Category: Alaska’s Historic Canneries

Thu, April 11, 2013

Filipino Cannery Workers in 1915

By: Anjuli GranthamLast summer, the Baranov Museum in Kodiak taught a history and film workshop for middle school and high school students. These students created mini-films about topics related to the history of Filipinos in Kodiak. Kodiak has a large Filipino population; Filipinos comprise around 30% of the population of the city. Most of them were born in the Philippines and came to Kodiak through their service with the US Coast Guard or to work at a local cannery. Yet... (Read More)

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Tue, February 12, 2013

Canning Salmon at Excursion Inlet, Alaska: The First Century

By: Jim Mackovjak, Gustavus, Alaska The first cannery in what was officially known as the Icy Strait District of Southeast Alaska was not at Excursion Inlet, but at Bartlett Cove, in Glacier Bay. The Bartlett Bay Packing Company operated for only three years, 1889 through 1891, before it was closed because of overcapacity and consolidation in the industry. In 1900, the Western Fisheries Company constructed and operated a cannery at Dundas Bay. The cannery operated almost continuously under various ownerships... (Read More)

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Fri, February 08, 2013

Serendipity in Historical Research

By: J. Pennelope GoforthEvery now and then a serendipitous event occurs that defies the laws of rationality. I think it’s the magnetic law of attraction. That is, the attraction of old Alaskan historical stuff. Maybe you’ll agree after you read this. I wrote a book some years ago, Sailing the Mail in Alaska, about early Alaska photographer and mail clerk aboard the DORA, John E. Thwaites. I’m now working on a book about the famous little steamer DORA. Last year,... (Read More)

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Sat, January 26, 2013

Larsen Bay, July 2012

By: Anjuli GranthamThis summer, I travelled to Uyak Bay on the west side of Kodiak Island to visit some friends at their fish camp. This afforded me my first trip to the village of Larsen Bay, which is home to what is one of the oldest standing canneries on Kodiak Island. Currently owned by Icicle Seafoods, the Larsen Bay cannery was built by the Alaska Packers Association after the company moved all its packing activities from the Karluk Spit, in... (Read More)

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Sat, January 26, 2013

Salting Salmon in Taku Inlet

By: Pat Roppel, copyright held by authorSalmon salteries were usually an establishment of small capital. A cooper, with a handful of tools could go into the woods, fall a few trees, and make barrels. Hoops to hold the barrels together, salt and fishing gear were shipped North. Fishermen, sometimes Natives, harvested sockeye salmon by seines from skiffs in or at the mouth of a fish stream or river. Wooden vats, usually in a rough wooden building, held the fish in... (Read More)

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