Prince Rupert’s future has never looked brighter than it did on April 10, 1912, the day the Titanic set out to make its mark on luxurious travel with its first trans-Atlantic crossing. On board was railway magnate Charles Hays, a visionary who wanted to build a large port city on B.C.’s North Coast that would take a chunk out of Vancouver’s lucrative overseas trade. The town’s ambitious plans were well advanced when they were abruptly halted after Hays’s tragic death exactly 100 years ago on April 15, 1912.

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Plans to make Prince Rupert a grand city of the Canadian West were steaming full speed ahead 100 years ago as the Titanic met its destiny in the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912.

The town’s ambitious vision was the creation of railway magnate Charles Hays, an industry titan who wanted to turn a stand of virgin evergreens on B.C.’s North Coast into a deepwater port to challenge Vancouver’s dominance.

Hays and his family were travelling in first-class luxury aboard the Titanic as special guests of J. Bruce Ismay, chairman of the White Star Line, which owned the ship.

In Hays’ possession were the results of meetings with the project’s financial backers in London.

Prince Rupert’s future as a “metropolis” of 50,000 people seemed set, secured by the second transcontinental railway which Hays’ Grand Trunk company was building.

All that was needed was for his safe return, so the details could be hammered out.

None of it happened.

The town’s future was swallowed up as surely as Hays himself aboard the Titanic. The city remained an undeveloped village for another 60 years.

“Hays’ vision for Prince Rupert is now recognized by countries along the Pacific Rim,” says the city’s present-day mayor, Jack Mussallem, noting export trade has doubled since 2009 to $5 billion annually.

“Residents look kindly on him because he’s the reason we’re here,” he says.

Hays’ death prompted one of the great “what if?’s” of B.C. history.

NO TIME FOR CHIT-CHAT

Hays, 55, was an American by birth who had risen through the ranks of the industry by transforming money-losing railways into profitable ventures.

He was first noticed when a senior executive spotted a young clerk hard at work while his fellows wasted time on chit-chat.

Earning quick promotion, Hays came to Canada as president of the Grand Trunk companies in 1896 and made plans for a second transcontinental line.

He chose Prince Rupert as the western terminus, because it was 800 kilometres closer to Asia and in a perfect position to bite into traffic going to more established centres such as Vancouver and San Francisco.

Town resident Jim West, who has studied Hays’ life, describes him as a flamboyant financier cut in the Donald Trump mould.

“He used other peoples’ money like Trump does today. He was the type of individual who built the vast North American railroad system,” says West.

Hays’ confidant was Canadian prime minister Wilfred Laurier, who said in 1910 that he believed Prince Rupert was “destined to be one of the great cities of North America.”