Sewall North Coast Regional District, British Columbia

Locality - A named place or area, generally with a scattered population of 50 or less. N shore of Masset Inlet, Graham Island, Queen Charlotte Land District

Mapped Location

Sewall: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

 

Information

General information on Sewall

  • Feature Type: Place

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Sewall

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name Description
Sewall Official

 

Origin Notes and History of Sewall

References to Sewall that document the origin of its place name

"Sewell (Steamer Landing) adopted in the 1930 BC Gazetteer, not "Sewall" as labelled on BC Lands' map 3L, 1919. Form of name changed to Sewell (settlement) 6 February 1948 on C. 3805. Form of name changed and spelling corrected to Sewall (locality) 10 March 1978 on 103F/16, being the correct spelling of the namesake's family name, and as originally labelled on maps.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, files, correspondence and/or research by BC Chief Geographer/Geographical Names Office.  |  Province of British Columbia

Named after Samuel Dart Sewall, one of the officials in the Star Realty Company formed in 1911 to promote the townsite. The site had been tentatively named Star City until developers settled on the name Sewall. The incorrect spelling "Sewell" in 1930 Gazetteer & subsequent government maps likely arose because of the relative proximity of Sewell Inlet on Moresby Island. Correct spelling of namesake's family name was verified in September 1968 from signature of Samuel Dart Sewall on Land Registry Plan 1036, dated 12 April 1913, for SW 1/4 Lot 1577, QC District.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, files, correspondence and/or research by BC Chief Geographer/Geographical Names Office.  |  Province of British Columbia

Sewall Post Office was opened 1 September 1917; closed 24 March 1919.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, files, correspondence and/or research by BC Chief Geographer/Geographical Names Office.  |  Province of British Columbia

"At one time the site was a promising real estate venture.... The venture got off to a good start - by the end of 1913 seventy families had settled at Sewall - but with no possibility of a road connection and a waterfront which is a horror for boats, it had little change of real success, especially with the tough townsiting competition going on at that time. After the First World War as the families moved away, Paul Bastian, one of the original homesteaders, bought most of the land and remained to raise his family there...." (see also Kathleen Dalzell's The Queen Charlotte Islands; Evergreen Press, 1968; Chapter 39: The Story of Sewall, for a description of settlement attempt by a group of Icelandic people from Winnipeg to form a colony at Sewall.)

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Dalzell, Kathleen E; Queen Charlotte Islands - Book 2: of places and names; Prince Rupert: Cove Press, 1973  |  Province of British Columbia

 

North Coast Regional District

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2023-09-27