ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
on the east shore of Shushartie Bay near the northeastern extremity of
Vancouver Island
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...
,
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...
.
Name origin
The settlement adopted the name of the bay, which the
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
conferred in 1838, while trading with First Nations. The name is an adaptation of a Kwakwaka'wakw word meaning "place possessing cockles". Shellfish abound on the extensive tidal flat at the head of the bay. In 1894, Rev. William Washington Bolton led an expedition from near Shushartie, across the northern parts to
Quatsino Sound
Quatsino Sound is a complex of coastal inlets, bays and islands on northwestern Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the northernmost of the five sounds that pierce the west coast of Vancouver Island, the others bei ...
, and then south to
Great Central Lake
Great Central Lake is a lake on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is located north of Sproat Lake and to the northwest of the city of Port Alberni. It is long, with an area of and mean depth of , to a maximum of , making it the s ...
.
External links
The SS ''Boscowitz'' was calling as early as 1902. In 1908, a
Union Steamship Company of British Columbia
The Union Steamship Company of British Columbia was a pioneer firm on coastal British Columbia. It was founded in November 1889 by John Darling, a director of the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand, and nine local businessmen. The company be ...
(Union SS) vessel arrived weekly. By the early 1910s, the Boscowitz Steamship Co (which became part of the Union SS) called weekly on the run up the east coast of Vancouver Island and the west coast of the mainland to
Prince Rupert
Prince Rupert of the Rhine, Duke of Cumberland, (17 December 1619 ( O.S.) 7 December 1619 (N.S.)– 29 November 1682 (O.S.) December 1682 (N.S) was an English-German army officer, admiral, scientist, and colonial governor. He first rose to ...
. During this era, cargo was unloaded at Shushartie for points west to Cape Scott. A weekly private launch trip to Fisherman's Bay (Fisherman's Cove) delivered such freight. The service also catered for passengers along the route.
A trail connected Shushartie and Cape Scott, some of which was of a wagon road standard during the early years. In 1910, a trail linking Shushartie west to
Strandby
Strandby is a coastal town in Denmark, located in Region Nordjylland. Its population was 2,301 as of 1 January 2025.Holberg to Cape Scott, San Josef Bay,
Sea Otter Cove
{{coord, 50, 40.74, N, 128, 20.74, W, region:CA_type:landmark, display=title
Sea Otter Cove is a remote place near the north-western end of Vancouver Island which has been part of Cape Scott Provincial Park since 1973. It is north of Mount St. Pa ...
and Shushartie, was completed in 1915.
Ships docked at a float in the middle of the bay, and craft as small as rowboats ferried passengers and freight to the shore. A later technique involved towing the float to shore for unloading. By the 1960s, the northbound supply boat along the east coast visited monthly.
Former community
In late 1894, six pioneers established a settlement known as the Canadian Co-operative Commonwealth. Four men lived in a log cabin, and a couple resided a little farther down the bay. More settlers were expected in the spring. A
rockslide
A rockslide is a type of landslide caused by rock failure in which part of the bedding plane of failure passes through compacted rock and material collapses ''en masse'' and not in individual blocks. Note that a rockslide is similar to an ava ...
pushed the cabin about into the bay. Three escaped with severe bruising, but Harry Kipling's leg was trapped beneath logs. To avoid drowning in the rising tide, Kipling consented to the amputation of his leg with an axe. He died the following afternoon. The missionary steamer ''Evangelist'' conveyed the survivors and Kipling's remains to
Alert Bay
Alert Bay is a village on Cormorant Island, near the town of Port McNeill on northeast Vancouver Island, in the Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada.
Demographics
In the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statist ...
, for passage on the ''Princess Louise'' to
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India
* Victoria (state), a state of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital
* Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...
.
In the winter of 1902/03, the ''Boscowitz'' was towing the Methodist steamer ''Glad Tidings'', when a bad leak added to engine troubles. The latter was beached at Shushartie for the storekeeper to pump out and make seaworthy, before collection on the former's next trip. In the interim, a fierce storm drove the ''Glad Tidings'' onto the rocks, where the unsalvageable wreck rested for years.
Jephther J. Skinner, the inaugural postmaster, served 1910–1934, a role commonly performed by a storeowner in such places. Among other enterprises, he ran a hotel, which opened in the early 1910s, and operated at least until 1930. The facility included longer term boarders.
In 1914, Skinner took over the Shushartie–Fisherman's Bay mail run, his series of boats manufactured by the local
joiner
Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, ...
y. Before relocating his shipping route to the west coast, Captain Peterson performed the contract. Skinner named few of his boats, because he was often shipwrecked in the rough seas while completing the monthly route. He once said: "We are on the right Island, but on the wrong end and 50 years too soon." He died ashore in 1934, but had specified a burial at sea, because he had evaded the ocean's attempts to take him many times.
The community population was 25 in 1918, 50 in 1927, 65 in 1930, 48 in 1939, 31 in 1940, and 62 in 1943.
When the post office closed in 1952, the general store likely closed at the same time. Over recent decades, the abandoned buildings within the community have collapsed among the tangle of blackberry vines.
Industry
Fishing
the Goletas Fish Co. operated a cannery 1914–1928. In 1923, Western Packers Ltd., then the Canadian Fishing Co., purchased the venture. On closure, the equipment moved to the
Bones Bay
Bones Bay is located inside the territorial properties of the Namgiis indigenous peoples on a bay the north side of West Cracroft Island in the Johnstone Strait region of the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada, on Clio Channel.
It is histor ...
Cannery.
The facility promoted the local salmon and halibut fishing industry. The cannery had its own general store for part of this time.
The presence of a fish buyer, at least from the mid-1930s to the late 1940s, indicates that fishing boats sold their coastal catches in the bay.
Forestry
Logging commenced as early as 1907. A sawmill/
joiner
Joinery is a part of woodworking that involves joining pieces of wood, engineered lumber, or synthetic substitutes (such as laminate), to produce more complex items. Some woodworking joints employ mechanical fasteners, bindings, or adhesives, ...
y operated from the early 1910s until the early 1950s. Logging continued in the area at least until the early 1960s.
Tourism
Nowadays, boat or floatplane provides the only eastern access to the North Coast Trail. During the summertime, a water taxi service operates from
Port Hardy
Port Hardy is a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada located on the north-east tip of Vancouver Island. Port Hardy has a population of 3,902 as of the 2021 census.
It is the gateway to Cape Scott Provincial Park, the North Coast Tr ...
to the trailhead on the western side of Shushartie Bay. The
Cape Scott Provincial Park
Cape Scott Provincial Park extends from Shushartie in the east, then westward around Cape Scott and south to San Josef Bay. This coastline comprises the northern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The provincial park is about northwest ...
extends along the northern tip of Vancouver Island from Shushartie Bay in the east, then westward around Cape Scott and south to San Josef Bay.