People from all over the world came to Shoal Bay in the late 1800's in the search for gold. The transient population at that time, believed to number around five thousand, boasted that the community was even larger than the new founded city of Vancouver.
By 1898, over 200 mineral claims had been made in the district of Shoal Bay. Small entrepreneurs staked many, but several of the larger mines were owned by British Columbia Golds Ltd., an English company, including the Douglas Pine mine on the steep slopes directly above Shoal Bay Lodge.
Panhandlers, miners, loggers, fisherman, and trappers were all part of the early settlement at Shoal bay. It was a boomtown with three hotels, a post office, a general store and at least one brothel that served the large male population.
As the gold mines became less and less lucrative, people began moving away from Shoal Bay towards other logging and mining centers on the coast. Shoal Bay remained a very active community well into the 1950. A vital refueling and provisioning depot for coastal aircraft and local people, as well as the many small craft travelling Cordero Channel.
In the early sixties, after the Shoal Bay General Store and fuel docks had closed down for the last time, a group of investors from the States bought the entire town-site and built the original Shoal Bay Lodge. Operated by several different groups over the next few decades, Shoal Bay Lodge became a very popular stop for pleasure boaters as well as commercial fishermen and loggers. In 1999, after belonging to Blair McLean of Knight Inlet Lodge fame the Shoal Bay Lodge and town-site was bought by myself, Mark MacDonald. I spent a wonderful summer at Shoal Bay and shortly realized that I would never again intentionally leave.
On July 22, of 2000 the original Shoal Bay Lodge building caught fire and shortly burned to the ground. The dream that brought me to the bay was destroyed before my eyes but was almost simultaneously replaced by a new vision, a bigger and grander Shoal Bay that I know will take a lifetime of hard work to realize.
The last four years since the fire have been busy. We have built two beautiful cottages that will one day compliment the new lodge building. Plans for the new lodge are nearing completion and we hope to be installing the footings and foundations this coming fall. All supporting systems at Shoal Bay were in various states of disintegration and all are being replaced. This means the complete replacement of a sewage treatment system, fresh water systems for acquisition and distribution. Removal and replacement of all fuel (both diesel and propane) delivery lines from the end of the dock to new upgraded tanks. The subsequent installation of new propane lines to supply the new cottages and lodge. A new building to house the generators and a workshop, and an all-new electrical system involving panels, switches and underground lines to all outbuildings as well as the cottages and lodge. Some of these projects are proudly completed but many are still under way or even only in planning. I promise you they will all one day be completed and Shoal Bay will rise from the ashes while becoming a world-class exclusive destination. The real winner of course, is me. For I, in the dreaming and the planning, and then in the realization of those dreams, will spend a lifetime with my hands dirty and my heart happy, watching a paradise within a paradise slowly materialize. A paradise that provides me now with unlimited joy and one that I feel obligated to share. Everyone should be this happy.
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