The most historically notable feature on Kanton is the remains of the Pan American Airways refuelling base established in 1939. Pan Am built the facility to support its Boeing 314 Clipper flying boat service connecting Hawaii, Samoa, and New Zealand — a route that required a mid-ocean fuel stop that only a few remote atolls could provide. Kanton's sheltered lagoon was ideal. Buildings, infrastructure, and the bones of the flying boat era remain on the island in various stages of tropical decay.
Passenger service began in July 1940 and ran until the early 1960s, when long-range jets made the stop unnecessary. At its peak the base handled multiple airlines — including Qantas and Canadian Pacific — and the island briefly had a hotel, radio station, and a small resident expatriate community. Walking the ruins today, in the silence of a place with fewer than 50 inhabitants, it takes some imagination to picture the era of the flying boats.
story: "The crew of the American whaling ship Canton, wrecked on the island's reef in 1854, survived by sailing four small open boats for 49 days across the Pacific to Guam. The island took the ship's name in their honour. The journey remains one of the most remarkable feats of open-water navigation in Pacific maritime history."