For most men in 1899 Takumet was simply a good place to hunt, or to fish. But to Charles Hayes, an eastern railroad tycoon and the general manager of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Co., Takumet was a harbor a mile wide and 14 miles long and Charles Hayes had a dream of building a second railroad across Canada. A steel dream ending in a gentle harbor-- a gateway to Asia. By 1906 the first surveyors arrived and by 1910 Prince Rupert was incorporated using a name found through a nationwide contest.
In 1912 Charles Hayes left for London to complete the financing of his dream that was well on its way to reality. You see, because of its position Prince Rupert is six hundred kilometers closer to Asia than Vancouver, and that's two days less sailing time, and that makes good financial sense even to British bankers. For his triumphant return, Charles Hayes booked passage on the newest and fastest luxury liner afloat. But on the calm night of April 14, 1912 the RMS Titanic sank in the cold water of the North Atlantic; with her, carrying his plans and promises, was Charles Hayes.
Although the first train did in fact roll into Prince Rupert in 1914, by September of that year young men of dreams were fighting in the trenches of Belgium and France; and by the end of the war, the dream of Charles Hayes was lost forever. But that was British Colombia in 1912, and that was the beginning of the beautiful city of Prince Rupert, and it is a BC Legend, and I'm Nick Lea.
We're proud to present another BC Legend.
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