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Hidden Inlet Cannery

Aerial view of cannery buildings

The Hidden Inlet cannery complex, nestled in Pearse Canal in the Coast Mountains of Alaska. University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections, AWC0582.

c.1900-1940s

54°56’37.2″N 130°20’05.9″W

  • Built on the west shore of the Pearse Canal by Merrill DesBrisay and Co. circa 1900
  • Site was in Alaskan territory after the B.C./Alaska boundary was settled in 1903
  • Merrill DesBrisay and Co. continued to operate the cannery for several years after the settling of the border, but consequently purchased Wales Island Cannery from its American owners in 1910 and rebuilt it
  • Hidden Inlet Cannery sold to an American cannery owner, Eigil Buschmann, in 1921 and canning operations continued until the 1940s