Hazelton, British Columbia
| Hazelton | |||
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 St Paul's Anglican Church in Old Hazelton, 2009 |
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| Location in British Columbia | |||
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| State : |
 Canada
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| Province : | British Columbia | ||
| Regional District : | Kitimat stikine | ||
| Coordinates : | 55 ° 15 ′ N , 127 ° 36 ′ W | ||
| Height : | 305 m | ||
| Area : | 2.8 km² | ||
| Residents : | 270 (as of 2011) | ||
| Population density : | 96.4 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Time zone : | Pacific Time ( UTC − 8 ) | ||
| Postal code : | V0J | ||
| Foundation : | 1956 (incorporated) | ||
Hazelton is a place (and an area) in the Canadian province of British Columbia . Hazelton is located at the confluence of the Bulkley with the Skeena River in the north of the province. At the same time, it forms the northernmost point of the Yellowhead Highway , which leads from Prince Rupert on the Pacific coast to Winnipeg , the capital of the Manitoba Province . The place, or the three places, owe their names to the hazel bushes that occur there.
The settlement area includes the two villages of Hazelton and the District of New Hazelton , plus the settlements (South Hazelton, Two Mile and the Kispiox Valley ) and three villages (Gitanmaax, Glen Vowell and Kispiox) of the surrounding Gitxsan First Nations (the Gitanmaax band Council , Glen Vowell Indian Band and Kispiox Band Council ) and the village of Hagwilget, which is inhabited by the Hagwilget Village First Nation , part of the Wet'suwet'en . The historic town center of 'Ksan is one of the most important attractions in British Columbia.
Early history
The area is in the traditional residential area of the Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en , who have lived here for at least 7,000 years. The Skeena was one of the oldest trade routes in the region and was used when the first Europeans arrived in canoes that were over 20 meters long.
Old Hazelton and Two Mile
Hazelton owes its existence to the construction of the so-called Collins Overland Telegraph from 1866, although this project ultimately failed. It was a telegraph connection from San Francisco to Moscow . A Horace Coffin drove the Skeena 140 km up the steamboat Union , from there it went another 180 km upstream to today's Hazelton, where he set up a store for the next year. Although he had to return to New Westminster in view of the onset of winter , he had demonstrated the navigability of the Skeena. The expedition also noticed the region's wealth of raw materials. Vital Laforce, a Frenchman, responded to the reports by immediately looking for gold in the Hazelton area. He actually found gold in the creek named after him, and in 1867 gold was found at Dease Lake in the northern Cassiar District.
However, the region experienced a first settlement surge not through the first small gold rush, but only with the Omineca gold rush , which lasted from 1870 to 1871. Thanks to the telegraph expedition, the prospectors could be brought to their destination by steamboat. With the steamer Caledonia , the Hudson's Bay Company regularly connected the place with Port Essington from 1886 to 1913 , with Hazelton being the end point of the river connection.
About 3 km away was Two Mile - it was, as the name suggests, two miles from Hazelton - where there was a so-called Roadhouse (which now functions as a gas station), which offered all the services necessary for travelers. At the time, this included donkeys and horses, provisions, weapons and much more. The rapid growth of the mostly male population necessitated the expansion of restaurants and brothels. At the same time, the place attracted property speculators, because rumors began to circulate in 1903 that the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway would run through Hazelton. As in Spokane in Washington , they hoped for a boom that would make Hazelton the "Spokane of Canada".
Speculation was further fueled when two silver mines, the Silver Standard and the Rocher de Boule, attracted numerous adventurers. But the companies also tried to make a profit from the exorbitant land prices that the railway construction promised. In 1911 Robert Kelly founded New Hazelton on the property he had bought (lot 882), which was close to both silver mines. But Grand Trunk , for which land prices were too high, founded South Hazelton . So there was now Hazelton (now called Old Hazelton ), New Hazelton and South Hazelton, which became known as the "Three Hazeltons".
Ultimately, Old Hazelton and South Hazelton were given a joint station, but George Ryley, the railroad representative, tried to persuade Kelly to split the profits from the property sales if he chose Lot 882 as the location of the new station . Kelly refused, however, and so Ryley did business with the owner of Lot 851, which is where South Hazelton was formed. Contrary to expectations, New Hazelton already had 350 inhabitants in 1913, because Kelly achieved that most of the track builders lived in his town. He even offered moving rewards to the people of South Hazelton. Now the railroad reluctantly offered Kelly a contract and agreed to build a train station in New Hazelton if Kelly left her three-seventh of the profit.
In 1911 the first automobile reached Hazelton, which was actually inaccessible to such vehicles. It had traveled overland from Seattle , as the railroad coming from Prince Rupert was n't completed until the next year. This was only possible because the car had been dismantled several times by mechanics and packed on donkeys.
In November 1913, Hazelton suffered a major setback when the Union Bank, a larger log cabin, was robbed and $ 16,000 fell into the hands of the perpetrators. The bank was robbed again on April 7 of the next year, the same day the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was completed. Of the seven perpetrators, three were shot dead, three were sentenced to 20 years in prison and one escaped.
After the completion of the railway, the track workers moved away, and the area became a more agricultural region with 14 settlements again. Tourism plays an increasing role today.
The granting of local self-government for the municipality took place on February 15, 1956 ( incorporated as Village Municipality ).
Demographics
The census in 2011 showed a population of 270 inhabitants for the settlement. The city's population has decreased by 7.8% compared to the 2006 census, while the population in the province of British Columbia increased by 7.0%.
Festivals
- Kispiox Valley Music Festival - every last weekend in July
- Pioneer Day - the second Saturday in August
literature
- Norma V. Bennett: Pioneer Legacy. Chronicles of the Lower Skeena River , Volume 1. Dr. REM Lee Hospital Foundation, Madeira Park 1997. ISBN 0-9683026-0-2
- Stewart Andrew Robb: The Collins' Overland or Russian Extension Telegraph Project. A Pioneer Attempt to Establish Telegraphic Communications between North America and Europe , University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver 1966 (Thesis).
Web links
- Hazelton on britishcolumbia.com (Eng.)
- Hazelton village
- 'Ksan Native Village & Museum
- Kispiox Valley Music Festival
Remarks
- ↑ I'm following: Stewart Andrew Robb: The Collins' Overland or Russian Extension Telegraph Project: A Pioneer Attempt to Establish Telegraphic Communications between North America and Europe , University of British Columbia Press 1966, PhD Simon Fraser University 1968.
- ↑ See New Hazelton
- ^ Frank Leonard: A Thousand Blunders: The History of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in Northern British Columbia , University of British Columbia Press 1996, p. 222.
- ^ Eva MacLean: The Far Land , Caitlin Press 1993, pp. 140-149.
- ^ Origin Notes and History. Hazelton. In: GeoBC . Retrieved August 5, 2012 .
- ^ Hazelton Community Profile. Census 2011. In: Statistics Canada . June 6, 2012, accessed August 5, 2012 .