The Harbour Works Department of the Dominion announced that there was going to be $ 5,000 worth of work done on the Savary Island Wharf, just west of Lund, BC, on March 29, 1912. The published cost for the telegraph line from Vancouver to Powell River was $27400

Every year the Canadian Government puts out a report for a year ending; the report of the Minister of Public Works on the Works Under His Control for the Fiscal Year Ended March 31, 1911, is but one that investors, corporations and other agencies of Government would read. Published in 1912, it gives a report of the telegraph and telephone lines that were connected across Vancouver Island, the adjacent islands and the mainland.

What is referred to as the Texada Island Branch, the telegraph line installed in 1910 from Campbell River over to Sarah Point, then to Powell River, consisted of 47 and a half miles of line. During that year, a line was constructed from Campbell River to Powell River: 39 miles of land line and 8.5 miles of cable, under the direction of Mr. A. V. Porter, who was the line foreman and controlled a gang of men. Subsequently, a telegraph operator was assigned at Powell River, and telephone offices were established at Lund. The land line between Blubber Bay and Van Anda on Texada Island was also constructed, but on account of a shortage in the cable, a connection was not made with Powell River; this stretch of cable, when laid, will complete the line as originally intended.

The construction of a line to Powell River has given the liveliest satisfaction to the Powell River Pulp and Paper Mills Company, who have invested one and a half million dollars at this point and are employing 1000 men in their various works. It is expected that the total investments of the Company before they are completed will be well over two million dollars. The settlers at Lund and on the various Islands express very great satisfaction at the prompt construction of the line and the satisfactory services given.

For British Columbia, the report shows that the pulpwood industry was still in its experimental and very early stage in 1911. The Province reported only a very small quantity of Pulpwood being manufactured compared with Quebec and Ontario, and the report specifically states that British Columbia was still experimenting with pulpwood manufacture. It records 150 cords of hemlock being used in British Columbia in 1911 and identifies several British Columbia pulp and paper companies, including the Powell River Company, Ltd., at Powell River.

The significance for Powell River is that this federal report provides a contemporary government record placing the Powell River Company within Canada’s emerging pulp-and-paper industry in 1911, immediately before Powell River began producing newsprint in 1912. It therefore provides useful historical evidence of the industrial development occurring at Powell River at this critical moment, while also showing that British Columbia’s pulp industry was still in its infancy compared with Eastern Canada. The report is particularly useful for establishing the national economic and industrial context in which the Powell River paper mill was being developed.

A preliminary review and estimate of Mineral Production for the year 1911 came out, published by Mr. W.M. Fleet Robertson, who was the Provincial Mineralogist on the Texada Island mines. The operations of the Tacoma Steel Company at its Marble Bay mine constituted the chief mining progress on Texada Island in 1911, with shipments of 22,500 tons of ore and averaging 5 percent copper and fair gold and silver.

The Cornell mine at Van Anda, worked by the Tyee Copper Company under lease, shipped 1832 tons of ore to Ladysmith; little other metal mining was done on the Island. Negotiations for the purchase of the Puget Sound Iron Company’s iron property did not result in a change of ownership, nor was any work done on it. The Tacoma Steel Company continued making and shipping lime from its kilns in the north end of the Island.

Another company, of which Mr. B.A. Lasell of Vancouver is the manager, has been operating a limestone quarry at Blubber Bay and has shipped large quantities of lime and also considerable quantities of magnesium limestone to the paper mill at Powell River.

January 16, 1912, the British Columbia Court of Appeal heard the case Powell River Paper Company, Limited v. Wells Construction Company and American Surety Company of New York. The dispute came from a construction contract for work at Powell River. Under the contract, the Company’s architect had the authority to take the work away from Wells Construction Company if the contractor failed to perform properly. This happened: the architect removed the work from Wells Construction Company and had the Powell River Paper Company finish the job under his direction.

The architect later calculated the total cost of completing the work at $155,250, even though Wells Construction Company should have completed it for $118,561. After making all adjustments, the architect determined that the construction company owed the paper company $36,688, minus a credit of $5,056, leaving $31,632 in loss or damage suffered by the paper company.

The American Surety Company of New York had issued a $50,000 bond guaranteeing that Wells Construction Company would indemnify Powell River Paper Company for any loss caused by failing to perform the contract faithfully. When the paper company sued, Murphy, J., sitting in Chambers at Vancouver on November 20, 1911, ordered the paper company to provide detailed particulars explaining how the $31,632 loss arose.

The paper company appealed, arguing that because the architect had already determined the amount under the terms of the contract, they should not have to explain how the architect reached his figure.

Their lawyer, W. B. A. Ritchie, K.C., argued that this was like forcing someone to explain how an arbitrator made an award—something the claimant would not necessarily know. The surety company’s lawyer, E. P. Davis, K.C., argued the opposite: because the architect was the paper company’s own architect, the Company certainly knew the details of the loss and should provide them.

On January 16, 1912, the Court of Appeal—Macdonald, C.J.A., Irving, J.A., and Galliher, J.A.—gave its decision. Macdonald, C.J.A. held that the appeal should be dismissed. He stated that the surety company was not automatically bound by the architect’s determination of loss and damage. In his view, the surety had never agreed to let the architect act as a tribunal whose decisions would bind them. Therefore, Powell River Paper Company had to provide particulars of its actual loss, not simply rely on the architect’s figure. Irving, J.A. agreed.

Galliher, J.A., however, dissented. He pointed to the contract specifications, which stated that any dispute, doubt, or question relating to the work—including quantities, quality, materials, changes, certificates, or awards—must be referred to the architect, whose decision would be final and binding. The specifications even said that the architect was responsible for determining the final amount of money owed between the contractor and the owner, and that his decision was a condition precedent to any payment or liability.

In the additional portion of his dissent, Galliher, J.A. explained that the contract and the bond were directly connected. The bond referred to the contract, and the contract stated that the architect’s determination of the loss or amount owed was final. To Galliher, this meant that once the architect found the amount of loss, that amount was the one the contractor — and therefore the surety — had agreed to pay. He noted that if the architect had found a smaller amount, the paper company could not have claimed more than that.

Likewise, if the architect found a larger amount, that was the amount owed; in his view, the bond incorporated the architect’s authority, and the surety company was bound by the architect’s determination just as the contractor was. Because of this, Galliher believed the paper company should not have been required to provide further particulars. He respectfully dissented from the majority’s decision.

The appeal was dismissed, with Galliher, J.A., dissenting.

The school in Lund was open for 204 days of the year, but only had sessions for 193 of those days. There were 15 pupils between the ages of 6 and 16. Of those, 9 were boys, and 6 were girls, with an average of 13 hours at the school. The Superintendent visited the school once, and the trustee visited the school twice. The teacher was Miss L.M. Raynor, BA, and the Trustees were Mr. F. Thulin as Secretary, Mr. A. Hanson, Mr. J. Carlson and Mr. A.R. Mallory, who was the Auditor; each paid $70 a month for their services. The Lund School received $549 as the amount paid by the Government on account of the teachers’ salary, and $549 for the amount paid by the Government for Education Proper in the District, with $380 for the amount paid by the District in addition to expenditures by the Government.

February 8, 1912 brought word that the leading news of manufacturing interests of the coast continue to operate at full capacity under favourable conditions. A noteworthy point of interest was that the Powell River project, from which much is expected, is apparently not much nearer to the point of operation than it was a month ago; at least, the plant had not been started a couple of weeks ago. However, the reason for the delay was not exactly known.

The SS Ivanhoe called into port on February 14, 1912, to take on the cargo of steel from the Vulcan Iron Works for the Powell River penstocks, which the local firm is putting in for that Company.

It was announced that the Powell River Company on February 16, 1912, would hold a Masquerade Ball at the New Town Hall. There will be Five Prizes given: 1 for the best Ladies’ Costume, 2 for the best Gentlemen’s Costume, 3 for the Ladies’ best sustained Character, 4 for the Gents’ Ditto and 5 for the Most Original Costume.

Mr. and Mrs. Lang have kindly consented to act as the Judges, and dancing starts at 9 pm and goes to 2 am. Admission is $1 each, $1.50 for Doubles ( Ladies and Gentlemen) if purchased before February 9.

Refreshments are obtainable at the Hall. Costumes for Hire from $1. List of particulars of Mr. W. J. Ellis. Photo and Art Stores, Powell River.

The Honourable Price Ellison, who was the Minister of Finance, gave a budget speech in the Legislative Assembly on February 23, 1912, about the annual financial statement for the Province of British Columbia.

“Mr. Speaker, I look forward with confidence to an even greater stimulus in our lumber trade as we move into 1912. The demand within our own Province continues to grow in step with our development, and every sign points toward a vigorous and expanding industry.

Let me speak for a moment about the supply of Pulpwood. The Eastern United States now finds its own resources hopelessly insufficient for the needs of its people. Already, one quarter of the raw material used in their paper mills is imported from Canada, and we are exporting an additional four million dollars’ worth of manufactured pulp to the mills of the Eastern States. This alone suggests the scale of opportunity before us, and I fully expect rapid growth in this industry.

The completion of the Panama Canal, now only eighteen months away, will exert enormous influence on the future of our lumber trade. Cheaper freight rates will follow as a matter of course, giving unprecedented stimulus to our producers and shielding us from the periodic depressions that have troubled the industry in the past. As my colleague has already pointed out, with easy communication secured by both land and water, and with the world’s timber supplies diminishing elsewhere, our own forest lands stand ready to provide a permanent source of revenue for generations.

This Province surpassed Quebec in lumber production more than two years ago, and by 1910 our output stood equal to that of Ontario. With vast stretches of virgin forest still untouched, it requires no prophetic vision to see that British Columbia—proportionate to her size—will soon take her place among the greatest timber‑producing regions in the world.

From the University of Michigan’s General Catalogue of Officers and Students, certain people were acknowledged for their new careers after receiving their degrees. Mr. John Pease Keyes from the Class of 1892, who held a BS in Mechanical Engineering, was now in Powell River, British Columbia. Mr. Keyes later received a Ph. B., BS (Mechanical Engineering) for Lumber and Engineering.

From the bulletin of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Register of Former Students, March 1912 Edition, Mr. John Ralph Randall, a graduate of 1907, joined the Powell River Paper Company, Ltd in Powell River, British Columbia.

On March 31, 1912, the Dominion of Canada received the Annual Report from the Department of Indian Affairs for the year ending March 31, 1912.

For the Day School, there were 17 boys and 12 girls, totalling 29 children, with an average attendance of 15 children. On April 1, 1911, there was $667.63 in their account, with interest of $20.03, giving them $687.66 total.

They received from the Merrill Bros. for right of way $100, from Mr. F. J. Fletcher for use of the creek, $50, and from the Thulin Bros. for rent, $12, and then there were the charges from the Government for Management of the Funds at $9.72 charged to the account.

Provisions to the destitute of $34 and charges from Dr. Henderson at the Powell River Hospital for treatment of Annie Williams: first treatment of $25, dressings, 28 at $3, hospital board and nursing, 2 weeks at $40, leaving them a balance in their account of $849.66

In 1912, there were only two Day Schools, one at Sliammon (Tla’amin) and the other at Homalco. The Day School situated on the Sliammon (Tla’amin) reserve is close to the village. The pupils are making good progress considering the fact that the institution has been in operation only a little over two years, and that none of them had ever attended any other school before.

During the final stages of the Powell River Paper Company’s mill construction, the Otis Elevator system was installed. The Incline is of the commercial type designed to carry loads of paper weighing 60,000 pounds on an incline of 32 degrees from the horizontal. Its purpose is to distribute this material to the carrier levels of the paper mill as desired. This particular Incline is operated by means of Hand Rope Control, although for similar service an operating switch may be employed. There are numerous instances where this type of Incline may be used to advantage; each case, however, requires special consideration due to varied conditions such as load, speed, angle of Incline, voltage, safety features, control and arrangement of landing. Special data sheets are provided as a guide in submitting data for estimate.

The Powell River Paper Company has hired the Armstrong Machinery Company of Spokane, Washington, to supply a five-ton ice-making and refrigerating plant for its Mill. It is the same size as the one built for the Peray Live Stock Meat Association.

Word came from the March 1912 edition of the Paper Trade Journal that the well-known Powell River Pulp and Paper Company of British Columbia will probably commence manufacturing operations about April 1.

The Willamette Pulp and Paper Company reported on March 20, 1912, that conditions are favourable for operations at its Oregon City plant, but still has difficulty in keeping up with its orders and is anxiously awaiting shipments of the news purchased from the Powell River mill.

Mr. A. McKennedy of Powell River arrived in Victoria on April 3, 1912 and registered at the Empress Hotel.

The newspaper The British Columbia Federationist published many controversial topics; on April 20, 1912, there was an article on Powell River.

A Modern Slave Plantation Located At Powell River

Conditions in Government-Assisted Pulp Industry a Concrete Example of McBride Prosperity

As a modern haven of slavey, the “development of ‘our pulp industry’ as personified at Powell River, is probably the rankest in the Province. The chattel slove of old would refuse to stand for the working conditions and sharp practices of the Company operating in that locality.

The company stores have the Kelly Truck Act shot to smithereens; the wages run around $0.22 and a half cent per hour; $6.00 per week for Board, and the bunkhouses would be condemned as rabbit pens.

As a modern slave plantation, the Powell River pulp “industry” is in a class by itself.

The Paper Trade Journal reported late in March that the starting production date of the Powell River Paper Company could be as late as April 20, 1912 and additional starts of other parts of the Mill on November 1, 1912.

May 4 1912: Omineca Miner: An article was published in their newspaper

Vancouver, May 3: The Vancouver Newspapers today are printed on the first newspaper manufactured in British Columbia, the product of the new $4,000,000 plant of the Powell River Paper Company recently completed. The capacity of the plant is one hundred tons of newsprint paper per day, and one thousand men are employed.

The British Columbia Shipowners Association in May, 1912, urged, along with local shipmasters associations, the Dominion Government to establish a telephone line along the coast between Powell River and Vancouver, similar to telephone lines along the St Lawrence River and other shores in the east, which could be used in emergencies.

May 29 1912: Paper Trade Journal: An article was published in their newspaper

The Powell River BC news mill has been in steady and successful operation for about a month past, its output having a good distribution through the northern part of the Pacific Coast. It is reported that two more large 180-inch Fourdrinier machines are to be added to this plant, practically doubling the present capacity.

Passenger vessels on the coast, that of steamers, were now so much in abundance they were normal to see on the waters passing by. The Canadian Pacific Railway service was one such passenger service; one route was the Hardy Bay Logging Camp Route, Rivers Inlet and Ocean Falls. It left Victoria at 10 am on Tuesdays, and Vancouver at 10 am on Wednesdays, for Powell River and Lund among a dozen other camps and villages.

Besides the CPR, there was the Union Steamship Co. of BC Ltd., where the SS Cowichan would sail under the Powell River-Comox-Union-Campbell River route. It leaves Vancouver Thursday at 2 pm to arrive in Comox Friday at 6 am, then departs at 7 am. Arriving in Union Bay Friday at 7 am, then departs at 9 am for Campbell River, with waypoints for Vancouver.

The British Columbia Government put out a Tender on May 30, 1912, for the erection of a Powell River School House, more specifically to expand the current one in the Village of Powell River.

As the Powell River Pulp and Paper Mill started to produce paper, more of the townspeople started settling in, and that is when tragedy struck on June 12, 1912. Martin Nash and Harvey Lablance both drowned when their canoe capsized near Powell River. The tragedy was witnessed by Mr. Nash’s wife on shore, when she saw Nash’s little boy fall in as well. Mr. Nash righted the canoe, and he yelled at Mr. Lablance to get the boy. Mr. Nash threw his little son into it, and then both Mr. Nash and Mr. Lablance sank.

Proceedings of the thirty-eighth annual session of the Grand Lodge of British Columbia of the Independent Order of Oddfellows held at Victoria, B.C. June 12th and 13th, 1912, brought forth the Grand Secretary’s Report for the year ending December 31, 1911. In it, there were enquiries from Powell River as to the steps necessary to be taken to institute a Lodge at this town; however, a petition had not yet been received.

Published as well was the Report of the Postmaster General for the year ending March 31, 1911, from Ottawa. The Post Office at Powell River and Steamer Wharf was under the care of Mr. J. R. Randall, and the distance from the Steamer Wharf to the Post Office was 400 yards; mail was delivered 3 times per week, and for a period of 5 months up to November 1, 1910 it collected $10.30. There was also a Post Office at Stillwater and Mail Steamer under the care of Mr. J. M. O’Brien, and the distance from the wharf to the Post Office was 200 yards. It had mail delivered 2 times a week and, for a period of twelve months, collected $24.

June 27, 1912, the Customs authorities of Seattle, Washington, recently received notice that the Powell River Paper Company of Powell River, British Columbia, will ship regularly 2000 tons of paper monthly to Seattle. Arrangements have been made for a steamer to handle the traffic of shipments, which will be made every five days and distributions to all United States points will be handled at Seattle.

Communities from Campbell River, Lund, to Powell River and Texada Island and the small surrounding community of the operations of lumbermen and loggers, have enjoyed the telegraph lines; now the Dominion is going to be putting a telephone line, announced June 25, 1912, that will be constructed from Vancouver to Powell River to where the Powell River Pulp and Paper Company is located.

The newspapers in San Francisco are now printing their newspapers as of July 12, 1912, on paper manufactured at the Powell River Mill.

Premier of British Columbia, Sir Richard McBride, tours the coast of British Columbia, returning to Vancouver after a two-week trip on July 24, 1912 and making stops up and down the coast. Accompanied by the Attorney General, Mr. Bowser, and Mr. W.H. Hayward, MPP, this was the first trip undertaken in eighteen months.

Travelling on the SS May with Captain McLeod in command, going up the coast, on the return trip from Prince Rupert they were on the steamer Prince John and stopped and inspected the Powell River Paper Mill, built with concrete and is the largest plant of its kind on the coast.

Correspondence with the Brotherhood of Paper Makers in 1912 from the Powell River Local No. 142 told of the conditions and the reasons why they joined.

The correspondent is basically saying that Powell River’s Local No. 142 deserves some recognition. They point out that the mills employing the men in this local were actually the last ones to start up on the Pacific coast, yet the workers there were the first to organize themselves. The writer stresses that this early organization is important because tradesmen shouldn’t be divided into separate little groups; they should stand together.

Then the correspondent shifts to working conditions. They explain that mills back east have already moved to an eight‑hour day or a forty‑eight‑hour week, and those workers are getting better pay than the men on the coast. Meanwhile, the workers out here are still stuck on thirteen‑hour shifts and earning less for it. The writer makes it clear that this situation isn’t right.

They go on to say that some manufacturers are still fighting against organization, but not all of them. The Great Northern Paper Company is used as an example, and that Company has been running on a three‑tour system for more than ten years, and it’s working just fine. So the correspondent argues that there’s no good reason for mills on the coast to cling to the long shifts.

They also mention Camas, saying that the workers there should organize too. The whole point is that shorter hours and better conditions are both possible and necessary. Thirteen hours, the correspondent insists, is simply too long for any man to work.

And at the end, the piece is signed: Correspondent.

The trees and the forests were next; the British Columbia Forest Policy speech given by the Honourable William R. Ross, who was the Minister of Lands, during the second reading of the Forest Bill in the Legislative Assembly. In the middle of the entire speech, Mr. Ross talks about the forests, and surveys, licenses and permits.

“Provision was therefore made in the bill for the constitution of a Forest Board of experts who would keep in touch with and co-ordinate the many different phases of the work. Composed of practical men actually engaged in the service, the Board, under the direction of the Minister, would carry out the vigorous policy that the Government had outlined. Under it, a general investigation of the timber resources of the Province—both those under lease licence, reserve or in private ownership—would be undertaken, with a view to ascertaining exactly what timber the Province contained.

There were reasons for believing that the timber now under reserve was much greater in extent than most people thought. In connection with this investigation, the Government would require all licences to be surveyed as soon as possible and at the latest by 1918; and to facilitate and cheapen such surveys, simplified regulations had been introduced into the bill for the survey of timber lands. As the timber still unsold was ascertained, and as needed and desirable in the public interest, sales of Crown stumpage would be held.

Two facts had been kept in view in deciding upon the method of tenure; the first one was that the BC license tenure was the best yet devised anywhere; the second one was that uniformity of tenure throughout the Province was most desirable, since it avoided creating any commercial handicap between different classes of holders of Crown stumpage.

The Minister then referred to the report of the U.S. tariff commission, which showed that on average, the wood used in every ton of pulp cost five dollars less in Eastern Canada than in the U. S., and that, as far as the West was concerned, the 560 square miles of pulp concessions granted by former Governments of this Province give the companies who hold them a strong advantage over their competitors in the Western states as far as cost of raw material was concerned.

The Forestry Commission Report dealt at length with the question of the saw-timber included in the pulp concessions granted in 1901, and the commission had recommended that a cruise and thorough examination of these concessions be made to ascertain the facts of the situation.

The Government, in adopting this proposal, would detail trained experts from the Forest Branch to study the problem where it should be studied—that was, on the ground, on the pulp leaseholds themselves. In dealing with the extremely complex situation involved in the holding of this saw timber, the Government was guided by two principles, namely, that the good name of the Province must not be smirched by any repudiation of pledges given by former Governments, and that, at the same time, the interests of the public, as owner of the timber, must be fully protected.

Concerning the present rates of royalty, the Forestry Commission had made no recommendation, but widespread press reports had given the mistaken impression that rates had been altered in the present bill so as to levy royalty according to the grade of timber. Since these reports had been given currency, he desired to take the present opportunity of contradicting them, as well as the statement that the royalty on leaseholds had been raised to $1.50.”

Beyond 1911, Powell River grew rapidly as the Townsite, which was planned in 1910 and formally established in 1911 by the Powell River Company, which invited Dr. Andrew Henderson and town planner George F. Hardy, expanded with hundreds of new homes, named streets, and emerging business districts.

Surrounding communities developed in tandem: Wildwood Heights began receiving homesteaders between 1914 and 1916, while Cranberry saw its first settlers in 1911–1912 and became a recognized village by 1917.

To the north, Lund had already been established in 1889 by Swedish brothers Fred and Charles Thulin. Further, coastal settlements appeared as Bliss Landing, originally Bishop Landing, took shape around 1900 with the arrival of Joe Blissto, gaining a post office in 1917 and its new name in 1923.

Settlement also spread along Okeover Inlet, first charted in the 1860s and settled by homesteaders in the 1890s–1900s, and Malaspina Inlet, mapped in 1792 by Captain Alessandro Malaspina and later by George Vancouver, with logging and homesteads appearing there by the late 1800s.

The Village of Sliammon (Tla’amin Nation), whose people have lived in the region for more than 7,000 years, continued as a central Indigenous community recognized in colonial records by the mid‑1870s.

A major civic milestone came in September 1913 when Powell River’s first permanent hospital opened, a handsome two‑story building erected by Dr. Andrew Henderson, capable of housing twenty‑five patients and equipped with modern surgical and medical wards, replacing earlier temporary tent hospitals used during mill construction.

Beyond the mill grounds, additional shoreline and inland communities took shape: the Shingle Mill area emerged around 1911–1912; Olson Valley saw logging and homesteading in the 1910s; Westview began settling in the 1910s and grew into a village by the 1920s; Grief Point and Black Point appeared in 1870s Admiralty charts and developed into small settlements by the early 1900s; Lang Bay was settled in the 1890s by early homesteaders; Wolfson Bay appeared in early 1900s coastal records; Stillwater grew into a major logging and rail camp in the 1910s; Thunder Bay was documented in early 20th‑century marine charts; and Saltery Bay developed through the 1910s–1920s, named for early fish‑salting operations.

The surveyors, HMS Survey Vessels, traders, hunters, logging camps, and the communities that developed around the Powell River Townsite after 1912 formed an expanding network of settlements. Each of these communities played a vital role in shaping the region’s early industrial, residential, and cultural landscape, contributing to the origins of Powell River.