James Island (British Columbia)
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James Island, one of British Columbia's Gulf Islands, lies in Haro Strait, approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) off the coast of Vancouver Island and 90 miles (144.8 km) from Seattle, Washington. James Island lies between Sidney Island and the coast of Vancouver Island near Sidney, British Columbia. It is 315 ha in size.
The name was conferred by Captain Richards of HMS Plumper in 1858. James Island served, in the early 1900s, as a private hunting ground for Victoria sportsmen including then British Columbia Premier Richard McBride, who served between 1903 and 1915.
In 1913 a dynamite plant was established on the island. The plant was owned by a company that merged into Canadian Explosives Ltd which changed its name to Canadian Industries Limited (CIL) in 1927. From the outset of World War II, the plant was operated by Defence Industries Ltd, a subsidiary of CIL. The plant, and many of its workers cottages, had been moved from Nanaimo. At its peak, the plant employed 800 people, most of whom lived in a small, traffic-free village on the opposite end of the island. During World War II, the plant produced 900 tonnes of TNT per month for the war effort.
In 1972, the plant closed. In 1979, it and the village was disassembled and removed from the island.
James Island was purchased by Craig McCaw in 1994 for $19 million.[1] Recent luxury resort development on the island includes a golf course and yacht moorage and a seaplane ramp and airstrip.
[edit] Sources
Business and History, University of Western Ontario, Accessed August 7, 2006
James Island in the BC Geographical Names Information System
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