Port Alice | |
---|---|
Village of Port Alice [1] | |
Location of Port Alice in British Columbia | |
Coordinates: 50°25′36″N127°29′17″W / 50.42667°N 127.48806°W | |
Country | Canada |
Province | British Columbia |
Regional district | Mount Waddington |
Government | |
• Governing body | Port Alice Village Council |
Area | |
• Total | 7.04 km2 (2.72 sq mi) |
Population (2016) | |
• Total | 664 |
• Density | 94/km2 (240/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC-8 (PST) |
Highways | Hwy 30 |
Website | www |
Port Alice is a village of approximately 739 (2021 census) located on Neroutsos Inlet, southwest of Port McNeill, on Vancouver Island, originally built by Whalen Pulp and Paper Mills of Vancouver. The community is known for its natural environment, pulp mill, and salt water fishing.
It was named after Alice Whalen, the founders' mother. The brothers Whalen began their construction of the mill at its present site in 1917, [2] with first pulp produced in 1918. The mill at Swanson Bay, on the Inside Passage farther north, was also a Whalen operation. Port Alice bears a resemblance to Port Annie, the fictional town described by Vancouver Island author Jack Hodgins in his novel The Resurrection of Joseph Bourne.[ citation needed ] The new orchid hybrid "Port Alice" has been officially listed at London England in the Royal Horticultural Society's "Book of Registered Orchid Hybrids". This slipper-type flower is the result of crossing a complex hybrid Paphiopedilum "Western Sky" with a species Paphiopedilum appletonianum.
Devil’s Bath, a flooded sinkhole near Port Alice, is an example of a cenote [3] and is the largest in Canada at 359 meters in diameter and 44 meters in depth. [4]
There are a number of hiking destinations in the area. They include Devil’s Bath, Eternal Fountain, Vanishing River & Reappearing River. These are a series of ancient karst and limestone formations. The access is through dirt roads.
Port Alice has an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) and is one of the mildest and wettest places in Canada, receiving 3.4 metres (130 in) of actual rainfall per year and exceptionally little snow, which amounts to as much as 33 percent more rainfall than infamously wet Prince Rupert and only marginally less than Southeast Alaska’s wettest cities of Ketchikan and Yakutat which each average around 3.8 metres (150 in) and receive much more snowfall.
Climate data for Port Alice | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 20.5 (68.9) | 19.0 (66.2) | 21.5 (70.7) | 26.0 (78.8) | 31.5 (88.7) | 33.5 (92.3) | 35.5 (95.9) | 34.5 (94.1) | 29.5 (85.1) | 26.5 (79.7) | 22.8 (73.0) | 17.2 (63.0) | 35.5 (95.9) |
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 7.4 (45.3) | 8.0 (46.4) | 9.9 (49.8) | 12.2 (54.0) | 15.6 (60.1) | 18.1 (64.6) | 20.8 (69.4) | 20.9 (69.6) | 18.4 (65.1) | 13.3 (55.9) | 9.2 (48.6) | 7.0 (44.6) | 13.4 (56.1) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | 4.9 (40.8) | 5.1 (41.2) | 6.4 (43.5) | 8.3 (46.9) | 11.3 (52.3) | 13.8 (56.8) | 16.1 (61.0) | 16.4 (61.5) | 14.1 (57.4) | 10.2 (50.4) | 6.6 (43.9) | 4.6 (40.3) | 9.8 (49.6) |
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.4 (36.3) | 2.2 (36.0) | 3.0 (37.4) | 4.2 (39.6) | 6.9 (44.4) | 9.5 (49.1) | 11.4 (52.5) | 11.8 (53.2) | 9.7 (49.5) | 7.0 (44.6) | 4.0 (39.2) | 2.2 (36.0) | 6.2 (43.2) |
Record low °C (°F) | −12.2 (10.0) | −11.5 (11.3) | −5.5 (22.1) | −1.7 (28.9) | 0.5 (32.9) | 1.1 (34.0) | 5.0 (41.0) | 4.5 (40.1) | 0.0 (32.0) | −4.0 (24.8) | −11.5 (11.3) | −12.8 (9.0) | −12.8 (9.0) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 492.2 (19.38) | 354.0 (13.94) | 320.4 (12.61) | 258.3 (10.17) | 147.3 (5.80) | 100.1 (3.94) | 59.5 (2.34) | 94.6 (3.72) | 130.2 (5.13) | 417.6 (16.44) | 561.4 (22.10) | 491.2 (19.34) | 3,426.8 (134.91) |
Average rainfall mm (inches) | 484.1 (19.06) | 345.3 (13.59) | 316.1 (12.44) | 257.8 (10.15) | 147.3 (5.80) | 100.1 (3.94) | 59.5 (2.34) | 94.6 (3.72) | 130.2 (5.13) | 417.5 (16.44) | 559.1 (22.01) | 487.0 (19.17) | 3,398.6 (133.80) |
Average snowfall cm (inches) | 8.1 (3.2) | 8.7 (3.4) | 4.3 (1.7) | 0.5 (0.2) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.0 (0.0) | 0.1 (0.0) | 2.4 (0.9) | 4.2 (1.7) | 28.3 (11.1) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 23.3 | 19.7 | 22.7 | 20.1 | 17.0 | 16.0 | 10.4 | 11.9 | 14.6 | 22.2 | 24.1 | 22.8 | 224.7 |
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm) | 22.8 | 19.5 | 22.5 | 20.1 | 17.0 | 16.0 | 10.4 | 11.9 | 14.6 | 22.2 | 24.0 | 22.3 | 223.3 |
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm) | 2.2 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 9.2 |
Source: [5] |
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Port Alice had a population of 739 living in 415 of its 538 total private dwellings, a change of 11.3% from its 2016 population of 664. With a land area of 7.03 km2 (2.71 sq mi), it had a population density of 105.1/km2 (272.3/sq mi) in 2021. [6]
Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is 456 km (283 mi) in length, 100 km (62 mi) in width at its widest point, and 32,100 km2 (12,400 sq mi) in total area, while 31,285 km2 (12,079 sq mi) are of land. The island is the largest by area and the most populous along the west coasts of the Americas.
Port Hawkesbury is a municipality in southern Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, Canada. While within the historical county of Inverness, it is not part of the Municipality of Inverness County.
Nanaimo is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating from the shoreline like the spokes of a wagon wheel, and to its relatively central location on Vancouver Island. Nanaimo is the headquarters of the Regional District of Nanaimo.
Port Alberni is a city located on Vancouver Island in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The city lies within the Alberni Valley at the head of the Alberni Inlet, Vancouver Island's longest inlet. It is the location of the head offices of the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District. Port Alberni currently has a total population of 18,259.
Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Its location is on Kaien Island near the Alaskan panhandle. It is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and has a population of 12,220 people as of 2016.
Squamish is a community and a district municipality in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located at the north end of Howe Sound on the Sea to Sky Highway. The population of the Squamish census agglomeration, which includes First Nation reserves of the Squamish Nation although they are not governed by the municipality, is 24,232.
Ocean Falls is a community on the Central Coast of British Columbia, Canada. Formerly a large company town owned by Crown Zellerbach, it is accessible only via boat or seaplane, and is home for a few dozen full-time residents, with the seasonal population upwards of 100.
Powell River is a city on the northern Sunshine Coast of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. Most of its population lives near the eastern shores of Malaspina Strait, which is part of the larger Georgia Strait between Vancouver Island and the Mainland. With two intervening long, steep-sided fjords inhibiting the construction of a contiguous road connection with Vancouver to the south, geographical surroundings explain Powell River's remoteness as a community, despite relative proximity to Vancouver and other populous areas of the BC Coast. The city is the location of the head office of the qathet Regional District.
Tahsis is a village municipality on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, about 300 km (186 mi) northwest of the provincial capital Victoria at 49°55′33″N126°37′16″W. As of 2011, the Canadian census listed 316 residents, a decline from the 2006 Census count of 366 residents. The Village of Tahsis economy used to be dependent on forestry, but after the closure of the local sawmill in 2001, the economy became heavily dependent on sport fishing for salmon and halibut, outdoor recreation and tourism.
Gold River is a village municipality located close to the geographic centre of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada. In terms of the Island's human geography it is considered to be part of the "North Island", even though it technically is on the Island's west coast.
Kitimat is a district municipality in the North Coast region of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member municipality of the Regional District of Kitimat–Stikine regional government. The Kitimat Valley is part of the most populous urban district in northwest British Columbia, which includes Terrace to the north along the Skeena River Valley. The city was planned and built by the Aluminum Company of Canada (Alcan) during the 1950s. Its post office was approved on 6 June 1952.
Port Hardy is a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada located on the north-east end of Vancouver Island. Port Hardy has a population of 3,902 as of the 2021 census.
Alert Bay is a village on Cormorant Island, near the town of Port McNeill on northeast Vancouver Island, in the Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada.
The Regional District of Mount Waddington (RDMW) is a regional district in British Columbia. It takes in the lower Central Coast region centred on the Queen Charlotte Strait coast of northern Vancouver Island and the adjoining parts of mainland British Columbia. It has a total land area of 20,288.4 km2 and a 2016 census population of 11,035 persons, most of which is in towns on Vancouver Island and adjoining islands. The administrative centre is in the town of Port McNeill. Other municipalities include the district municipality of Port Hardy, the village of Port Alice, and the village of Alert Bay.
Holberg is a former ferry terminal about 35 kilometres (22 mi) from the northwest tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. This unincorporated community is at the head of Holberg Inlet, which forms the western arm of Quatsino Sound.
Kathleen Joan Heddle, was a Canadian Olympic rower. She and her long-time rowing partner Marnie McBean were the first Canadians to be awarded three Olympic gold medals at the Summer Games. They also won a silver in double sculls at the 1994 World Championships.
Blair Horn is a Canadian former rower, who was a member of the Canadian men's eights team that won the gold medal at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California.
Swanson Bay is a ghost town in British Columbia, Canada located in Graham Reach on the Inside Passage, between Princess Royal Island and the northern mainland. It was named after Captain John Swanson of the Hudson's Bay Company's steamship, the SS Beaver.
Donald John Arnold was a Canadian competition rower and Olympic champion. He was born in Kelowna, British Columbia.
James Whalen was a Canadian businessperson and entrepreneur based in Port Arthur, Ontario, now part of Thunder Bay, Ontario, with interests in the forest industries, shipbuilding, dredging, and towing. From a modest beginning as a timber contractor in the 1890s, he built an impressive business empire in various Great Lakes marine businesses. With the help of his brothers he was less successful in entering the competitive British Columbia pulp and paper business that went bankrupt in 1925.