Bamfield, British Columbia
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Bamfield is a small community on Barkley Sound in British Columbia. The community, of about 200, is divided by Bamfield Inlet.
History
Where Bamfield exists now was, and still is, populated by natives of the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples. Europeans founded a small fishing community sometime in the late 1800's.
In 1902, the Bamfield Cable station was constructed as the western terminus of a worldwide undersea cable called by some the 'All Red Route' as it passed only through countries and territories controlled by the British Empire. The cable initially went to Fanning Island, a tiny coral atoll in the mid-Pacific, and from there continued to Fiji, New Zealand, and Australia. A 2nd building, made of concrete was built on the site in 1926 to replace the old wood structure. This building, designated a historic site in 1930, is now used by the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre.
In 1953 the cables were extended up the Alberni Inlet to Port Alberni and station closed on June 20, 1959. Following the closure, only the large concrete building, two cable storage tanks and an adjacent building survived, as all the rest had been torn down.
Bamfield is also the northern end of the West Coast Trail, a world famous hiking trail built in 1907. along the west coast of Vancouver Island originally to help survivors of some of the 60 some ship wrecks find their way back to civilization. The trail runs 77 kilometres along some of the most rugged terrain in the world.
Today Bamfield is primarily a tourist destination, although there are still active commercial fishers there.
External links
- Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (http://bms.bc.ca/) previously Bamfield Marine Station
- Vancouver Island.com on Bamfield (http://www.vancouverisland.com/regions/towns/?townID=26)
- Bamfield Community Website (http://www.bamfieldcommunity.com/)
- Bamfield Camber of Commerce (http://bamfieldchamber.com/)
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