❖ WATERFALL CANNERY ❖ ALASKA

Waterfall Cannery,
 Prince of Wales Island, AK.
Click image to enlarge.
Scan of original photo from the archives of S.P.H.S.©

Waterfall Cannery,
This slightly different view with some descriptive text
added by the previous owner.
Click image to enlarge.
Scan from an original from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

"Commercial fishing pioneers founded Waterfall Cannery near a natural waterfall amid 52 acres of rugged wilderness on Prince of Wales Island, AK. They chose this location, on the island's craggy western shore, because the surrounding waters were known for phenomenal fishing and epic salmon runs.
      The cannery went on to make a major name for itself in seafood production. Salmon were caught in fish traps or aboard seiners, brine-cured, packed in handmade cans, and shipped off to New York and throughout Europe. Like most canneries in Alaska of the day, this frontier outpost was a self-sufficient community of seasonal workers.
    At season's end, the bulk of the crew departed and Waterfall Cannery shut down until the next summer's salmon migration. 
1911:
Alaska Fish Co, the first to pack salmon on a ship, starts a floating cannery aboard the 42-year old clipper Glory of the Seas. The venture proved so successful that the company tows the vessel to the west coast of Prince of Wales Island, where Seattle-based Oceanic Packing Co builds a shoreside facility.
1912: Alaska Fish and Oceanic Packing merge, establishing Waterfall Cannery.
1923: Waterfall Cannery is sold to Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co, owner of the nationwide chain of A & P stores.
1925: Nakat Packing Corp, a subsidiary of A&P, is formed to operate the cannery for the next half-century.
1932: A major expansion begins that adds a warehouse, marine way, oil dock, dam, power lines, cable house, machine shop, storage room, mess hall, bunkhouses, four seiners, and the fish tender Quaker Maid. 
1936: Waterfall Cannery produces 220,000 cases of silver salmon for the year, setting a record for a single Alaska cannery.
1937: The cannery's new $145,000 outbuildings are considered the finest in SE Alaska. The company adds five additional canning lines.
1939-1945: During WW II, Waterfall Cannery supplies canned salmon to support the Allied forces.
1946: Waterfall Cannery's output is 80% silver salmon, 20% halibut and lingcod.
'At Ketchikan, we chartered a plane and flew here to Waterfall. It is one of the most beautiful trips I have ever been on, and I hope you will have an opportunity to make it.' C.F. Bradford, bookkeeper, Waterfall Cannery, 23 June 1946.
1969: New England Fish purchases the assets of Nakat Packing Co, including Waterfall Cannery. 
1971: Restrictions on commercial fishing techniques cause the harvest to become too unpredictable to gear up for the summer pack and Waterfall Cannery closes its doors.
1973: New England Fish sells Waterfall Cannery's buildings and land to Edward 'Des' Moore and family, who convert the bygone operation into a sport-fishing lodge.
1980: The Ketchikan-based Waterfall Group purchases the property. The historic clapboard buildings and cabins that once housed cannery crew are carefully renovated to host sport-fishing fans from around the world." From the Waterfall Resort

The Waterfall Cannery connections to the PNW would have been many but this day let us honor Capt. Clayton R. Shaw, a descendant of a pioneer family in the San Juan Archipelago. The gentle giant was committed to the fishing industry his whole career.

Captain Clayton R. Shaw (1908-2001)
Fleet Captain for Nakat Packing Co.
The highly regarded Capt. Shaw is
  documented as fishing summers in 
Alaska from 1928 to 1970.
When he retired––he got married and 
lived on the Shaw family farm on Broken Point,
Shaw Island, WA.
Photo dated 1958 at Broken Pt., Shaw Island.  

HAZEL ROBB, Capt. Clayton Shaw,
at winter haulout, Seattle, WA. Dated 1935.
The tender (210409) was built in Ketchikan in 1912.
50 G.t. 34 N.t.
67.4' x 16.4' x 5.8'
 Photographer unknown.
Original photo from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

❖ A STOP at the GUS GRATZER DOCK ❖ 1958 ❖

Washington State ferry, Harney Channel,
on approach to Shaw Landing,
San Juan Archipelago, Washington.
Mount Baker shines in the background, dated 21 May 1991.
Click image to enlarge.
photo by Ted Bronstein, A.S.M.P.
for the Washington State Dept of Commerce, Olympia, Washington.
Original photo from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

The above photo shows the route that the well-known author, historian Lucile McDonald would have taken from Anacortes on the mainland to Shaw Island to visit and interview the residents in 1958. Her personal archives were donated to the UW. 
      
      "Shaw Island in the San Juan Archipelago was one of the few places remaining in the State where a person can answer her own telephone while visiting a neighbor.
      Mrs. Mabel Crawford, the postmistress on the island, said Shaw's crank-type phones, all on one line, are regarded by strangers as curiosities.
      There are approximately 223 phones in service on our cooperative line," Mabel said. 'You crank the right number of short and long rings to call someone. We also have a line to Lopez Island, where the long-distance operator is.'
      The community hall has fallen into disrepair and the schoolhouse serves for important meetings. Yansen's store near the ferry landing at the entrance to Blind Bay is the island gathering place. With armchairs around the stove, it has a sociable air. 
      To date, no resorts have been opened on Shaw. Neck Point Coves, on the west end, is a new summer home development with its own wharf and swimming pool. Miles Tippery of Orcas and Richard Exton of Deer Harbor, the sponsors, moved one of Shaw Island's oldest cabins stick by stick to Orcas Island and set it up near the ferry landing as an office. 
      Some of the ferry runs in the San Juans do not include Shaw unless a flag is hoisted or a red light is lit at the slip.
      Mabel recalled that ferry service to Shaw began in 1930 and that her father, Gene Fowler, was instrumental in having the slip built. Islanders tried to get along with a float as a substitute until a heavy truck turned over on it.  [Lyle KIng's truck]
      The post office formerly was at Griswold, half a mile from the present site. Mail arrived three times weekly and the postmaster rowed out to get it. Passengers also had to be taken by rowboat into the channel, where they hailed the boat.
      Shaw Island's newest enterprise is the San Juan Marina, under construction by A. F. 'Gus' Gratzer, formerly of Tacoma. Two years ago he bought the Fred Hudson farm on Hudson Bay, a short distance east of the ferry landing. 

A. F. 'Gus' Gratzer dock
Harney Channel, San Juan Archipelago, Washington,
dated 29 September 1958. 
The fish tender on the right is the HAZEL ROBB,
commanded by Islander Capt. Clayton Shaw of Broken Point,
heading to Seattle for winter storage after working in AK.
Gratzer and McDonald are standing next to the auto.
An aerial view of the Gratzer dock is included in the
top photo of the State ferry approaching the Shaw landing.
Click to enlarge.
Original photo by Parker McAllister from the archives of the S.P.H.S.©

      Gratzer likes the sheltered bay and clam beds. Steamboats used to stop at Hudson's to load fruit from their large orchard. Gratzer bull-dozed out some of the fruit trees to make space for a marine way and shops that he expects to have in operation by next summer.
      The Ellis house is one of the best-preserved log homes on Shaw. It was erected in 1887 by two single brothers, Thomas and Theodore Tharald, Norwegian sailors. They peeled the timbers and did a ship-shape carpenter job. 
      Hudson, Tift, Oscar Fowler, George Griswold, Sam Gordon, and L.D. Hix were heads of the first permanent families on the island.
      Another early resident was Delbert E. Hoffman, a boat builder, Mabel's maternal grandfather. 
      These settlers really stayed, their descendants intermarried and most of today's [1958] residents can trace their ancestry to Shaw Island's hardy pioneers."
Source: 
Lucile McDonald. The Seattle Times, 23 November 1958