Windermere, British Columbia
| Windermere | |||
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| Location in British Columbia | |||
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| State : |
 Canada
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| Province : | British Columbia | ||
| Regional District : | East Kootenay | ||
| Coordinates : | 50 ° 28 ′ N , 115 ° 58 ′ W | ||
| Residents : | 1019 (as of 2011) | ||
| Time zone : | Mountain Time ( UTC − 7 ) | ||
Windermere is a settlement in the southeast of the Canadian province of British Columbia . It is located south of the district community Invermere on Windermere Lake and is administratively not independent ( English unincorporated community ). Highway 93 and Highway 95 run along the town , which are here on a common route. Windermere is on the highway about 10 miles north of Fairmont Hot Springs .
history
The place is one of the few in the Columbia Valley that has kept its old name. The place was named in 1883 by Gilbert Malcom Sproat, who also gave the lake of the same name this name.
In 1887 the new place was supplied with mail with the help of horses. A year later, George Starke built the hotel on site. In 1890 the first department store and a jetty were built on the lake shore. Farrier George Geary's smithy and a rest stop followed three years later.
The first school started around 1900. In the same year the first doctor, Robert Elliott, came to Windermere. In 1899, St Peter's Church moved from Donald to Windermere. This happened at the instigation of Rufus Kimpton, who had previously lived with his wife in Donald. Allegedly, his wife had longed for church so much that Kimpton had the church "stolen" from their old homeland. Therefore the church is also known under the name Stolen Church .
The Columbia Lumber Company came to the valley with many loggers in the early 20th century. People continued to come to Windermere to set up farms and farm there, but also to pan for gold. Many of the settlers came from England, but the origins of the population were always very different.
A Chamber of Commerce was established in 1956 and the Windermere Historical Society was established in 1958.
Some of the old houses still exist today.
Demographics
The census in 2011 showed a population of 1019 inhabitants for the settlement. The population has shrunk by 19.1% compared to the last census in 2006, while the population in the province of British Columbia grew by 7.0% at the same time. The median age of the residents is 50.3 years, while it is 41.9 years in the province.
Attractions
- Creekside Flower Gardens
- Windermere Valley Museum
- James Chabot Provincial Park
Web links
- Windermere . In: BC Geographical Names (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Windermere (accessed January 7, 2017)
- ↑ Windermere Community Profile. Census 2011. In: Statistics Canada . May 31, 2016, accessed January 9, 2017 .