SICAMOUS

SICAMOUS

Sicamous’ population: 2,827

^{Sicamous is a small town nestled at the foot of the Eagle Valley, between the lakes of Shuswap and Mara, as well as the junction of Highways #1 (Trans-Canada) and Highway #97A.}

^{The first settlers in Sicamous were from Finland and during the 1800s; the Shuswap First Nations went through here to cross the Rockies in order to hunt buffalo in the plains. During the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885, Sicamous was laid out as a permanent townsite. Sicamous also began as the headquarters for the North Okanagan Farm Products and revolved around the 1892 construction of the Shuswap and Okanagan Railway.}

^{With its mild and moderate climate and the warm sandy beaches of Shuswap Lake, tourism has been a flourishing economy for Sicamous for the last decade and bills itself “the Houseboat Capital of Canada”, due to its massive and large fleet of Houseboat rentals in Canada. Other important economies in Sicamous include the forest industry with sawmills in Malakwa and Salmon Arm, and some degree of agriculture.}

Although Sicamous is located along Shuswap Lake it is however not located on the main lake itself as it is located along near the junction of the Anstey and Salmon Arms of the lake. Shuswap Lake consists of 4 arms, (Anstey, the main lake, Salmon and Seymour Arms).

Sicamous was incorporated officially as a district municipality in 1989, and the name comes from the Okanagan First Nations word, shick-a-mows meaning “in the middle” in reference to Sicamous Narrows, a small canal or creek-shaped body of water which separates or drains Shuswap Lake from Mara Lake.