Undiscovered Coast: History of Northern Vancouver Island

02/12/2026

Great old documentary film about Simoon Sound.

Please watch: "5BX "Five Basic Exercises"- Royal Canadian Air Force Training Film (1959)" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMGQzMjeO1k --~--

12/09/2025

Hey North Island history buffs - Coal Harbour Museum owner Joey/ Joel is looking for any photos pre- WWII of Coal Harbour for an upcoming special exhibit. If you have some you would be willing to share please reach out to Joel or I directly!

11/22/2025

Video tour exploring the Old Sport Mine.

Join us on an exhilarating adventure as we delve into an eerie, abandoned mine named The Old Sport. Descend with us from the upper entrance, expertly navigat...

07/22/2025

05/27/2025

Petroglyphs carved into the sandstone below the old Hudson’s Bay fort on Tsakis—quiet traces in a place shaped by the hands of ancestors and the tide.

They sit on Kwakwaka’wakw territory, and whatever stories they hold I’ve tried to research, but haven’t found much.
If you know anything about them, I’d really love to hear.

02/21/2025

01/29/2025

You can drink good beer, buy Canadian, and support the rebuilding of Telegraph Cove all at the same time!

01/03/2025

Please consider donating to rebuild the Whale Interpretive Centre in Telegraph Cove! A worldwide treasure!

The WIC's starting goal is to raise $1 million to help rebuild what was lost and restore and add to the amazing collection that we had.

12/31/2024

A little about the history of Telegraph Cove. Love to Gordie and Marilyn Graham who put decades of their life and a lot of blood sweat and tears into refurbishing the living history of the cove.

Telegraph Cove 1934
In 1912, Alfred Marmaduke Wastell suggested a small cove on Vancouver Island with good moorage for a telegraph lineman’s station, and thus was christened ‘Telegraph Cove.’ This telegraph line ran from Campbell River to Port Hardy, and eventually Cape Scott.
The first inhabitant of Telegraph Cove was lineman Bobby Cullerne. His job was to walk the line and fix it when it went the telegraph went down. At that time the line was strung between trees, and a trail followed the line. Cullerne had to walk the trail to find out where the trees had blown down and find a way to repair the line.
Wastell, then manager of a box factory in Alert Bay, saw potential in the Cove. He eventually purchased the timber rights in the area and supplied spruce lumber to the Canadian military who used it to construct aircraft in World War I.
In the early 1920s Wastell acquired a piece of private property in Telegraph Cove as payment for a bad debt. In the next few years he partnered with Japanese investors and opened a fish saltery in the Cove. There was also a small mill that operated for a couple of years.
In 1928 Wastell and his son Fred were both put out of work when the wooden box factory in Alert Bay closed, as the fishing industry switched to cardboard boxes. The Great Depression made their situation worse. The small fish saltery that had operated in Telegraph Cove also closed.
Fred Wastell came up with a plan to re-start the mill in Telegraph Cove. He contacted an old friend, Alex MacDonald, to operate as a partner. They needed to upgrade the mill, build houses, and set up power and water for a small mill community.
A number of Chinese labourers moved into the Cove along with the Wastells. Telegraph Cove Mills opened in 1929. It cut custom wood for a number of purposes. It operated for more than 50 years.
The Broughton Lumber and Trading Company developed a wharf in Telegraph Cove that was 170 ft long.
During these years the community only had electricity for one morning a week for domestic use. Newspapers would arrive once a week on the steamship. Eventually a number of homes were winched onto the heavily wooded shore and connected with a wooden boardwalk. The community had a mill, post office, school, and store, and steamers began to call at the port.



BC Archives I-68250

12/31/2024