10/09/2026
I thought everyone would be interested in this great history of our little town of Port McNeill. If you haven't seen it or read it, it is a great short read.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid034vTVVqKA9LgRcKUGjE6n4Pemsirj5yWjDrpJe6i8SQcuaZaHh6tQ2QpFVCCejBHzl&id=100064390974085
Port McNeill - 1939
Tara Sowchuk Nelson has generously shared this photograph which belonged to her grandparents, Emil and Esther Pazarena, and previously to her great grandparents, Otto Luck and Jennie Mateoja, who moved to Sointula with their families in about 1910.
Port McNeill lies within the traditional territory of the Kwakiutl and 'Namgis First Nations. The Kwakiutl traditionally used the area at the head of the McNeill Harbour called Pulkhukglalis (meaning thin beach at hind end) as a village site and fishing station.
In the late 1830s this location was an important strategic trading place between the Hudson's Bay Company and local First Nations. In 1837 and 1838 the Steamship Beaver obtained over 500 beaver pelts from First Nations in McNeill Harbour. It is also believed that while anchored in the harbour the crew went ashore to cut firewood. The harbour was surveyed by the Royal Navy's ship Plumper in 1860.
During the latter part of the 1800s and early 1900s McNeill Harbour was a prime location to hunt deer and fowl. By the 1920s a number of loggers were operating in the area.
In the 1930s McNeill Harbour began to attract the attention of larger forestry interests. By 1936 a camp had been set up on the beach by three partners: Storey, Hoy, and Chisnall.
In 1937 Pioneer Timber Company established a logging camp near the present site of the Port McNeill waterfront. Pioneer Timber had started on Malcolm Island in 1933 and logged at Rough Bay. The camp was floated to McNeill from Malcolm Island and included bunk houses for 250 single men and a few families, a washhouse and a cookhouse. About the time Pioneer Timber was moving to Port McNeill, the N.S. McNeil Trading Company, a subsidiary of a Japanese firm, bought up private land to the West of Port McNeill and began to log.
By 1939 this company had contracted its logging operations to C&A Logging (owned by Phelan Cyr and Bob Allan). Situated on the southwest side of the bay, C&A Logging established a camp for about 60 loggers and other associated staff.
For more North Island history check out the Undiscovered Coast blog: http://undiscoveredcoast.blogspot.com/2012/12/port-mcneill.html
