Digby Island
| Digby Island | ||
|---|---|---|
| Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
| Geographical location | 54 ° 17 ′ N , 130 ° 26 ′ W | |
|
||
| length | 10.6 km | |
| width | 7.2 km | |
| surface | 34.96 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 81 m | |
| main place | Dodge Cove | |
Digby Island is an island in the Canadian province of British Columbia and is located in the North Coast Regional District . It is located off the coast of Prince Rupert and is connected to the city by a ferry and the airport shuttle service. On the island is located, next to the small community of Dodge Cove and the Prince Rupert Airport .
history
There is an abundance of native stories in this area and much archaeological research has been carried out over the years. In Dodge Cove is Kanagatsiyot , a village of the Tsimshians , a First Nations indigenous peoples group in Canada and North America with a tradition of several thousand years.
The name of the island
The island was named in 1867 after Henry Almarus Digby, a 2nd lieutenant in the Royal Navy on HMS Malacca . In 1912 a naval station and a residence with staff quarters, office buildings and various shops were built here. These buildings still exist today and are privately owned.
Settlement in modern times
The first modern settlement of the island took place by Norwegian fishermen at the beginning of the 20th century. They called their village "Norwegian Village".
Economic development
In 1912 a hospital was built on the island, which is now only in ruins. After boat building, which created jobs here from 1919 to 1981, after 1938 the cultivation of strawberries was an additional economic factor alongside fishing. The Canadian television broadcaster CBC / Radio-Canada set up an amplifier station here on "CBC Hill" in 1943. In the early 1960s, the Canadian government decided to build Prince Rupert Airport. The airport opened in 1961.
future plans
There are plans to build a massive bridge between Digby Island and Prince Rupert . It is questionable whether this bridge will ever be built.
Web links
- Digby Island . In: BC Geographical Names (English)
- Digby Island and Dodge Cove
Individual evidence
- ^ Andrew Scott: The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia . Harbor Publishing, Madeira Park, BC 2009, ISBN 978-1-55017-484-7 , pp. 161 (English).