People uprooted from Claxton / Claxton Cannery (44)

Claxton, on Telegraph Pass, was established by the Royal Canadian Packing Company (RCPC) as a fishing village in 1892. The company built the Claxton Cannery that year and a water-powered sawmill in 1893. The cannery was the first built outside the more protected waters of the mouth of the Skeena River, in newly extended fishing grounds upstream from the company town of Standard. RCPC provided housing and operated a company store. The Royal Canadian Hotel was on the waterfront at the southern end of the village.

By 1902, many Japanese Canadian families had moved to Claxton after the nearby Standard Cannery closed, though some remained at the former cannery site, which later became a fish camp. Japanese Canadians held a variety of jobs at the cannery, focusing on gill-net fishing. In 1910, a boardwalk was built to connect Claxton to the nearby Carlisle Cannery. BC Packers purchased the plant in 1928. By 1938, about fifty Japanese Canadians lived in Claxton year-round, though the population increased significantly during the salmon season. The forcible uprooting of Japanese Canadians severely disrupted cannery operations, contributing to a decline in business and the cannery’s closure in 1944.