In June 1889, the sailing vessel San Mateo carried the first coal shipment out of Union Wharf in Baynes Sound. Union Wharf (later Union Bay ) was named after the port from which the Union Coal Company shipped its coal. The following are some interesting markers in the history of Union Bay:

1880’s – Dunsmuir Company bought out Union Coal Co.

1888 – Union Colliery Co. formed by James & Alexander Dunsmuir and John Bryden

1889 – In July, the first coal shipment left shipping wharf at Union, Post office established at Union

1892 – First telegraph lines run to Union

1895 – Telegraph office opens

1898 – First school housed in Union Coal Company bungalow

1899 – New school house built and named the Little Red School House

1903 – MV Flora stranded on Village Point Reef

1909 – The Royal Bank of Canada opened a branch in Union opposite the jail house

1915 – Present day school built with indoor toilets

1920’s – First “pacific oysters” introduced into the area

1960 – The use of Union Bay as a shipping port came to an end

In 1849, coal baron Robert Dunsmuir came to Canada from Scotland . He and his family came to British Columbia on a Coal Miner’s agreement with the Hudson’s Bay Company. In 1869, after being rewarded with a Free Miner’s License, Dunsmuir discovered the Wellington coal seam. Dunsmuir went on to become a magnate in the coal business on Vancouver Island and build the E&N Railroad.

Upon Robert Dunsmuir’s death in 1889, his son’s James and Alexander Douglas along with his son-in-law John Bryden continued the family business. Having formed the Union Colliery Co. in 1888, they moved their shipping facilities from Royston to Langley Point (Hart’s Point) and the first coal was shipped from Union Wharf in July of 1889.

In the early 1900’s, a “pirate wannabe” dubbed “The Flying Dutchman” and his cohorts terrorized villages up and down the west coast of Vancouver Island. With the amount of activity in the bustling Union Bay harbour, the accessibility of the government dock and the speed of the Flying Dutchman’s getaway vehicle, the gang could go relatively unnoticed under the cover of darkness.

In March 1913, while robbing the Fraser and Bishop’s store, located at the head of the wharf, police officer Henry Westaway was shot and killed. Westaway’s partner, Gordon Ross, apprehended “The Flying Dutchman” a.k.a. Henry Wagner, an American of German descent. The rest of Wagner’s gang was found at Scottie Bay on Lasqueti Island after Wagner supplied their names and location to the authorities.

Today, Union Bay is a small community with approximately 700
residences. The shipping lines, coal trade and pirates are long gone
and the local economy is now supported by logging, shellfish,
retirement and recreation industries. The rail bed and pilings from
the coal port still remain along the waterfront as a reminder of the
historic coal wharves.

References:

Glover, J., Union Bay Elementary - History

URL: http://sd71.bc.ca/sd71/school/union-bay/school/history.html

Glover, J., 1990, The Friendly Port ( Campbell River , BC : Kask Graphics Ltd.)

Guille, M., Union Bay has a Colourful Past,

URL: www.vancouverisland.com/guestwriters/guille_marilyn/unionbay.html

Kluckner, M., 2002, Vanishing BC Union Bay

URL: www.michaelkluckner.com/bciw9unionbay.html

Union Bay

URL: www.colwoodbc.com/Regions/towns/index.asp?townID=64

Weir, D., Comox Valley Harbour Authority – Maine History

URL: www.comoxfishermanswharf.com/marine_history/