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Description of Port McNeill
Port McNeill (pop. 2,623) is located on the north-eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. The area had been a basecamp for loggers since the early 1900’s when a railroad was built and Port McNeill became a settlement in 1936. As roads were limited to those built by individual logging companies, all transportation was by ship or float plane. The town was named after Captain William Henry McNeill of the Hudson's Bay Company, who commanded the SS Beaver, the first steamship on the Pacific Northwest Coast.
The first logging road to another community was the road to Port Hardy Airport completed in 1959. By late 1961, the population had reached 400 and new businesses were beginning establish themselves. Today, as they have done for decades, many forestry workers living logging camps, including floating camps. Logging remains the community’s mainstay economy although this industry has been experiencing turbulent times for the last decade.
Today Port McNeill remains as the centre of North Island logging operations. It is also the launching point for nature tour operators, sport fishing enthusiasts and our kayak tours of Johnstone Strait and Queen Charlotte Strait.
