During World War I the Foundation Company leased Turpel’s Marine Railway at Point Hope to build 24 2,500 ton coastal freighters built of Douglas Fir coastal freighters. Pictured above is the launch of one of those vessels.

During World War I the Foundation Company leased Turpel’s Marine Railway at Point Hope to build 24 2,500 ton coastal freighters built of Douglas. Pictured above is the launch of one of those vessels. BC Archives Item F-02249

The Upper Harbour… Victoria’s engine room

Victoria’s Upper Harbour extends north from the Johnson Street Bridge to the Point Ellice Bridge, known also as the Bay Street Bridge. As Victoria’s industrial capacity grew the shores of the upper harbour became home to some of the city’s most important enterprises, some of which established British Columbia firsts including the province’s first incorporated company.

Rock Bay, to the northeast in the Upper Harbour where Fernwood Creek once debouched into the harbour was a city dump site. Heavy industrial use in the bay left a toxic legacy that has recently undergone a thorough ecological clean up.