Shipyards Expand

Henry J. Kaiser, Courtesy of Kaiser Family Foundation

Kaiser Shipbuilding Company comes to Vancouver

On January 27, 1942, the port agreed to lease property to the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, a creation of American industrialist Henry Kaiser. Built to produce ships for the U.S. Navy during World War II, the Vancouver shipyard was located on 186 acres leased from the Port of Vancouver and W. Foster Hidden of the Hidden Brick Company, and would employ 38,000 workers at its peak.