Portlock is a historical salmon cannery in Port Chatham, an inlet on the southern coast of the Kenai Peninsula, approximately 102 miles (164 km) north-northeast of Kodiak and 10 miles (16 km) south-southeast of Port Graham, Alaska. The area was named after Nathaniel Portlock, who served as a master’s mate on Captain James Cook‘s third voyage from 1776 to 1780. Furs obtained during that expedition were sold for high prices when the ships stopped in Macau, sparking interest in commercial opportunities. In 1785, Richard C. Etches and his associates, including Portlock and George Dixon, formed a private partnership known as the King George’s Sound Company to develop the fur trade in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest. In September of that year, Portlock and Dixon sailed from England, with Portlock commanding the King George and Dixon the Queen Charlotte. In the summer of 1786, the ships anchored in an embayment that would later be named Port Chatham by Captain George Vancouver in 1794, in honor of HMS Chatham. The partnership aimed to capitalize on the lucrative fur trade opportunities in the region. By establishing a presence in these waters, the King George’s Sound Company sought to exploit the abundant natural resources and establish trade relations with local indigenous communities. The venture marked an early attempt by Europeans to engage in the Pacific Northwest fur trade, setting the stage for future explorations and commercial activities in the area.

The Fidalgo Island Packing Company was founded in Anacortes, Washington, in 1894. By 1900, the company had expanded to Alaska with a new cannery in Ketchikan. In 1911, the Seldovia Salmon Company built the first cannery in Lower Cook Inlet at Seldovia. A year later, Fidalgo Island Packing Company established a cannery at Port Graham, and in 1915, it constructed a cold storage facility for cod and halibut at Portlock in Port Chatham, near the Alutiiq village of To’qakvik. In 1920, the Arctic Packing Company built a cannery on English Bay at the entrance to Kachemak Bay, near the village of Nanwalek. The canneries at Seldovia, Port Graham, and English Bay processed salmon mostly caught in fish traps at Flat Island, Point Naskowhak, and MacDonald Spit, as well as from small boats that stayed close to Kachemak Bay. In 1928, A.N. Nilson built a cannery at Portlock. It burned down during the winter of 1937-38 and was rebuilt in 1940, operating as the Port Chatham Packing Company. The new facility utilized larger, more seaworthy fishing vessels, which allowed it to exploit fisheries in the Gulf of Alaska, including those at Windy Bay, Rocky Bay, Port Dick, and other sites on the outer Kenai Peninsula.

The Portlock cannery employed Chugach and Alutiiq Sugpiaq people from outer coast villages, attracting more workers and leading to a community of scattered cabins around the head of Port Chatham. A portage trail of about 5 miles (8 km) connected Port Chatham to Windy Bay. In the 1940s, villagers in Port Chatham were reportedly terrorized by a creature they called Nantiinaq. When several sheep hunters disappeared in the surrounding hills and their dismembered bodies allegedly washed ashore in the lagoon, the community fled en masse to Nanwalek and Port Graham. After World War II, declining production at the Portlock cannery led residents of Port Chatham and Koyuktolik Bay to relocate to Port Graham, where a cannery still offered employment opportunities. The Portlock post office officially closed between 1950 and 1951. The village of Nanwalek retains ownership of Portlock. Read more here and here. Explore more of Portlock and Port Chatham here: