Port William is a historical salmon cannery in an embayment on the southern coast of Shuyak Island that extends 0.5 miles (0.8 km) north from Shuyak Strait, between Port Lawrence to the west and Daylight Harbor to the east, about 88 miles (142 km) south-west of Homer and 50 miles (81 km) north of Kodiak, Alaska. The local name, reputedly after William Sklaroff, was published by the US Coast and Geodetic Survey in the 1920s. The Border Ranges Fault runs through the island and is roughly aligned with the bay’s axis. The surrounding rocks represent the Shuyak Formation, and the terrain comprises mostly greenstone with beds of pillow-breccia agglomerate, tuff, and argillite. A small creek drains an unnamed lake and flows about 0.6 miles (1 km) to the bay’s head. Most of the island forms part of Shuyak Island State Park, which covers approximately 47,000 acres (19,020 ha).

The Kodiak Archipelago and adjacent Alaska Peninsula coast were home to a Pacific Eskimo group called the Koniag Alutiiq or Qikertarmiut. At European contact in the 18th century, they numbered nearly 10,000. Widespread armed conflict existed among Alaska Native groups, which early Russian explorers exploited. In 1784 Grigory Shelikov established a post at Three Saints Bay on Kodiak Island despite Koniag hostility, partly by holding Shuyak Koniag hostages. In December 1785 the Russians sent one hostage with two workmen (promyshlenniki) and an interpreter to Cook Inlet with trade goods. Posing as traders, they were to survey the region for a future Russian settlement. In March 1786 Shelikov learned that the Shuyak Koniag hostage and his Afognak and Chiniak allies had killed the promyshlenniki and interpreter and fled with the goods. These were used to form an alliance with the Dena’ina on the Kenai Peninsula. A force of about 1,000 warriors organized to destroy Shelikov’s settlement, but he learned of the planned attack and sent forces north to quell the uprising.

In the late 1920s Port William became a saltery for processing herring, operated by Samuel Sklaroff and Sons of Philadelphia, a company specializing in smoked fish that also operated a plant at Sawmill Bay on Evans Island. In 1930 the facility began salmon-canning operations as the Port William Packing Company. Fish traps and purse seines were prohibited in the area, so fish were caught using beach seines and gillnets operated by local fishermen. After a poor season the facility sat idle until 1934, when the Washington Fish and Oyster Company leased it. In 1935 Washington Fish and Oyster purchased the cannery at a US Marshal’s sale; in 1940 a cold-storage facility was installed. In 1941 coho salmon, herring and halibut were frozen at the plant. Washington Fish and Oyster stopped canning after the 1966 season but continued operating cold storage as Ocean Beauty Seafoods. After the 1976 season some equipment was salvaged and the cannery was sold to Kodiak-area commercial fishermen. Port William then operated as the Port William Wilderness Lodge until 2018, when the dock was damaged during a storm, resulting in an oil spill. Read more here and here. Explore more of Port William and Shuyak Island here: