Hornby Island

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Hornby Island
Hornby Island from Denman Island
Hornby Island from Denman Island
Waters Strait of Georgia , (Pacific Ocean)
Archipelago Gulf Islands
Geographical location 49 ° 31 ′ 10 ″  N , 124 ° 40 ′ 0 ″  W Coordinates: 49 ° 31 ′ 10 ″  N , 124 ° 40 ′ 0 ″  W
Hornby Island, British Columbia
Hornby Island
length 6 km
width 3.5 km
surface 29.97 km²
Highest elevation Mount Geoffrey
310  m
Residents 1074 (2011)
36 inhabitants / km²

Hornby Island is an island in the Canadian province of British Columbia . It belongs to the Gulf Islands lying in the Georgia Strait between mainland Canada and Vancouver Island . It is separated from its western neighbor, Denman Island , by the Lambert Channel , which is about 1.5 kilometers wide .

Hornby Island is 6 kilometers long and up to 3.5 kilometers wide. Its highest point, the 310 meter high Mount Geoffrey , is in the east of the island.

In 2011, Hornby Island had 1,074 residents. The island is part of the Comox Valley Regional District . The majority of the population lives in several small settlements on the northeast coast, the south coast and the northwest coast near the ferry terminal. In the interior of the island there are predominantly single houses on the old farm properties.

history

The island was named in 1850 by the Hudson's Bay Company after the British Admiral Phipps Hornby. From 1847 to 1851 he was in command of the Royal Navy Pacific Squadron in nearby Esquimalt . The British weren't the first to discover the island, however. An expedition led by José María Narváez had discovered the island as early as 1791 . Under this, the island, together with Denman Island , received the name Islas de Lerena . Before the arrival of European explorers and settlers, however, the island was already inhabited by First Nations , the Pentlatch tribe. In their language the island was called Ja-dai-aich , which can be translated as The outer island .

The settlement of the island was changeable. The Pentlatch who first lived on the island died out here around 1860, so that the island was uninhabited when the first European settlers arrived. In the next 100 years the population on the island only grew to around 150 inhabitants. These lived mainly from agriculture, forestry and fishing. After 1960 the population grew to around 1000 over the next 35 years and is now stable there. Those who have now moved in often live from handicrafts.

traffic

Hornby Island can only be reached regularly by BC Ferries . These operate from the Gravelly Bay Ferry Terminal on Denman Island to the Shingle Spit Ferry Terminal on Hornby Island.

There is no official seaplane base on or around the island, but landing is still possible. However, due to the rugged coastline, mooring is only possible near the ferry terminal.

Parks

In addition to various municipal parks, there are also several provincial parks on the island . These are, in addition to Helliwell Provincial Park , Mount Geoffrey Escarpment Provincial Park and Tribune Bay Provincial Park . These three parks protect about 25% of the island's area.

Web links

Remarks

  1. ^ Hornby Island Trust Area Profile. Census 2011. Statistics Canada , December 12, 2012, accessed January 30, 2013 .
  2. ↑ Mount Geoffrey. In: Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia. Retrieved January 30, 2013 .
  3. ↑ Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, GPV: 1001 British Columbia Place Names. Discovery Press, Vancouver, 1973
  4. ^ Andrew Scott: The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia. Harbor Publishing, Madeira Park (BC) 2009, ISBN 978-1550174847 , p. 269
  5. ↑ BC Ferries - Schedule. BC Ferries , accessed January 30, 2013 .