RETALLACK

RETALLACK
Is a ghost town, located on Highway #31A halfway between Kaslo and New Denver in British Columbia's famed "Valley of the Ghosts". Retallack, (pronounced (Re-till-ick), was originally known as Bells Camp and had a population of 300 residents, due to the town being near several known and key mines in the area. Retallack also had amenities including several stores and hotels, a post office, a school, barber shop, and had a small sawmill built in the 1900s but unfortunately the mill was destroyed by a fire and never rebuilt. Mining continued here until the late 1960s, when the company that ran the mines ceased operations in which Retallack became an ghost town almost overnight. There are still signs of life here, including a couple of historic buildings, a lodge and a small heli-skiing operation.  

NORALEE

NORALEE
Is a tiny community located 55 kilometers southwest of Burns Lake at the western tip of Francois Lake in Northwestern British Columbia. It gained prominence in the early 1900s when it was first settled even though a road was not constructed through here until 1928. A post office was opened in 1937 and was operated Lee and Nora Newgaard, whom the town is named after. Today, Noralee is unincorporated and mostly a logging and summer resort community to contribute the economy. In 1957, Lee Newgaard became the first mayor of Houston, British Columbia, which is located about 80 kilometers west of Burns Lake along Highway #16 (Yellowhead Highway).

NORALEE’S POPULATION: 84

EDGEWATER

EDGEWATER
Is a unincorporated hamlet located in the Columbia Valley next to the mighty Columbia Valley, 93 kilometer south of Golden an right on the perimeter of Kootenay National Park. Originally known as farm community prior to the First World War (WWII), but just after the war many residents to England where they initially came from and the community had a small decline of population. The community has since revived and recovered into a forestry, agriculture, and tourism area for the region. Edgewater has couple of major attractions that draw travelers including the area around the community is Christmas tree farmland as well as a Saturday Farmer’s Market in the summertime where tourists that can buy anything cheap including arts & crafts, fresh produce and dairy products. The community gets its name from being the edge of the waters of the Columbia River.

EDGEWATER’S POPULATION: 407

BARRIERE

                                        

BARRIERE

Is a small district municipality, located 66 kilometers north of Kamloops on the Yellowhead Highway (Highway #5) in British Columbia’s south central corner and situated on the confluence of the North Thompson and Barriere Rivers.

In 2003, this town of roughly 2,000 back then, was destroyed by a massive forest fire that destroyed the town’s main industry and employer, the Louis Creek sawmill and damaged property, and even wiped out electricity from the entire Yellowhead corridor all the way from McLure in the south to almost the McBride/Tete Jeune Cache area just west of the British Columbia/Alberta border. At one time, 3,000 people were forced from their homes and about 70 homes were lost in the path of the fire. Despite this, the town has survived and tourism, logging, and agriculture/ranching are the main economic industries. With events such as rodeos, logging shows, chuck wagon racing, cowboy concert among others, The North Thompson Fall Fair takes place every Labour Day Long Weekend and attracts many tourists from the surrounding region.

Apparently Barriere derives its name from the Barriere River which in turn takes it name from a barrier that was formed by rocks and nets that were placed in the river as a barrier to water navigation when in around 1828, the town was used as a fur trading post created from fur traders of French origin. The nets meanwhile, were fish traps that were used by the local First Nations people in order for them to trap and catch fish, mostly salmon that traveled the North Thompson River from the Pacific Ocean to spawn.

Barriere became incorporated as a district municipality (despite its small population) in December of 2007 and at the same time elected its first mayor. Not only considered to be the largest community along the stretch of the Yellowhead Highway corridor between Kamloops and Clearwater, but Barriere is also located approximately halfway between the two communities.

Barriere is relatively small but does have gas stations, library, motels, shopping centre, grocery stores, tourist information centre, restaurants (including 1 fast food), museum, and a 9-hole golf course.

Barriere’s population: 1,209

LARDEAU

LARDEAU
Is a community located in the Western boundaries of the Kootenay region of British Columbia, situated southeast of Revelstoke off of Highway #31. Lardeau (formerly spelled Lardo), was founded in the 1890s, as the site of a silver mining boom when at the same time that several small mining communities, such as Camborne, Trout Lake City, and Ferguson started to materialize. Lardeau also became the terminus of the Arrowhead & Kootenay Railway (n), when the railway line was functional as a point for steamships were used to serve the boom and it was also became a sufficient economic shot in the arm boom for the area and Lardeau had a peak population of about 1,000 people. The boom collapsed prior to the start of the First World War (WWI) when the railway was never completed in the course of Upper Arrow Lake, which forced the tracks to become deserted and pulled up in 1942. Lardeau is now unincorporated and forestry (mostly logging), and mixed farming serve as the community’s main benefactors for the economy. All of the communities in the Lardeau mining boom particularly Ferguson, Beaton and Camborne collapsed just after World War 2 (WWII) and quickly became instant ghost towns shortly after.

LARDEAU’S POPULATION: 62

LEJAC

LEJAC
Is a small first nations settlement inhabited by the Nadleh Whut’en (formally known the Carrier), located about 50 kilometers west of Vanderhoof along the Yellowhead Highway (Highway #16) between the small towns of Fort Fraser and Fraser Lake. From 1922 to 1976, it was the site of a residential school operated by the Roman Catholic Church and had approximately 500 students every year before it closed down. This school still stands as of today but since 1976, the building of the school has since been razed and the land transferred to a local Indian band. Near the school is home to a gravesite of Rose Prince, a devoted Roman Catholic saint, where thousands of many pilgrims near and far are attracted to every July. Lejac is named after a former Oblate Missionary by the name of Father Jean Marie Lejacq, who is said to have founded the mission in Fort St. James in 1873. A sawmill operated by Fraser Lake Sawmills Limited, also a subsidiary of West Fraser Mills Limited, is the main economic employer.

LEJAC’S POPULATION: 23