What Happened to This Abandoned Alaska Cannery?

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 01:15:31 +0000

There's something about exploring old places that makes you stop and wonder what life was like before us.

In this episode, we anchor in Port Nellie Juan, Prince William Sound, and spend the day exploring the historic Port Nellie Juan Cannery.

After carefully working our way into the bay, we launch the paddleboards and make our way through old dock remnants, collapsed building sites, rusting machinery, and artifacts scattered along the shoreline. We bushwhack through the forest following old trails, search for clues to how this remote cannery once operated, and eventually free dive beneath the surface to explore the underwater remains left behind more than a century ago.

As we explored, we learned more about the history of the site and the tragedy that unfolded here. The Port Nellie Juan Cannery was established during Alaska's early commercial fishing boom and operated through the first half of the 1900s. Following Alaska statehood and changing fishing practices, the cannery eventually closed. Then, in 1964, the Good Friday Earthquake and tsunami destroyed much of the cannery's waterfront infrastructure and claimed the lives of the three caretakers who remained on site, forever changing this quiet corner of Prince William Sound.

Standing among the foundations, machinery, and shoreline debris, it's hard not to imagine what daily life looked like here. What was once a busy salmon cannery has slowly been reclaimed by the forest, the tides, and time, leaving behind an incredible piece of Alaska's commercial fishing history.

If you know more about the history of Port Nellie Juan or recognize any of the equipment we came across, we'd love to hear from you in the comments. We always enjoy learning more about these places.

Thanks for coming along aboard The Alaskan Gypsy.

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Chapters:

00:00 Exploring Alaska's Historic Cannery
01:42 Entering Port Nellie Juan Bay
03:07 Paddleboarding to the Cannery Ruins
04:29 The History of Port Nellie Juan Cannery
06:34 Exploring the First Artifacts
09:00 Cannery Foundations & Dock Remains
11:31 Protected Historic Site
13:07 The 1964 Earthquake & Tsunami Story
17:12 Searching for the Giant Boiler
22:15 Bushwhacking Through the Forest
33:25 Inside the Massive Steam Boiler
40:53 Free Diving the Underwater Cannery
46:53 Exploring the Historic Hydropower System
57:09 Scuba Scott Explores Beneath the Surface
1:02:01 Final Thoughts from Port Nellie Juan