place

Nanaimo Harbour

Geography of Vancouver IslandNanaimoPorts and harbours of British ColumbiaUse Canadian English from January 2024
Nanaimo Waterfront
Nanaimo Waterfront

Nanaimo Harbour, also known as the Port of Nanaimo, is a natural harbour on the east coast of Vancouver Island in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The city of Nanaimo runs along the west side of the harbour. Three islands, Newcastle, Protection, and Gabriola, along with Duke Point, form the eastern edge. The Port of Nanaimo includes the Inner Harbour, Nanaimo River estuary, Departure Bay, the waters on the east side of Newcastle and Protection Islands, and Northumberland Channel. The port is under the management of the Nanaimo Port Authority.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Nanaimo Harbour (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Nanaimo Harbour
Port Way, Nanaimo

Geographical coordinates (GPS) Address Nearby Places
placeShow on map

Wikipedia: Nanaimo HarbourContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 49.165277777778 ° E -123.92638888889 °
placeShow on map

Address

Nanaimo Assembly Wharf

Port Way
V9R 4Z1 Nanaimo
British Columbia, Canada
mapOpen on Google Maps

Nanaimo Waterfront
Nanaimo Waterfront
Share experience

Nearby Places

1887 Nanaimo mine explosion
1887 Nanaimo mine explosion

The Nanaimo mine explosion occurred on May 3, 1887, in Nanaimo, British Columbia killing 150 miners. Only seven miners survived and the mine burned for one full day. The explosion started deep underground in the Number One Coal Mine after explosives were laid improperly. Although many miners died instantly, others were trapped by the explosion and the fires that followed. Most miners did not die from the primary explosions or the fires, but many actually died from choking on poisonous gas hours after the initial explosions. These men wrote farewell messages in the dust of their shovels. Nearly 150 children lost their fathers and 46 women became widows. Most of the men were settlers from Cornwall, Wales and Yorkshire. A plaque at the foot of Milton Street commemorates the event. Although past documents put the death toll at 148, researchers have since revised the number to 150, including 53 Chinese workers. Chinese workers were listed in the government inquest and annual report of the Minister of Mines as "Chinamen, names unknown", followed by a tag number. B.C. employers did not have to report the deaths of Chinese employees until 1897. Some accounts suggest that 48 of the 53 miners had the surname of Mah — records may have been destroyed when Nanaimo's Chinatown burned to the ground in 1960. The monument on Milton Street lists the names of white miners, but only the tally number for Chinese miners, who were blamed by many white Nanaimoites for the disaster, claiming they could not read signs or instructions.Operated by the Vancouver Coal Company, the Number One mine opened in 1884 at the foot of Milton Street in Nanaimo. Its shafts and tunnels extended under the Nanaimo Harbour to Protection Island, Newcastle Island, and the Nanaimo River. After the explosion, the mine re-opened and produced 18 million tons of coal before permanently closing in 1938.

Nanaimo Bastion
Nanaimo Bastion

The Nanaimo Bastion is a historical octagon-shaped blockhouse located at 98 Front Street in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. The Hudson's Bay Company, which then held a royal lease on all of what was then the Colony of Vancouver Island, built it between 1853 and 1855 to defend its coal mining operations in Nanaimo. It has been called "Nanaimo's premier landmark", because of its shape and its high visibility from both land and sea.The Bastion was constructed using the pièce-sur-pièce (post-and-plank) method. This entailed laying timbers across each other horizontally, with tenons cut into the ends. These tenons would then be inserted into vertical posts. This method was used partially due to the expensive cost of nails; by using the pièce-sur-pièce method, very few nails were needed. The logs were squared using only basic hand tools: a crosscut saw, broadaxe, adze, auger and pit saw. The wooden structure sat on a masonry foundation and was three stories tall. It is the only remaining freestanding tower structure built by the Hudson's Bay Company.In 1891, the Bastion faced demolition threats. The city, recognising the historic value of the building, paid a sum of $175 for the building and moved it across the street from its original location (this would be the parking lot of the modern day Dorchester Hotel). It was moved a second time in 1979, when the roads were being widened. On December 12, 1985, the city of Nanaimo designated it a local heritage site. During the summer of 2010, the Bastion was torn apart to renew rotting boards and add stabilizing steel beams. The director of the event said that they were "making a historic movement". The Bastion is managed by the Nanaimo Museum and is open to visitors during the summer (May Long to Labour Day) from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm (hours subject to change). It functions as a tourist information center on behalf of Tourism Nanaimo, and holds exhibits on the history of the building. The Nanaimo Museum also hosts a daily cannon firing at noon during the summer months, just a few feet away from the Bastion.The Bastion is the main image on HMCS Nanaimo's ships crest. HMCS Nanaimo is a Kingston-class Coastal Defence vessel that has been serving in the Royal Canadian Navy since 1997.