Photographs of graving dock - caissons are built in a huge hole and then floated out to a stationary position and sunk. This is then the base of the wharf. Photo shows construction area with framework, and people working in a pit.
Fred DeLory worked for Arvida P.Q. and was transferred to Kitimat at the beginning of 1952. He was the first town engineer.
Scope and Content
Photographs of graving dock - caissons are built in a huge hole and then floated out to a stationary position and sunk. This is then the base of the wharf. Photo shows construction area with framework, and people working in a pit.
Slide showing the graving dock where the Alcan wharf caissons were constructed. It is filled with water. Boats and structures are visible on the edge. This area was used for the Kitimat Yacht Club. Behind, the Kitimat River estuary is visible, and beyond that the mountains (Mount Elizabeth obscured by cloud).
James McNay was born in Ayrshire, Scotland, on January 31, 1907. Between 1951 and 1953, he worked in the payroll department for Alcan. He had to leave his wife Effie and his two young daughters, Margaret and Diane, aged 6 and 5 in 1951, at home in Surrey, B.C., during his 3-4 month stints in Kitimat. To fill some of his free time and show his family where he was and what Kitimat was like, he spent many hours walking in the area with a 35mm Kodak camera. He photographed the scenic beauty of the area and parts of the construction of both the smelters and the town. He died in Surrey on August 7, 1983.
Custodial History
Donated by Margaret McNay. Images were taken by her father and sent to their family in Surrey in the 1950s.
Scope and Content
Slide showing the graving dock where the Alcan wharf caissons were constructed. It is filled with water. Boats and structures are visible on the edge. This area was used for the Kitimat Yacht Club. Behind, the Kitimat River estuary is visible, and beyond that the mountains (Mount Elizabeth obscured by cloud).
Photograph of view looking south showing excavation for footings and formwork for local service buildings in priority area No.1, potline group B. Some vehicles visible. Potlines visible in background.
Bud Powell is a longtime resident of Kitimat and former smeltersite resident. He worked for Alcan.
Custodial History
Donated by Bud Powell.
Scope and Content
Photograph of view looking south showing excavation for footings and formwork for local service buildings in priority area No.1, potline group B. Some vehicles visible. Potlines visible in background.
Photograph of view looking south showing excavation to elevation 54 in potline 9 area. Area is cleared with machinery working. Potlines visible in background.
Bud Powell is a longtime resident of Kitimat and former smeltersite resident. He worked for Alcan.
Custodial History
Donated by Bud Powell.
Scope and Content
Photograph of view looking south showing excavation to elevation 54 in potline 9 area. Area is cleared with machinery working. Potlines visible in background.
Jamieson came to Kitimat from Vancouver to work on the Alcan project in 1952. With his first pay cheque he bought a small "Pony Kodak" camera at the local store (Hudson Bay?), and started taking coloured slides of the Kitimat from 1952-1953. Left Kitimat at the end of August 1953 to move to Montreal.
Scope and Content
Slide of graving dock. Kitimat. Mount Elizabeth visible in background.
