Namu -- a bygone era

Namu, the once great fish cannery community, struggles on. Namu began as a sawmill in 1893 owned by Robert Draney. In 1912 it was purchased by B.C. Packers and made into a cannery. During the peak years Namu's winter population of 600 swelled in the summer to 2000. Closed now, many of the old buildings cannot last much longer.

The old cannery wharf

The old gymnasium with it's small bowling alley hidden in the darkness needs to come down as do the hotel, dorminatory and several of the houses. The generator room its rows of EMD engines, now silent, is collapsing. The boardwalk that led to Namu Lake collapsed in 2000 and it is closed. It's a shame because a short distance off the boardwalk is the archaeological dig site where human habitation was traced back 10,000 years.

The Warfinger raises ducks and has garden plots organized along the walls of the old cannery buildings

BC Packers simply walked away when then abandoned Namu. They left a complete machine shop with piles of fittings, pipe and plate, several fork lift trucks and a 1951 tractor, stock in the store, just about everything. Time and sticky fingers have reduced some of the bounty but plenty is still on site. The wharfinger Pete, who is pretty handy has the tractor and three of the fork lift trucks running and that have organized much of what was in the store to see. He even got an old bread making machine to run.

I guess this is the seat reserved for BC Packers CEO....

It's a fascinating place with deep history. The coastal canneries are in the category of "things of the past ....."

Our "boys" scouting the buildings of Namu