Bamfield Cable Station
In 1902 a cable ship laid a wire from Bamfield to Fanning Island — and this village became Canada's telegraph line to Australia.
The All Red Line
Britain wanted a telegraph network that touched only British soil. The missing piece was the Pacific. In 1902 the cable ship Colonia began laying more than 6,000 kilometres of cable from Bamfield to Fanning Island — completing the All Red Line from Canada to Australia and New Zealand.
A working station
Operators, schedules, maintenance, weather. The 1915 dock photo shows the front door of it all: people, freight, news, and messages arriving by water, because everything arrived by water.
From cables to science
The telegraph ran until 1959. Then the buildings got a second life — in 1972 they became the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre. Same waterfront, new questions.
Timeline
- 1902: The Colonia lays the Bamfield–Fanning Island cable; the All Red Line is complete.
- 1915: The dock photo: the cable station at work.
- 1959: The telegraph era ends.
- 1972: The station buildings become the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre.
Questions? Call 1-800-917-3837.