Port Hardy Harbour Authority

Port Hardy’s culture and history begin near the BC Ferries Terminal at Bear Cove – the oldest known site of human habitation on Vancouver Island (circa 5850 BCE). First contact with Europeans occurred in the early 19th century when the steamship S.S. Beaver was sent on an exploratory trip by the Hudson Bay Company (HBC) in 1836. Coal deposits motivated the HBC to establish a fortified trading post at Beaver Harbour a dozen years later. The trading post was named “Fort Rupert” after the company’s governor, Prince Rupert, Duke of Bavaria. Though little of the fort remains today, the Kwakiutl First Nations continue to reside adjacent to the former fort site. The current location of Port Hardy was settled at the turn of the century when Alec and Sarah Lyon operated a store and post office on the east side of Hardy Bay. A 1912 land deal promoted by the Hardy Bay Land Co., put the area on the map and increased its population. By 1914, 12 families had settled, built a school, sawmill, church and hotel. There was limited access to the community until the logging road connecting Port Hardy to Campbell River was paved in December of 1979.