About Prince Rupert

If only Charles Melville Hays could have lived to see how Cow Bay in Prince Rupert, BC has become such a major dock for passenger cruise ships on their way to and from Alaska. Hays would be alive today if the RMS Titanic had been traveling in Prince Rupert’s harbour, the 3rd deepest natural harbour in the world and ice-free year round; instead, he and many others died in 1912 when the RMS Titanic passenger cruise ship struck an iceberg and sunk into the icy waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Prince Rupert’s deep, ice-free harbour and modern port facilities make it an important gateway for transporting passengers and goods across the Pacific Ocean. The city first developed as a transportation hub in the late 1800’s when it was chosen as an end-point for the Grand Truck Pacific Railway (GTR); the GTR was later purchased by the Government of Canada and merged with other railways to form the Canadian National Railway (CN) crown corporation. Prince Rupert has a history of being more than just a transportation hub: before it was founded in 1910, this tiny port city on Kaien Island was an attractive location for fur traders. However, since 1984 the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary has been protecting grizzly bears from hunters, tourists or any other threats to their existence. When the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) established a trading post at Prince Rupert in the late 19th Century, it was discovered that Prince Rupert had an abundance of something much more valuable than sea otter pelts or bear fur: salmon. Canneries such as the North Pacific Cannery in Port Edward, BC near Prince Rupert were the economic backbone of many coastal BC communities in the first half of the 20th Century but have since been closed. Of course, long before the white man arrived in Prince Rupert, the Tsimshian First Nations fished, hunted and carved beautiful totem poles that visitors can learn more about at the Museum of Northern BC. Today, according to the Statistics Canada 2006 Census, Prince Rupert has a population of 13,390 and a median family income of $56,670.

Charles Melville Hays

Hays founded Prince Rupert, and he saw the potential for it as a tourist destination. He dreamed of transforming the city’s harbour into a premier docking destination for passenger cruise ships, and in the early 19th Century he hired someone to build an Empress-style hotel in Prince Rupert. Though he died in 1912 when the RMS Titanic passenger cruise ship sank off the coast of Newfoundland, Hays’ importance to Prince Rupert is well-preserved today. There is a statue of Hays in front of Prince Rupert’s City Hall, a street named Hays Cove Circle and a school, Charles Hays Secondary School, which was opened in 1992. At the base of Mount Hays is an eighteen-hole golf course set amongst lush foliage and populated with an abundance of interesting wildlife.

Cow Bay

In 1908, farmers began unloading cows in Prince Rupert's bay and, as a result, it was renamed Cow Bay. Today, a steady stream of cruise ship passengers come ashore at the Northland Terminal, opened in 2004 at Cow Bay, not far from downtown Prince Rupert. Passengers on the ‘Norwegian Spirit’ cruise ship first docked at Prince Rupert in 2004 and, like many after them, likely spent the few available hours on land shopping in the Cow Bay Shopping District. There are also several restaurants and coffee shops to eat and chat at in Cow Bay, an area filled with restored heritage buildings and lots of character. The Prince Rupert Yacht Club building in Cow Bay, built in 1912, is thought to be one of the oldest yacht clubs in Canada.

Port of Prince Rupert

The Port of Prince Rupert has come a long way from its days as a venue for exporting pulp and timber for which it was first built in the 1970’s. Today, cruise ships, containers, grains, and coal arrive and depart from Prince Rupert’s various port terminals. The Port of Prince Rupert is ideally located at the apex of less congested rail and truck routes across western Canada that allow for the speedier delivery of goods to markets in North America’s mid-west. The port is an important economic engine for Prince Rupert and a major reason why the city is considered an international transportation hub: over 10 million metric tonnes of people and freight were welcomed in 2008 according to the Prince Rupert Port Authority’s 2008 Quarterly Performance Report.

Cruise Ship Terminal

Thanks to an important decision made by the Prince Rupert Port Authority several years ago, the Port of Prince Rupert has gone from experiencing hard economic times to setting new milestones for passenger traffic. In 2004, a new terminal was built to allow large cruise ships traveling between Alaska and Seattle to dock in Prince Rupert. An October 2008 Prince Rupert Port Authority press release, Port of Prince Rupert 2008 Cruise Season ‘Biggest Year Ever’ tells the story of how Prince Rupert has fulfilled Charles Melville Hays’ dream of becoming a major passenger cruise ship docking point. For the first time ever, more than 1,000 passengers came ashore in Prince Rupert to see its many attractions such as the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary in 2008.

Fairview Container Terminal

Passengers aren’t the only things arriving at the Port of Prince Rupert. Since the new Fairview Container Terminal was opened in 2007, more and more goods from Asia are offloaded in Prince Rupert. The container terminal occupies 59 acres and is the first dedicated ship-to-rail container terminal in North America; the Fairview Container Terminal handled over 1.8 metric tonnes of container cargo in 2008 alone.

Grain Terminal

It may be a small city, but Prince Rupert is sure to be a household name among growers of wheat and barley in the Canadian prairies. Prince Rupert’s grain terminal is the gateway through which Canadian grown wheat and barley is shipped to Asian markets; the Port of Prince Rupert is ice-free year round and has direct access to the fastest Pacific Ocean shipping routes. State of the art storage, loading and unloading capacity allow for 4,000 tonnes of wheat or barley to be loaded onto a ship every hour. Over 8.6 million metric tonnes of grain moved through the terminal in 2007 and 2008 combined.

Ridley Terminal

Shipping coal in an environmentally friendly manner may seem like a contradiction, however, that’s precisely what the Port of Prince Rupert’s Ridley Terminal does. State of the art water-dampened coal storage, closed loop drainage as well as vacuum and filtration technology allow the terminal to annually handle about 5 million metric tonnes of coal and other products. The Ridley Terminal’s year round, ice-free access to the fastest Pacific Ocean shipping lanes keep the export fires burning for Canadian miners of energy products.

Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary

Even grizzly bears need a place to get away from it all, and that’s why the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary was created in 1994. A popular attraction, this 45,000 hectares of protected wilderness located 40 kilometres northeast of Prince Rupert is home to approximately 50 grizzly bears. Only guided tours of the sanctuary are permitted so as not to disturb its wandering bears or rich wildlife population that includes wolves, harbour seals and owls. Grizzly bears much prefer the area’s dense rain forest to a hotel room, and the sanctuary has lots of berries, vegetation, and other foods not found at any five-star restaurant. Thanks to the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, Prince Rupert continues to have a ‘confined space of salmon and bears’ so appreciated by the Tsimshian First Nation.

North Pacific Cannery

Built in 1889, the North Pacific Cannery was always more than just that: at its peak, the cannery supported a community of 600-800 workers with onsite facilities such as bunkhouses, mess halls and a company store. Located about kilometres south of Prince Rupert in Port Edward, BC, the North Pacific Cannery processed salmon and other fish from the Skeena River until 1980. An absence of refrigerated boats in the 19th Century required that the cannery be built so that boats of salmon could be unloaded and canned as quickly as possible to prevent spoilage. As a result, visitors who tour this National Historic Site today have a perfect dock for launching a sea kayaking adventure or boat tour on the Skeena. There is also a hotel and restaurant to accommodate tired and hungry adventurers at the end of the day.

Tsimshian First Nations

The Tsimshian First Nations had lived for quite some time in what is now Prince Rupert when fur traders arrived in the latter part of the 19th Century. Today’s visitors are fortunate that these indigenous peoples lived through smallpox and other epidemics and make such an important contribution to the area today. Over 750 Tsimshian band members are registered with the Government of Canada’s Department of Indian and Northern Affairs according to its May 2007 publication Registered Indian Population by Sex and Residence. The Tsimshian people work with the Government of BC to manage the Khutzeymateen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary, a popular tourist attraction that helps to protect over 50 grizzly bears and numerous other wildlife species. Long before the North Pacific Cannery was built, Tsimshians caught salmon and lived in longhouses made from redwood cedar like the one at the Museum of Northern BC. An excellent salmon meal can still be enjoyed at a Prince Rupert restaurant, and there are hotels and motels that provide modern-day comfort to visitors.

Museum of Northern BC

It’s remarkable how versatile western red cedar really is: masks, canoe skins and tools made from bark and wood by First Nations dating back to the ice-age are on display at the Museum of Northern BC in Prince Rupert. A Carving Shed provides visitors with a rewarding opportunity to watch Tsimshian and other First Nations artists make everything, it seems, except golf clubs. The museum’s Longhouse is the largest example of how First Nations used big red cedar timbers: to build homes. It can be admired while watching dancers celebrate their culture through ancient drama, dance and song. Over the years, the hotel rooms of many Prince Rupert visitors have most likely been filled with art, jewelry and other souvenirs purchased from the museum’s gift shop. Fresh seafood meals served at Prince Rupert’s restaurants today are not caught with the same red cedar fish-hooks made and used by the First Nations in the 19th Century.

Seafest

It was a rainy day in one of Canada’s wettest cities on June 24, 1978 when Prince Rupert celebrated its first annual Seafest, according to Environment Canada’s Climate Data Online historical weather data. Imperfect climate didn’t stop families and friends from enjoying what is today a three-day celebration that includes Tsmishian native dancers, canoe racing, a parade, and a teen dance. The boats raced during Seafest are most likely not on display at the Museum of Northern BC: it’s doubtful that many boats made from plywood, caulking and screws within a four-hour time limit would prove to be seaworthy. Held every Summer in Prince Rupert, Seafest is a major attraction and a wonderful show of community spirit.

Sunken Gardens

Prince Rupert’s only public heritage gardens wasn’t always such a pretty sight; in fact, it was originally a hole in the ground that had been dug as the foundation for the city’s new Provincial Court House in the early 1920’s. The new court building was erected next to this hole that is now the Sunken Gardens and, over time, it became an eyesore. Thanks to the Prince Rupert Garden Club and an army of volunteers, the Sunken Gardens is today a beautifully restored area with local plants, a Japanese garden, a butterfly garden, as well as walkways and a landscaped compass. The gardens provides just one example of Prince Rupert’s uniqueness as a tourist destination, and it is located within walking distance of both the Pacific Mariners Memorial Park and Prince Rupert Waterfront Park.

First Nations Carving Shed

Living in harmony with the land is an art form that has been practiced by Northwest Coast First Nations for centuries. The Carving Shed, operated by the Museum of Northern BC, provides an opportunity to watch this art come to life. Visitors to Prince Rupert may observe some of the Northwest Coast’s finest First Nations artists as they carve items such as canoes, paddles and jewelry from red cedar and other material. Members of the public may attempt to create their own art by learning to weave and carve at week-end workshops offered during the Summer. Similar carving techniques were used to make the many totem poles prominently on display in parks throughout Prince Rupert.

Waterfront Parks

A stroll through one of Prince Rupert’s waterfront parks is like a walk through Prince Rupert’s history as a seaside community. The Pacific Mariners' Memorial Park pays tribute to the many mariners lost to the Pacific Ocean with a statue of a mariner anxiously peering out to sea. Many years ago, the abandoned dingy of a fisherman from Prince Rupert’s sister-city, Owase, Japan drifted across the Pacific Ocean to the shores of Pacific Mariners' Park: the park’s Shinto Shrine commemorates this tragedy. Like the Pacific Mariners' Park, the Rotary Waterfront Park is ideal for taking casual strolls, day-dreaming and gazing into the depths of Prince Rupert Harbour’s shimmering waters. A carved statue of a grey whale, donated to the City of Prince Rupert in 1985 to celebrate its 75th anniversary, stands in the park. Not far from the whale statue is the Kwinitsa Railway Station museum, one of 400 built by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in the early 1900’s, where visitors may come to learn about Prince Rupert’s birth as a transportation hub.

Prince Rupert Airport

In the early 1950’s, Transport Canada couldn’t find a safe location for an airport on mountainous Kaien Island and instead chose to build it on nearby Digby Island. Prince Rupert Airport is operational 24-hours a day all year round and, according to Prince Rupert Airport Authority statistics, it welcomed almost 720,000 passengers between 1997 and 2008. Located mid-way between mainland Alaska and the continental US, the airport is ideally situated for welcoming daily flights arriving on Boeing 737 planes. Each airline arrival is met with a bus and ferry service to shuttle weary passengers quickly to their hotel, restaurant or other destination in Prince Rupert.

All Native Tournament

Basketball was a popular sport among First Nations who worked in Skeena River salmon canneries such as the North Pacific Cannery in the early 20th Century. In 1947, a group of Prince Rupert basketball enthusiasts organized this fun into a tournament for Northern BC First Nations communities: seven local teams competed in basketball games amid the screams of 400 fans at a local high school. Today, up to 50 First Nations teams from the US and BC must play in a Qualifying Tournament for an opportunity to be one of only 11 teams to compete in the All Native Tournament itself. The annual, three-day competition full of dunks, dribbles and free throws is held every February and is open to the public. Players range in age from thirteen to those who are ‘young at heart’ and willing to show their moves on the hard court.