GRANISLE

GRANISLE

Is a former mining town located on the west side of Babine Lake, about 55 kilometers east of Smithers at the north end of Highway #118.

The community was established in 1965 as a site for open-pit copper mine. The town got a boost in the 1970s, when Noranda Mine Company opened the Bell copper mine. In 1981, the company bought the original mine.

The town gets its name from a combination of “gran” for Granby, the original owners of the mine and “isle” for an island of where the mine is located.

1992 was a terrible year for the community as Noranda shut down the mine because of world-wide market conditions at the same time and in the process delivering the community a severe shock, but since the late 1990s, Granisle has since recovered from near “ghost town” status to a nice retirement and lodging center. During its prime, when the mine was operational, Granisle had a peak population of more than 3,000 people.   

Granisle’s population: 446