Construction of GTP Wharf

On June 8, 1906 the first pile for a wharf was driven with hemlock poles purchased from the local First Nations. The crews completed the wharf the same year.

I love how the photographer was able to capture the streak of light through the clouds above the two men below in this colourized portrait of a partially constructed pier in 1906.

Visiting the site in October 1906, Grand Trunk Pacific (GTP) president Charles M. Hays told the Victoria Colonist "I consider that as a harbour it is second to none on the Pacific Coast. It has splendid deep water right to the shore, while Digby Island acts as a breakwater. The wharf now built there affords a very good landing.”

Source: Prince Rupert: An Illustrated History (Prince Rupert City & Regional Archives: 2010).

Original photo from Uno Langmann Family Collection of B.C. Photographs, courtesy of UBC Library.