Port Alice
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name = Port Alice
|official_name = Village of Port Alice{{cite web | url=http://www.cscd.gov.bc.ca/lgd/infra/library/Name%20Incorp%202011.xls | title=British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address | publisher=British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development | type=XLS | access-date=November 2, 2014}}
|other_name =
|native_name =
|nickname =
|settlement_type = Village
|motto =
|image_skyline = Port Alice 2020.jpg
|imagesize = 250px
|image_caption = Port Alice Rumble Beach Marina
|image_alt = Port Alice looking out to Neurotsos Inlet
|image_flag =
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|pushpin_map = Vancouver Island#Canada British Columbia
|pushpin_label_position =
|pushpin_map_caption = Location of Port Alice in British Columbia
|pushpin_mapsize =
|subdivision_type = Country
|subdivision_name = Canada
|subdivision_type1 = Province
|subdivision_name1 = British Columbia
|subdivision_type2 = Region
|subdivision_name2 =
|subdivision_type3 = Regional district
|subdivision_name3 = Mount Waddington
|subdivision_type4 =
|subdivision_name4 =
|government_footnotes =
|government_type =
|leader_title = Governing body
|leader_name = Port Alice Village Council
|leader_title1 = Mayor
|leader_name1 =
|leader_title2 =
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|established_title = Founded
|established_date = 1917
|established_title2 = District municipality
|established_date2 = 1965
|established_title3 = Village
|established_date3 = 1971
|area_magnitude =
|unit_pref =
|area_footnotes = {{SCref |year=2021 |unit=csd |code={{#property:P3012}}|access-date=2024-03-28}}
|area_total_km2 =
|area_land_km2 = 7.03
|area_water_km2 =
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|population_as_of = 2021
|population_note =
|population_total = 739
|population_density_km2 = 105.1
|population_blank1_title=
|population_blank1 =
|population_density_blank1_km2 =
|timezone = PST
|utc_offset = -8
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|coordinates = {{coord|50|25|36|N|127|29|17|W|region:CA-BC|display=title,inline}}
|elevation_footnotes =
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| blank_name = Highways
| blank_info = {{jct|state=BC|BC|30}}
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|website = {{Official URL}}
|footnotes =
}}
Port Alice is a village of approximately 739 (2021 census) located on Neroutsos Inlet, southwest of Port McNeill, on Vancouver Island, originally built by Whalen Pulp and Paper Mills of Vancouver. The community is known for its natural environment, pulp mill, and salt water fishing.
History
Historically, before 1750, the area was home to the Hoyalas, followed by the Koskimo people in the late 1800s.{{cite web |author1=Brenda McCorquodale |title=Port Alice has a history of landslides |url=https://www.northislandgazette.com/opinion/port-alice-has-a-history-of-landslides-1363155 |website=North Island Gazette |publisher=Black Press Media |access-date=28 March 2024 |language=en |date=27 March 2014}}
It was named after Alice Whalen, the founders' mother. The brothers Whalen began their construction of the mill at its present site in 1917,{{Cite web|url=http://portalice.ca/visitors|title=Port Alice Official Website}} with first pulp produced in 1918. The mill at Swanson Bay, on the Inside Passage farther north, was also a Whalen operation.
Due to heavy rainfall and the surrounding steep slopes, Port Alice experienced mud and rock slides in 1927 and 1935, which contributed to the decision to relocate the town site away from the mill in 1965. Landslides continued to occur in the area and at the new townsite in 1973, 1975, 1987, and 2010.
In 1965, Port Alice became a district municipality and was incorporated as a village on January 1, 1971.{{cite journal |title=1971 Census of Canada - Population Census Subdivisions (Historical) |journal=Catalogue 92-702 Vol I, part 1 (Bulletin 1.1-2) |date=July 1973 |pages=76, 139 |publisher=Statistics Canada}}
Port Alice bears a resemblance to Port Annie, the fictional town described by Vancouver Island author Jack Hodgins in his novel The Resurrection of Joseph Bourne.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}} The new orchid hybrid "Port Alice" has been officially listed at London England in the Royal Horticultural Society's "Book of Registered Orchid Hybrids". This slipper-type flower is the result of crossing a complex hybrid Paphiopedilum "Western Sky" with a species Paphiopedilum appletonianum.
Geography
Devil’s Bath, a flooded sinkhole near Port Alice, is an example of a cenote[http://www.vancouverislandnorth.ca/wp-content/uploads/Port-Alice-Loop-map-sm.gif map of the area] and is the largest in Canada at 359 meters in diameter and 44 meters in depth.[http://www.vancouverislandnorth.ca/communities/port-alice/ Port Alice] Tourism Vancouver Island North
There are a number of hiking destinations in the area. They include Devil’s Bath, Eternal Fountain, Vanishing River & Reappearing River. These are a series of ancient karst and limestone formations. The access is through dirt roads.
=Climate=
Port Alice has an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb) and is one of the mildest and wettest places in Canada, receiving {{convert|3.4|m|in|-1}} of actual rainfall per year and exceptionally little snow, which amounts to as much as 33 percent more rainfall than infamously wet Prince Rupert and only marginally less than Southeast Alaska’s wettest cities of Ketchikan and Yakutat which each average around {{convert|3.8|m|in|0}} and receive much more snowfall.
{{Weather box
|location = Port Alice
|metric first = Y
|single line = Y
|Jan record high C = 20.5
|Feb record high C = 19.0
|Mar record high C = 21.5
|Apr record high C = 26.0
|May record high C = 31.5
|Jun record high C = 33.5
|Jul record high C = 35.5
|Aug record high C = 34.5
|Sep record high C = 29.5
|Oct record high C = 26.5
|Nov record high C = 22.8
|Dec record high C = 17.2
|year record high C = 35.5
|Jan high C = 7.4
|Feb high C = 8.0
|Mar high C = 9.9
|Apr high C = 12.2
|May high C = 15.6
|Jun high C = 18.1
|Jul high C = 20.8
|Aug high C = 20.9
|Sep high C = 18.4
|Oct high C = 13.3
|Nov high C = 9.2
|Dec high C = 7.0
|year high C = 13.4
|Jan mean C = 4.9
|Feb mean C = 5.1
|Mar mean C = 6.4
|Apr mean C = 8.3
|May mean C = 11.3
|Jun mean C = 13.8
|Jul mean C = 16.1
|Aug mean C = 16.4
|Sep mean C = 14.1
|Oct mean C = 10.2
|Nov mean C = 6.6
|Dec mean C = 4.6
|year mean C = 9.8
|Jan low C = 2.4
|Feb low C = 2.2
|Mar low C = 3.0
|Apr low C = 4.2
|May low C = 6.9
|Jun low C = 9.5
|Jul low C = 11.4
|Aug low C = 11.8
|Sep low C = 9.7
|Oct low C = 7.0
|Nov low C = 4.0
|Dec low C = 2.2
|year low C = 6.2
|Jan record low C = -12.2
|Feb record low C = -11.5
|Mar record low C = -5.5
|Apr record low C = -1.7
|May record low C = 0.5
|Jun record low C = 1.1
|Jul record low C = 5.0
|Aug record low C = 4.5
|Sep record low C = 0.0
|Oct record low C = -4.0
|Nov record low C = -11.5
|Dec record low C = -12.8
|year record low C = -12.8
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 492.2
|Feb precipitation mm = 354.0
|Mar precipitation mm = 320.4
|Apr precipitation mm = 258.3
|May precipitation mm = 147.3
|Jun precipitation mm = 100.1
|Jul precipitation mm = 59.5
|Aug precipitation mm = 94.6
|Sep precipitation mm = 130.2
|Oct precipitation mm = 417.6
|Nov precipitation mm = 561.4
|Dec precipitation mm = 491.2
|year precipitation mm = 3426.8
|rain colour = green
|Jan rain mm = 484.1
|Feb rain mm = 345.3
|Mar rain mm = 316.1
|Apr rain mm = 257.8
|May rain mm = 147.3
|Jun rain mm = 100.1
|Jul rain mm = 59.5
|Aug rain mm = 94.6
|Sep rain mm = 130.2
|Oct rain mm = 417.5
|Nov rain mm = 559.1
|Dec rain mm = 487.0
|year rain mm = 3398.6
|Jan snow cm = 8.1
|Feb snow cm = 8.7
|Mar snow cm = 4.3
|Apr snow cm = 0.5
|May snow cm = 0.0
|Jun snow cm = 0.0
|Jul snow cm = 0.0
|Aug snow cm = 0.0
|Sep snow cm = 0.0
|Oct snow cm = 0.1
|Nov snow cm = 2.4
|Dec snow cm = 4.2
|year snow cm = 28.3
|unit precipitation days = 0.2 mm
|Jan precipitation days = 23.3
|Feb precipitation days = 19.7
|Mar precipitation days = 22.7
|Apr precipitation days = 20.1
|May precipitation days = 17.0
|Jun precipitation days = 16.0
|Jul precipitation days = 10.4
|Aug precipitation days = 11.9
|Sep precipitation days = 14.6
|Oct precipitation days = 22.2
|Nov precipitation days = 24.1
|Dec precipitation days = 22.8
|year precipitation days = 224.7
|unit rain days = 0.2 mm
|Jan rain days = 22.8
|Feb rain days = 19.5
|Mar rain days = 22.5
|Apr rain days = 20.1
|May rain days = 17.0
|Jun rain days = 16.0
|Jul rain days = 10.4
|Aug rain days = 11.9
|Sep rain days = 14.6
|Oct rain days = 22.2
|Nov rain days = 24.0
|Dec rain days = 22.3
|year rain days= 223.3
|unit snow days = 0.2 cm
|Jan snow days = 2.2
|Feb snow days = 2.2
|Mar snow days = 1.7
|Apr snow days = 0.4
|May snow days = 0.0
|Jun snow days = 0.0
|Jul snow days = 0.0
|Aug snow days = 0.0
|Sep snow days = 0.0
|Oct snow days = 0.1
|Nov snow days = 0.8
|Dec snow days = 1.8
|year snow days = 9.2
}}
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Port Alice had a population of 739 living in 415 of its 538 total private dwellings, a change of {{percentage|{{#expr:739-664}}|664|1}} from its 2016 population of 664. With a land area of {{cvt|7.03|km2}}, it had a population density of {{Pop density|739|7.03|km2|sqmi|prec=1}} in 2021.
{{Historical populations
|title = {{Nowrap|Historical census populations –}} Port Alice
|align = none
|cols = 2
|percentages =
|footnote =
| 1966 |1383
| 1976 |1497
| 1981 |1668
| 1986 |1387
| 1991 |1371
| 1996 |1331
| 2001 |1126
| 2006 |821
| 2011 |805
| 2016 |664
| 2021 |739
}}
Notable people
- Jason Bowen – NHL player 1992 - 1998 Philadelphia Flyers and Edmonton Oilers
- Paul Manly – Green MP, and the son of the former NDP MP Jim Manly
- Patrick Moore – founding member of Greenpeace{{cite web | url=http://ecosense.me/bio/ | title=Bio – Dr. Patrick Moore }}
- Dale Walters – 1984 Olympics bronze medalist in boxing
- Daryl Sturdy - 1962 World Rowing Championships, eights 1962 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, eights 1963 Pan American Games, gold medal in eights, 1964 Tokyo Olympics, eights 1966 World Rowing Championships, coxless four 1967 Pan American Games,silver medal in pair, Royal Canadian Henley Regatta 1967 gold medal in junior singles, 1968 Mexico Olympics double
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{official website|http://www.portalice.ca}}
{{VancouverIslandCommunities}}
{{Subdivisions of British Columbia|village=yes}}
{{authority control}}
Category:Villages in British Columbia
Category:Quatsino Sound region
Category:Populated places in the Regional District of Mount Waddington