Room 201 - Welcome to the Harbour Room
The Township of Sidney was incorporated in 1891 and by the end of 1892 consisted of a general store, a post office, a boat building shop and the original Hotel Sidney, built by Captain Bisset. Ever since, the Sidney waterfront at the foot of Beacon Avenue has been the center of the tremendous harbour activity. It was once also the site of many long piers. In the early 1900s, trains plied the Sidney Lumber Mill pier carrying large loads to waiting cargo ships, anchored out in deeper water. Another pier hosted the Anacortes ferries, pocket cruise ships and the working vessels that served the many canneries along the coast. The boat yard pier was always busy and one pier further to the south belonged to an asphalt shingle roofing company.
As Sidney is about one mile from the U.S. border and the San Juan Islands, today Sidney harbour is also home to a busy Canada Customs office.