The Holberg Harbour had its first influx of settlers occur around 1900. They came as immigrants who began to buy plots of land for agricultural purposes. People began moving into the community and other surrounding townships. The success of these early settlements was largely hampered by the lack of good agricultural land. The bad weather and rugged topography did not help. Attempts to develop farming communities at Cape Scott, San Josef Bay, and Sea Otter Cove proved to be dependent on overland connections to Holberg, which would serve as the primary point of entry to these communities from the south and the township of Holberg grew in population.
At the time of the initial settlement, Holberg was extremely isolated. Local travel was limited to short distances on forest footpaths. In 1896, the government built a road from Port Hardy to the south island and goods could be brought up to Hardy with smaller shipping costs. Now the flow of goods was primarily overland to Coal Harbour from Port Hardy and then by boat up the inlet to Holberg where the goods were offloaded at the Holberg Harbor.
The idyllic dream of an agricultural mecca at the northern tip of Vancouver Island never materialized. Immigrants were faced with too many obstacles from Mother Nature. The average rainfall is over 400 cm per year and winter storms frequently pound the coast with winds up to 150 km. By the late 30s, there were few families left, and the land was being reclaimed by nature.
Today, Holberg Harbour is a great place to set out on a west coast adventure. There are numerous trails that head out in many directions, trails to Shushartie Bay, San Joseph Bay, and Cape Scott, and the kayaking from here will give you more than you could ever ask for.