"I took over the taxi business on the first of August 1939, and for the next twenty months I was the busiest man, in the busiest town in Canada." 

This is a story that was sent to us from the Zeballos museum. Even though Laurence spent most of his time in his taxi, the mining town became a big part of his life through the chitchat of customers.

Although not a miner, he was in daily contact with most of the miners in the area. He also liked the perks available at the mine cookhouse.

Laurence’s Story

"Zeballos derived its name from a Spanish officer on one of Captain Quadra’s ships when he and Captain Vancouver circumnavigated Vancouver Island.  There was no dock at Zeballos, but we landed on high tide via the Miawerra operated by the postmaster, Major George Nicholson.  He was able to put us ashore at a small wharf behind the post office but at low tide his son Mickey had to don hip waders and piggy back the passengers from the Miawerra to the shore.  The town was built at the mouth of the Zeballos River and there was a road from the beach as far as Spud Valley and the Mount Zeballos mines.  The largest mine, the Privateer, was four miles from town and from there, another two miles on a branch road was the Central Zeballos mine. To enable the trucks to get through this town the main street consisted of a planked road.