Prince Rupert 5.99

Prince Rupert is a port city in the province of British Columbia, Canada. Located on Kaien Island, Prince Rupert is the land, air, and water transportation hub of British Columbia's North Coast, and has a population of 12,508 people (Statistics Canada, 2011).HistoryPrince Rupert was incorporated on March 10, 1910. It was named for Prince Rupert of the Rhine, the first Governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, as the result of an open competition held by the Grand Trunk Railway, the prize for which was $250. Prior to the opening of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP), the business centre on the North Coast was Port Essington on the Skeena River. After the founding of Prince Rupert at the western terminus of the GTP, Port Essington returned to being a fishing community.Charles Melville Hays, president of the Grand Trunk Railway, had many grand ideas for Prince Rupert, including berthing facilities for large passenger ships and the development of a major tourism industry. These plans fell through when Hays perished on the RMS Titanic in April 1912. Mount Hays, the larger of two mountains on Kaien Island, is named in his honour, as is a local high school, Charles Hays Secondary School.