DUNCAN

DUNCAN
Is a small-sized city, situated in the Cowichan Valley on the east side of Vancouver Island located approximately halfway between Nanaimo and Victoria. William Chalmers Duncan, settled o n 40 hectares of land near Cowichan Bay in 1964, most of it now occupies the downtown core of Duncan. Duncan is nicknamed “the city of Totems” due to the fact that totem poles have erected all over the city and have been since 1985. Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway built a station in Duncan in 1887 and a post office first opened in 1908 and was first known as Alderlea. Duncan bloomed between 1898 and 1908, because of a flurry of mining activity at Mount Sicker, a mountain located nearby. Duncan became a city on March 4, 1912 when it separated from the nearby district of North Cowichan. Agriculture and logging are the local mainstays of Duncan’s economy. Duncan is also home to the world’s largest hockey stick, which is perched on a front entrance of a hockey rink located in downtown.

DUNCAN’S POPULATION: 4,583