WALHACHIN

WALHACHIN

Is a small hamlet located on the South shore of the Thompson River near the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway #1), 10 kilometers west of Kamloops Lake west of Kamloops. In its heyday, the community was founded by the English and referred to many residents as “Canada’s Camelot”. Today’s community only boasts an approximately population of 100 and its name means “land of the round rock” in Nlaka’pamux (Thompson Indian) language. With an annual rainfall less than of 20 centimeters annually, Walhachin holds the distinction of being one of the driest places of all of British Columbia. Back in the day, many residents lived in fine homes with stone with high ceiling and large fireplaces and by this time Walhachin had a hotel, a Laundromat, a skating rink, a swimming pool, and a polo field. By the early 1900s, however, Walhachin’s population began to decline as the residents had problems irrigating the orchards due to absolutely no water supply, caused by a major drought, and decided to build a flume that would carry water from the mountains to the irrigation ditches, but this proved to be too much and by 1914 there were only 300 residents and to make matters even more worse, many of the male residents fought during World War 2 (WWII), putting the entire community of Walhachin into virtual abandonment.  

WALHACHIN’S POPULATION: 104