ASHCROFT

ASHCROFT

Is a historic village that looks over the Thompson River, 10 kilometers south of Cache Creek off of Highway #1 (Trans-Canada Highway).

The community was developed when the Canadian Pacific Railway arrived in 1884. When the British Columbia Express Company used Ashcroft as their headquarter city, Ashcroft was known to be the “Gateway to the Cariboo”. After the new railway was built soon it became Mile Zero of the road to the Cariboo Gold Rush as well as a major freight destination to transport supplies in the north. A quick influx of people began settling in the area and Ashcroft soon had blacksmith shops, frieght warehouses, ranches and farms. A devastating and grinding fire in 1916 and the extension of Pacific Great Eastern Railway north to Quesnel brought Ashcroft hard times and soon afterward, the town quickly lost its role as an important transport and supply center for the northern part of the province.

The community is extremely semi-arid and very hot in the summer time with temperatures that almost reach plus 40 degrees Celsius and because of this as well as its small town size, it has become a popular choice to reside for retirees. This is a direct result of Ashcroft being well protected and sheltered by effects of severe weather by nearby mountians.

The downtown core of Ashcroft features several heritage buildings that date back to Ashcroft’s early history including a fire hall that was originally built in the 1800s, but rebuilt in 1919 after a fire in 1916 destroyed the majority of the building as well as wiping out an entire block of downtown, and a museum that holds many historic significance and ties to the community’s past that contain a story on how life used to be back in the olden days.

Ashcroft was incorporated as a village on June 27^th, of 1952 and is named after the Ashcroft in Gloucestershire, England, of where the Cornwall Brothers (Henry and Clement), one of Ashcroft’s first settlers, came from. Originally gold seekers when they first arrived in Canada, they instead established a parcel of land and eventually ran a few business ventures including a sawmill, gristmill, farm and during the gold rush they sold flour to passing-through miners travelling towards Barkerville. The historic Ashcroft Manor, which was formerly a roadhouse to serve hungry and fatigued miners heading to pan for gold in Barkerville in the 1860s and is now used today mostly as a tea house and an art gallery is also named after the two brothers. When the railway arrived and named their new station “Ashcroft”, the brothers added “manor” to their home, also named Ashcroft, to differentiate it from the new town. The brothers also established the Cherry Creek Ranch, near Savona among other properties.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     

Ashcroft’s sister city is that of Bifuka, a town of about 5,000 people, located in Hokkaido, an island in northern Japan.

Other attractions in Ashcroft besides its heritage buildings includes a AHRA-sanctioned drag-racing complex that has a racing season from mid-April to mid-October.

Agculture is the main economic benefactor in the community and many residents who live here also work at the Highland Valley Cooper Mine between here and Logan Lake along Highway #97C.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

Ashcroft’s population: 1,809