Qualla: Fanny Bay

Fanny Bay: Introduction

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit No machine-readable author provided. Qyd assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain. Nobody knows who Fanny was. The name appeared on British Columbia maps in 1913, was officially adopted in 1923, and traces back to British Admiralty charts drawn from Royal Navy Captain G.H. Richards's surveys in the 1860s. But if Richards knew the identity of his Fanny, he kept it to himself. One geographer claimed the bay was named for a sea captain who lived nearby. Locals insist Captain George Vancouver named it in 1792, though his journals describe only the opposite shore. The mystery endures, and the community of 921 people on Baynes Sound seems perfectly content to let it.

Read more: Fanny Bay on Qualla

Image: No machine-readable author provided. Qyd assumed (based on copyright claims). | Public domain

Fanny Bay: Oyster Country

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wasrts, CC BY-SA 3.0. Fanny Bay is oyster country. Pacific oysters were first introduced here as early as 1912 or 1913, with additional seedings around 1925. The cold, nutrient-rich waters of Baynes Sound proved ideal for shellfish cultivation, and today the bay produces Pacific oysters, manila clams,...

Read more: Fanny Bay on Qualla

Image: Wasrts | CC BY-SA 3.0

Fanny Bay: The Logging Camp That Vanished

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wasrts, CC BY-SA 3.0. In the early twentieth century, Eikichi Kagetsu incorporated the Deep Bay Logging Company, which operated timberlands in both Deep Bay and at least 3,000 acres in Fanny Bay. The company built a settlement for its workers: split-cedar houses, a water system, and a school. The labo...

Read more: Fanny Bay on Qualla

Image: Wasrts | CC BY-SA 3.0

Fanny Bay: The FBI and Other Landmarks

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wasrts, CC BY-SA 3.0. The Fanny Bay Inn -- affectionately abbreviated as the FBI -- has been a fixture on the Island Highway since 1938. For decades it has operated as a pub and local gathering spot, hosting live music, jam sessions, and the kind of conversations that happen in small-town bars where e...

Read more: Fanny Bay on Qualla

Image: Wasrts | CC BY-SA 3.0

Fanny Bay: A Name Without an Answer

Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Wasrts, CC BY-SA 3.0. The mystery of Fanny Bay's name is, in its own way, the most telling thing about the place. It is small enough that a single unexplained name can become the subject of persistent local debate, yet connected enough -- through its oysters, its highway, its sound -- to matter to the...

Read more: Fanny Bay on Qualla

Image: Wasrts | CC BY-SA 3.0