Taku Harbor

Between 1878 and 1950, there were over 134 canneries in Alaska. Often they were run by steam boilers which frequently caught the canneries on fire. Taku Harbor is the site of an old salmon cannery that was built in 1901 by the San Juan Fishing and Packing Company from Seattle. It suffered two major fires and was dismantled in 1951 (not due to the fires, but probably because fish population decline related to over fishing). Interestingly, the Hudson Bay Company established a trading post here in 1840. Before that, of course, the Taku, Sumdum and Auke people of Tlingit heritage lived here before European's stole their land.

There is a dock in this bay that leads to a nice walk along the shore through the woods, or a walk along the beach to the ruins. There is a family who is renovating a sort of barracks that cannery workers used to live in for future tourism. The artifacts from the cannery make for interesting beachcombing and creative photography. Enjoy!

Pink Purslane.

Piles of sheet metal for the cans...

More Pink Purslane.

Someone found a long piece of rope on shore somewhere and has apparently made swings around SE with it. It's a fun thing to do and brings out the child in all of us! There is a US Forest Service Cabin you can reserve near the swing.

David caught one crab off the boat here, which we ate for dinner wih a Vietnamese cabbage salad.