Harbour City Highlights

History

North America’s Only HBC Bastion Stands Tall in Nanaimo

Originally inhabited by the Coast Salish Snuneymuxw tribe, Nanaimo became a mining town in the mid-1800s when the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) began to explore the rich coal deposits near the harbour. Many of Nanaimo's neighbourhoods commemorate the mines located here, including Northfield, Newcastle, Extension, Wellington, and South Wellington, all former mining communities.

Nanaimo was protected from potential attack by the Bastion, an eight-sided armed building built in 1853 that is the only remaining original Hudson’s Bay Company Bastion in North America. While the Bastion’s cannons were never used in defense, they were frequently fired to celebrate community events and the cannon can still be heard at noon each day in the summer. Three floors of the historic Bastion are now open to visitors, with exhibits providing a great insight into life in Nanaimo more than 150 years ago.

The Chinese first arrived in Nanaimo in the 1860s, and played an important role in the mining, service, and retail industries of the day. Nanaimo's last Chinatown was destroyed in a dramatic fire in September 1960. Nanaimo was also once home to a thriving Japanese community, which operated herring and salmon salteries on Newcastle Island. Unfortunately, the Japanese community was dismantled in 1942 during the Second World War.

Nanaimo's small logging and sawmill industry became more prevalent after the coal mines closed. In the early 1940s, large scale forestry operations began to employ many local workers. In recent decades, Nanaimo's economy has diversified from resource extraction into service, technology and science. The city is a center for fisheries research and a hub for Island tourism. Malaspina University-College offers excellent degree and trades programs, and is a big contributor to the city's skilled workforce.

History buffs will find much to enjoy in exploring Nanaimo's colourful past. Several walking tours wind through older neighbourhoods, where markers and plaques provide directions and descriptions of the stops along the route. Visit the Nanaimo District Museum for exhibits on Nanaimo’s First Nations history, Chinatown and the rise and fall of the coal mining industry. In the park next to the museum, tour an authentic miner's cottage and an 1889 Baldwin steam locomotive, which ran on Nanaimo's railway, the first in Western Canada.