Zeballos (; population: 107) is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

located on the northwest coast 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 ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. Zeballos is now known for its

ecotourism Ecotourism is a form of nature-oriented tourism intended to contribute to the Ecological conservation, conservation of the natural environment, generally defined as being minimally impactful, and including providing both contributions to conserv ...

and

sport fishing Recreational fishing, also called sport fishing or game fishing, is fishing for leisure, exercise or competition. It can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is occupational fishing activities done for profit; or subsistence fishing, ...

Location and geography

Zeballos is a deep-sea port surrounded by rugged mountains and forests, located on the Zeballos River delta, at the end of Zeballos Inlet within the territory of the Ehattesaht Chinehkint First Nation. It is accessible from Highway 19, about a two and half hour drive north of Campbell River. Zeballos' position relative to nearby

Nootka Sound Nootka Sound () is a sound of the Pacific Ocean on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, in the Pacific Northwest, historically known as King George's Sound. It separates Vancouver Island and Nootka Island, part of the Canadian province of ...

and

Kyuquot Sound Kyuquot Sound is a complex of coastal inlets, bays and islands on northwestern Vancouver Island in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia. The sound is named after the Kyuquot/Cheklesahht First Nation, Kyuqu ...

make it a popular "jump-off" point for tourists and anglers. Other areas of interest include

Nootka Island Nootka Island (; ) is the largest island off the west coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. It is in area. It is separated from Vancouver Island by Nootka Sound and its side-inlets, and is located within Electoral Area A of t ...

, Fair Harbour, a 35 km (22 mi) trip by unpaved road from Zeballos, and Brooks Peninsula Provincial Park.

History

The eponymous inlet was named for Lt. Ciriaco Ceballos, a crew member aboard an early ship of Tuscan explorer

Alessandro Malaspina Brigadier Alejandro Malaspina (November 5, 1754 – April 9, 1810) was a Spanish Navy officer and explorer. Under a Spanish royal commission, he undertook a voyage around the world from 1786 to 1788, then, from 1789 to 1794, a scientific expedit ...

's expedition (1789-1794). The location of Zeballos remained relatively obscure until over 120 years later, when a mining camp by that name emerged due to a

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

in the 1930s. The name became official as that of the local post office in 1946 and was incorporated as a village municipality in 1952. Although estimates vary, Zeballos may have had a population of over 5,000 during the peak of mining activity. Between 1938 and 1943, $13 million worth of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

bricks were shipped from Zeballos. Zeballosdock

With the onset of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Zeballos lost significant numbers of its workforce to the

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

. Eventually, the mines began to close. Although post-war efforts were made to begin production again, the set price of $35.00 an ounce made it uneconomical for the mines to continue operating. Within twenty years, the mines had closed for good. In the 1950s,

logging Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksiron mine Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's ou ...

was established. Although the

timber industry Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

proved successful for the community, the mine shut its doors just five years after opening. In 1964, the

Good Friday earthquake The 1964 Alaska earthquake, also known as the Great Alaska earthquake and Good Friday earthquake, occurred at 5:36 PM AKST on Good Friday, March 27, 1964.

and ensuing

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

brought destruction to the small coastal community. Charles Ford, a young seaplane pilot and resident of Zeballos, wrote: On April 27, 2004, the body of young resident Kayla John was found in a wooded area close to her home. The murder made national headlines, shaking this tiny community of under two hundred and fifty people. Less than one month after her death, a local man, George Osmond, was charged with the death of the thirteen-year-old girl. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison shortly thereafter. The fact that Kayla John was a member of the Ehattesaht First Nation, and that her alleged killer was a white man, led to suggestion of the crime having racial undertones. It also brought attention to the developing issue of juvenile delinquency in the area, a problem faced by many isolated, predominantly

First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...

communitie

The public's growing concern resulted in a locally organized policing initiative: Citizens on Patro

Demographics

In the 2021 Canadian census, 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Zeballos had a population of 126 living in 71 of its 109 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 107. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Economy

Today, the majority of the town's residents, along with the population of the two neighbouring Native reserves, Oculcje and Ehatis are employed in the

. Small businesses, specializing in

, sight-seeing,

commercial fishing Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for Commerce, commercial Profit (economics), profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice ...

and

oyster farming Oyster farming is an aquaculture (or mariculture) practice in which oysters are bred and raised mainly for their pearls, shells and inner organ tissue, which is eaten. Oyster farming was practiced by the ancient Rome, ancient Romans as early as the ...

also contribute to economic growth in the are

Miscellaneous

* Zeballos offers a multitude of outdoor adventures, such as hiking, wildlife viewing, caving, rock climbing, diving, kayaking and fishing. * Camping is available in several wilderness locations such as Little Zeballos, Lake Zeballos, and Iron Mine. * In Autumn, the Zeballos River draws

bear Bears are carnivoran mammals of the family (biology), family Ursidae (). They are classified as caniforms, or doglike carnivorans. Although only eight species of bears are extant, they are widespread, appearing in a wide variety of habitats ...

s and

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

s as spawning salmon struggle upstream.

References

External links

* * {{Coord, 49, 59, 0, N, 126, 50, 43, W, scale:60000, display=title Populated places in the Strathcona Regional District Villages in British Columbia Northern Vancouver Island