The early days of Port Alice

Port Alice is situated on Neroutsos Inlet in Quatsino Sound.  It is withing the traditional territory of the Quatsino First Nation. In pre-history times it is believed the Nuu-chah-nulth also inhabited this area.
Pre-1750 the Hoyalas tribe lived in the area around Port Alice, and in the late 1800s the Koskimo also lived in this area. During the Indian Reserve Commission allocation the First Nations claimed a piece of land in the area of Port Alice for firewood gathering, which they called "Tsokumstala."
In 1904 a wood pulp lease was granted for Quatsino Sound, and the Quatsino Power and Pulp Co. began to look for a site for a pulp mill.
The company was sold a couple of times over the next few years, and construction of a mill began in 1916. The impetus for the mill was the demand during World War I for cellulose products.  In 1917 Whalen Pulp and Paper Mills took over the mill working the wood pulp lease.  Sixty acres was cleared adjacent to the mill site, upon which a small community was built.  Local homesteaders from around Quatsino Sound worked on the construction of the townsite.  The town included 50 houses as well as a hotel and boarding house.  The community was initially called New Caledonia.
By 1918 the mill was in production, producing 75 tons of lumber per day.  The same year saw the grand opening of Whalen Pulp and Paper, and the production of the first pulp from the mill.
The name of the community was changed to Port Alice, after a daughter of one of the mill owners.  The first load of lumber left Port Alice for San Francisco in 1919.

Port Alice Pulp Mill

In the 1920s the town began to develop.  The three story Jones Hotel was moved to the town from Drake Island in 1920.  A company store opened in 1921.  In 1925 the BC Pulp and Paper Company took over Whalen Pulp and Paper and the community of Port Alice.
A floating hospital was completed in 1927.  In this year an impressive four story community centre was also constructed.  There were badminton and basketball courts, a recreation room for games of billiards and cards, a library, and a performance stage.
The golf course (which still sits beside the mill today) was completed on company land in 1928 and initially boasted 51 members. Cattle roamed the fairways at will and kept the grass trimmed.
A three room school was completed in 1928, and two churches were also built.  Ripley's Believe it or Not apparently listed St. Paul's Anglican Church as the only church located on a golf course (?!).  St. Teresa's was the other church.
In 1930 the bank of Nova Scotia opened the community's first bank.  For many years this bank was the only one available for most of the North Island.
From the beginning, the Port Alice mill seemed plagued with long periods of shut-down.  Those who enjoyed the community and the hunting and fishing it offered, were usually the workers who braved mill employment and stayed in the community.
During this period the only transportation in and out of the community was by boat, and later float plane.
In 1927 the community suffered its first major landslide, which, along with concerns about the pollution from the mill, resulted in the town being moved to its present location.