BC Packers Records at the Richmond Archives



Trolling For Salmon Thumbnail

Trolling for salmon on the west coast
of Vancouver Island, ca. 1975.
City of Richmond Archives,
photo 2001 34 9-383.
Click here to enlarge image.

British Columbia Packers Ltd Photograph Collection

Donated by British Columbia Packers Limited to the City of Richmond Archives in 1985, this collection contains over two thousand photographs taken between 1898 and 1983.

The photographs, which are organized in 13 series, served a number of purposes, including facilitating internal communication between employees about business affairs and promoting the company's products and operations through local, national and global marketing campaigns.

The topical and geographic landscape the photographs cover is diverse. They feature fishing boats, fish camps, canneries and plants, fishing technology, and fish processing techniques in Steveston and along the Fraser and Skeena Rivers, Prince Rupert, Bella Bella, the Queen Charlotte Islands, as well as Quadra and Campbell Islands. There is also some material pertaining to the canneries operating on Canada's east coast.

British Columbia Packers Ltd. photograph collection


Nelbro Packing Thumbnail

From BC Packers Ltd fonds, this map depicts the Nelbro Packing Company site in Petersberg, Alaska. City of Richmond Archives, map 2001 34 3-142.
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British Columbia Packers Ltd fonds

This body of records, dating from 1890 until the company ceased operations in 2001, comprises 14 metres of multiple media arranged into 12 series. The material was donated to the City of Richmond Archives in 2001 when the company vacated its head office in Steveston.

Records document matters relating to the operation, maintenance and administration of BC Packers and its predecessor and subsidiary companies. The fonds includes trademark administration records, product labels, public relations, advertising and marketing materials, and records documenting operations for legal and organizational purposes, and of employee workplace and social events.

While the majority of the records pertain to local operations, some document business affairs in Eastern Canada as well as in the Unites States, Mexico, and Southeast Asia.

British Columbia Packers Ltd. fonds


Tuna At Victoria Cold Storage Thumbnail

Tuna being unloaded, Victoria, 1950. City of Richmond Archives, photo 2001 34 9-1517.
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Barker Letter Books Virtual Exhibit

A complete transcription of the outgoing correspondence of one of the company's first general managers, William Henry Barker, can be viewed in the "Barker Letter Books" virtual exhibit.

The letters which comprise Series 2 of the British Columbia Packers Ltd. fonds, date from 1905 to 1926.

Barker Letter Books Virtual Exhibit

Online Resources at Other Facilities

Online Exhibits:

Other Archival Finding Aids: