Chinese Boss” and the cannery to provide services for a canning season at North Pacific Cannery Courtesy University of BC Rare Books Collection
Sources:
Blyth, Gladys Young, Salmon Canneries British Columbia North Coast, 1991
