Photo Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
1991.007.014 |
Object Name |
Print, Photographic |
Description |
A 16 year old Tom Gray standing on a load of logs loaded on a flatcar Written on the back: "Load of nice wood from Skidder #3 / I was chasing(?) on Skidder 16 yrs old. / Camp B. Franklin / Joined R.C.N.V.R. [Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve] some yrs. enlisted early 1942." |
Image File Name |
unk - Tom Gray on Logs - Camp B, Franklin River - 1991007014 - jpg72 - 001 |
Place |
Camp B, Franklin River |
Provenance |
Logging was started in the Franklin River area of the Alberni Valley by Bloedel, Stewart and Welch in 1934. A camp was built at the mouth of the Franklin River, six miles south of Port Alberni, and called Camp A. The logging started in the Franklin River drainage, with a railroad being built following Franklin River for four miles, then turning south along Corrigan Creek where another woods camp was built called Camp B. According to the Alberni Valley Museum archives, Camp B operated in this area until 1940, then moved south along the Alberni Inlet to Parsons Creek and the old Canadian National Railroad. In 1945, Camp B was moved from Parson’s Creek to its final location on Coleman Creek. At one point it was one of the largest logging camps in the world (From: albernivalleynews.com). Bloedel, Stewart & Welch (BS&W) was formed in 1911 by US lumberman Julius Bloedel and railway contractors John Stewart and Patrick Welch. BS&W's first logging operation was at Myrtle Point, near Powell River. By 1925, BS&W had purchased and was logging extensive holdings of prime timber in the Union Bay, Menzies Bay, and Alberni areas on Vancouver Island. |
Search Terms |
logging flatcar people Camp B Franklin River skidder #3 Bloedel, Stewart & Welch BS&W MacMillan Bloedel M&B |
Collection |
Transportation |
People |
Gray, Tom |
Subjects |
People Railway Vehicles Documentary, Vancouver Island |