Carlisle Cannery

The Carlisle Cannery had can-making machinery that supplied the surrounding canneries of the area.

1895-1950

54°06’31.6″N 130°05’04.4″W

Carlisle Cannery was built in 1895 by John A. Carthew who sold it to the Carlisle Canning & Packing Co. Carthew used equipment from Price’s Cannery which he also owned but had closed in 1893. The plant had a complete can-making line that made cans for Carlisle as well as Kildala Cannery on Rivers Inlet and Manitou Cannery on Dean’s Channel.

The Carlisle Cannery was one of the first canneries built closer to newly extended fishing grounds outside of the protected waters at the mouth of the Skeena River. Round-bottomed Columbia River skiffs made it possible to venture outside the protected areas of the river.

Carlisle Cannery was purchased by the Canadian Fishing Co. in 1926. In 1938 machinery was brought from Haysport Cannery to expand the plant. When the plant closed in 1950 it had been in operation for fifty-five years and 1905 was the only year it did not produce a pack. After the closure, the machinery was moved again, this time to Ocean Dock in Prince Rupert owned by Nelson Bros.