Port McNeill
human settlement in Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada
Port McNeill is a town in the North Island region of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada on Vancouver Island's northeast shore, on Queen Charlotte Strait. Originally a base camp for loggers, it became a settlement in 1936. It was named after Captain William Henry McNeill of the Hudson's Bay Company.
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population by Statistics Canada, Port McNeill's population was 2,356, living in 1,019 of its 1,111 total private dwellings, 0.8% higher than its 2016 population of 2,337. With a land area of 13.77 km2 (5.32 sq mi), it had a population density of 171.1/km2 (443.1/sq mi) in 2021.
Religion
According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Port McNeill included:
Irreligion (1,545 persons or 65.9%)
Christianity (730 persons or 31.1%)
Buddhism (10 persons or 0.4%)
Tourism and location
Along with housing the headquarters of the Regional District of Mount Waddington, Port McNeill is the gateway to the Broughton straight. It offers the only access to the villages of Alert Bay (Cormorant Island) and Sointula (Malcolm Island) via BC Ferries. Port McNeill Airport is five minutes to the south on highway 19.
The town is also a popular summer tourism destination. There is a large population of wildlife including black bear, cougar, elk and deer.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Port McNeill” as human settlement in Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as human settlement in Regional District of Mount Waddington, British Columbia, Canada. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2104736. VIAF identifies the subject as 127798103. The Library of Congress control number is n00112184. Authority coordinates are 50.591, -127.086. 3 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1936, 2021 and 2016.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Port McNeill”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Port McNeill primary sources, Port McNeill archive and Port research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Port McNeill”?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Port McNeill” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.