GRAND FORKS

GRAND FORKS

Is a small city located at the confluence of the Granby and Kettle Rivers, the latter river being a tributary of the Columbia River and is named after the junction of the 2 rivers; about 21 and 95 kilometers west of Christina Lake and Castlegar respectively in the Boundary/Kootenay Region of southern British Columbia.

The history of Grand Forks dates back to the late 1800s, when the original settlers were attracted to the area’s rich agriculture farmland. Wagon roads north of Marcus, Washington and east of Penticton helped quicken the development of Grand Forks as construction of the Columbia and Western Railway through and from Castlegar promised a great supply of smelting ore from the Crowsnest fields and in turn, also helped jumpstart the Granby Mining and Smelting Corporation to construct a new smelter in Grand Forks.

In August of 1897, Grand Forks was officially incorporated as a city and in August 3 years later; a smelter was finally built and was once the largest copper smelter in the British Columbia and the second largest in the world.

Doukhobors, a group of Pacifist Russian immigrants, moved into the area from the Canadian Prairies in 1909 in search of religious freedom, and because of the area’s suitable and pleasant climate, worked in the agricultural and farming professions. A recall of the Doukhobors era is remembered in Grand Forks via a museum that tells the history of the Doukhobors as well as how the area was like back in the day.

During the decade of the 1990s, Grand Forks held the distinction of being the fastest-growing community in the Kootenay/Boundary area.

The smelter closed after the First World War and was razed shortly afterward, however some remains including traces of some of its old slag piles can still be seen just a short distance from town.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Grand Forks’ population: 4,036

Granby River