Dryad Point is on the northeastern point of Campbell Island and is the site of a historic lighthouse that marks the intersection of Lama Passage to the east and Seaforth Channel to the north on the Inside Passage, about 173 miles (278 km) southeast of Prince Rupert and 2 miles (3.2 km) northeast of Bella Bella, British Columbia. The point is named after the Hudson’s Bay Company vessel Dryad, which supplied company outposts along the coast from 1834 to 1836. The island was probably named by Captain Daniel Pender for Dr. Samuel Campbell, who was the surgeon aboard HMS Plumper from 1857 to 1861. The geology of this part of British Columbia consists of tectonic terranes that gradually joined together and then accreted to the North American continent. Campbell Island contains metamorphic rocks formed during the Mesozoic, such as slate, greenstone, schist, gneiss and marble. These rocks were intruded by volcanic dikes that radiated from a hotspot about 13 million years ago and now form the Anahim Volcanic Belt. This part of the central coast is the traditional territory of the Heiltsuk Nation, an Indigenous people now based in Bella Bella.

Heiltsuk bands historically traveled by carved cedar canoes designed for use on the open ocean. Each band had its own territory and inhabited separate winter villages of large cedar-plank houses, with head chiefs, ceremonies and distinct dialects. One such village was on Denny Island, east of Campbell Island across Lama Passage. In 1833 the Hudson’s Bay Company established a fur-trading post called Fort McLoughlin on Campbell Island, prompting the relocation of the Heiltsuk community from Denny Island. The fort closed in 1843, and the village remained. Later, a white trader operated a store there, but a dispute caused most of the Heiltsuk to move about 2 miles (3.2 km) north, to the village’s present-day site. In 1905 a cannery was built by Japanese owners on Denny Island, opposite the village of Bella Bella. It operated under various owners until 1938. In 1941 an antisubmarine bomber base was established on Denny Island. After it was decommissioned in 1944, the facility was developed into a fishing resort called Shearwater, with a full-service marina, fishing resort, restaurant and hotel. The resort was sold in 2022 and is now owned and operated by the Heiltsuk Nation.

After British Columbia joined the Canadian Confederation in 1871, the need for an expanded system of navigational aids along the often-dangerous West Coast grew more urgent. The newly created federal Department of Marine and Fisheries took responsibility for an ambitious construction program, and by 1914 Canada had tripled its inventory of lighthouses. Most of the new lighthouses were built of timber, including the one at Dryad Point, originally completed in 1899. It was reconstructed in 1919 and is now a 24-foot (7.3 m) reinforced concrete tower. In 1930 a new dwelling and boathouse were constructed. Today the light station includes dwellings, greenhouses, fuel storage and equipment sheds. Its earliest lighthouse keeper was the Heiltsuk leader, artist and boatbuilder Captain Richard Carpenter, who served until 1930. Since its original construction, the station has guided vessels through tight turns and low-lying lands at Lama Passage and Seaforth Channel. In 2015 the lighthouse was designated a National Historic Site, preserving its unique character and setting. Read more here and here. Explore more of Dryad Point and Campbell Island here: