Union Bay Historical Society
5527 Island HWY V0r 3b0 Union Bay, BC, Canada

A write up about the history of Union Bay and the Pentlatch people in McLeans Magazine. https://magazine.macleans.ca//c59ce1ca-9ade-4366-9392-d50e

Awesome View..Rental 2nd floor, Union Bay Post Office. Office Space Only. Three rooms, total 500 square feet. Available as of November 1st, 2020. Contact: [email protected]

A write up on Ellen McKay from this September 11, 1952 Comox District Free Press article Mrs. McKay lived to see her 99th year. https://www.courtenaymuseum.ca//uploads/2016/09/photo_blac

The second floor of the Post Office will be available for lease November 1,2020. 3 separate offices totalling approximately 500 square feet. Contact Linda at [email protected]

The second floor of the Post Office will be available for lease November 1,2020. 3 separate offices totalling approximately 500 square feet. Contact Linda at [email protected]

Not only was Union Bay a coal shipment wharf, it has long been a center of fishing activity as well. People headed to the Baynes Sound area to harvest seafood l...ike oysters and clams to even hunting whales and sharks. Native oysters grew very well along the beaches of Baynes Sound. They were free for the taking and it provided the locals with a good meal and also some quick cash if times were hard. By the turn of the 20th century, these oysters drew attention and were pronounced by connoisseurs to be superior to any other oysters found on the coast. From the sandspit from Denman to Seal Island, native clams such as the butterclam and littleneck clam grew plentifuly in the sand and gravel. Though not as exotic as oysters, clams were a much more readily accepted food as clam chowders were common to many meals. Before the days of government regulations, many people went out fishing for salmon, cod and halibut for their families. Fishermen also caught them to be sold to stores or fish packers. By the 1890's, many canneries had opened up along the coast. The closest processing plant at the time would have been the Deep Bay Packing Co. Built and operated by Arthur Groll in 1917. In 1922, a fish reduction plant was added to the cannery, and they began converting dogfish and shark into oil and fertilizer. The plant was solt to B.C. Packers in 1935. Two years later, it burnt down. After the sharks and dogfish were starting to be caught for oil and fertilizer, many stories began to surface of "big monsters" nearly pulling fishermen overboard. In the 1930's, many large sharks were present in the Baynes Sound area, seemingly attracted to the big flashers being used for salmon. By 1940, the fish warden, Mr. E. Lloyd, was receiving many complaints of sharks and so him and other fishermen began shark hunting. Similarly to the shark stories, there were many tales of big "blackfish" (Killer whales) chasing and lifting boats out of the water. However, the Whaling operation started very early, with the Whaling Station Bay on Hornby Island that was moved from Cortez Island in 1871. But the processing plant did not last long; closing down the next year because most of the big whales in the area were depleted. After this, there were still killer whales in the Baynes Sound area for a number of years. The pods of whales could be spotted from land, with big dorsal fins gleaming in the sun. However, many local fishermen also considered them fair game and were shot at in close distance with small pistols off their boats. ~ Although things are certainly different now, there are still many fishing boats down at the boat launch this morning. Fanny Bay Oysters continues to provide the local shellfish as well. ~ Take a look at the photos below and as always, hope everyone is having a great weekend!

With all the rave for Chinatowns, the Japanese community in Canada is sometimes overshadowed. But even in Union Bay, there had been a striving social community established by the Japanese labourers. In January of 1892, about a hundred Japanese arrived in Union Wharf and headed for the Union Mines to get employed. Both the white and Chinese people blamed the Japanese for stealing their jobs. As fishing was major occupation of the Japanese, by the turn of the century over four... thousand had taken to working in the fishing industry on the B.C. coast. Around this period, there was an increasing alarm in B.C. for the new "threat", in the same way the Chinese were labeled an evil "invasion" and so the Japanese immigrants faced hostility in this new country. Although the Europeans didn't like the Chinese either, the racism was directed towards the Japanese instead; serving as a scapegoat of racism. By 1900, there was already a Japantown established at Union Bay. Consisting of only eight families and thirty single men, the Japantown was much smaller than the Chinatown by comparison. Though, due to the family units, there were many Japanese children who attended the school and became acquainted with the other children. As such, the Japanese started to integrate themselves into the white community faster than the Chinese. This didn't help the increasing animosity that the Chinese had for the Japanese, which was already fueled by the conflicts between their home countries. Click on the photos for a bit more on the Japanese history in Union Bay!

Our poster of Union Bay family connections is digitized now! I'm sure many of you will recognize some of these names. Can convert to PDF for anyone who may be interested in printing it out, just send us a Facebook message!

Here are some more photographs of cars. This is a 2nd post to follow-up on the one prior to this. Please check that one out as well and please leave a comment on anything that stood out to you!

Happy Friday! The recent car parade last week had got me thinking about what the car scene was like back in the heyday of Union Wharf. I was surprised at what I found out: The first vehicle that most remembered was a Rambler bought in 1908 by Tommy Hudson, an entrepreneur, who hired it out as a jitney for many years. There were other residents who were able to afford a vehicle at the time as well. Some memorable ones include the beautiful Cadillac convertible owned... by Jack Fraser as well as Alexander Cowie who toured around in his Rolls Royce. Both these cars had no steering wheel and were operated by joystick. Brigham Brown, owner of the Co-op store had a little Model T truck with right hand drive. This truck in particular has been sold and passed down through many owners and now Union Bay Fire Department is custodian of this antique. Of course with automobiles around, there needed to be gas stations and garages. The first garage for repairs was built in 1919 by George Neil, located south of where the Nelson Hotel used to be. In the early 1900's, car owners had to buy their gasoline from Vancouver and keep spare cans until Fraser and Bishop installed the first "Imperial" gas pumps at the south end of their store. A number of garages and gas pumps were built, burnt, rebuilt, sold and moved over the years. If you're wondering where the current repair garage fits into the timeline, here's what I found: "In the late 1920's, Ed and Jean Anderson took over Mrs. Anderson's confectionery on the beach and installed Shell Gas pumps. Anderson had the Shell station for about 10 years, until they sold out to Art & Jessie Hastings in the late 1930's. When the new road was put through in 1947, the old shop was moved across the road where the Hastings continued to live, eventually building a new garage which still serves the community today." - Janette Glover-Geidt, "The Friendly Port" Enjoy some of these photos I found. I'm not a car person so if there's anything that stands out to you, please leave a comment on it! Have a wonderful long-weekend!

Hope everyone is doing well! The museum has been open for it's first week now. Our hours are 9:00am - 5:00pm, Wednesday - Sunday, so we hope you all will find a... moment to pop in and look around, or relax in our Harry Westaway Memorial Garden. The garden is currently lacking it's dedication plaque. So in the meantime, here is a little dedication post for those who may be unfamiliar with who Harry Westaway was: Harry Westaway was one of two undercover police officers who worked in Union Bay under public policeman Constable James F. McKenzie. One rainy night on March, 1913, Westaway was out on patrol with his partner, Gordon Ross, when they noticed a faint light from the local Fraser and Bishop general store. The two officers entered the silent and unlit store and their flashlight beams spotted two men towards the back. They switched off the light but it was too late; Westaway had been shot in the chest. Ross lunged at one of the burglars and a struggle ensued, ending with the arrest of the burglar, as the second burglar fled during the conflict. It was later discovered that the burglar who Ross arrested was the infamous pirate, Henry Wagner, or the "Flying Dutchman"; given this nickname as he was responsible for stealthily robbing many towns along the coastline and disappearing into the night. Wagner was sentenced to hang on August 28, 1913 but made numerous unsuccessful attempts at suicide before this date. Wagner's accomplice, William Julien, was later discovered but only received a reduced sentence of 5 years as he corroborated the crime and gave further information on other criminal activities. So that's a little backstory to our garden. We hope you will stop by and enjoy it, as well as what the museum has to offer.

We will be opening the Gaol House Museum to visitors. Michael will be back to welcome you starting this Thursday July 16th. The Museum will then be open for regular business hours through out the Summer Wednesday - Sunday 10-4.

Both the Comox Valley and Union Bay area have always been popular locations for photography, because of the abundant wildlife/water scenery. Even just before the 1900's, photographers visited these locations to take scenery pictures and commercial enterprises for publications. The first photographic gallery in Union Bay was established by W.J. Jenkins, in 1894. He made quite a profit advertising pictures for Christmas cards at $2.50 per dozen. Gilbert Francklyn is anothe...r notable Union Bay photographer. At the age of nineteen, he left his affluent family in Halifax, to pursue his career on the Pacific Coast. In 1900, he built himself a houseboat on the creek of Henry Bay, as seen in the picture below. The glass negatives and prints were developed in his dark room, built onto the front end of the cabin. His pictures of families and homes of Union Bay residents still exist and are cherished to this day. The 1920's saw an increasingly popular trend for people to own personal, portable cameras in Union Bay. With the invention of Kodak's Box Brownies, the rise in popularity of photography was no surprise. It was easier and cheaper than ever to take convenient, albeit low quality snapshots. Whichever young kid owned one was envied. But they were just as popular with amateur photographers, adults and even military soldiers. Throughout history, many notable and iconic photos of the war were taken and salvaged from Brownies. Camera. What's the oldest photograph you have kept? Are any of them cherished photos of Union Bay? Happy Victoria day long weekend!!!

Have you ever been for a walk through the "Coal Hills" or the beach surrounding Baynes Sound? If you have, then you likely would've remembered noticing strange pieces of edifices and remnants of machinery from the past. These remnants are from a time when Union Bay was a booming community, which grew along with the coal mining and particularly the coal shipment business. At around 1900, Union Bay and Cumberland were definitely some of the more established and busy ...towns on the North Island due to this industry. Coal was shipped from the huge wharf at Baynes Sound to buyers from all over; to companies in California or even as far as Newcastle, England. Have a look into Union Bay's industrial past down below. Happy Mothers Day