July, 2016 — GREENWOOD, BC (BG)

British Columbia was booming in the 1890s. With the discovery of rich veins of gold, silver, copper and lead, mining towns began to pop up all across the southern interior: Rossland, New Denver, Trail, Nelson, Grand Forks and Greenwood quickly grew into vibrant townsites. Prospectors had already begun claiming their stakes in 1886, and by 1891, the great Mother Lode mine at Deadwood was discovered just 3 kilometers west of Greenwood.

In 1901 the B.C. Copper Company opened a smelter to process ore from the Mother Load. Ore also arrived for processing at the smelter from Nelson and Rossland mines. About 450 men were employed at the Mother Load mine and smelter sites.

History turned around the close of World War I, however, as the market saw a drastic fall in copper prices which resulted in the closure of both operations. By 1918, the town had emptied out. What had once been a population of more than 3,000 was, by 1931, down to just 171 residents. Greenwood was at risk of becoming one of what would be many instant ghost towns in British Columbia. It was saved from that fate, however, when the town was re-populated by Japanese-Canadian citizens during the government's WWII internment program.

The Greenwood Museum has an excellent collection of historical photographs, artifacts and archives on both mining history and the Japanese-Canadian community here.

Greenwood Mining History

Excerpts from the brochure, "History Still Standing: A Guide to Historical Mine Sites of the Boundary Country" by B.C. Ministry of Energy, Mines and Petroleum Resources:

"In 1846, the Oregon Treaty established the 49th Parallel as the International Boundary. Early surveys located it but the line did not interfere with local commerce or the flow of people. Trails from Fort Colville, in eastern Washington, travelled north and west along the Kettle River which provided a natural route into the Okanagan. The Kettle Valley was also valued for its hunting, fishing and fine grazing land. The area became known as the Boundary country, or more simply, the Boundary.

The California gold rush of 1849 brought hundreds of miners westward and prospectors eventually came north. In 1859, placer gold was discovered on Rock Creek, a tributary of the Kettle River, and in the first six months of 1860, $83,000 in gold was recovered. The search for mineral wealth in the Boundary had begun!

In 1884 the first hard rock claim was staked near Boundary Falls. Gold and silver were produced from it, and others in 1892, and by then the value of the big copper deposits of the district was recognized. Two of these were staked in 1891 and became major mines, one at Phoenix and the other near Deadwood. During this time more than a dozen camps had been established within 15 kilometers of a point on Boundary Creek that was to become the City of Greenwood.

Greenwood came into existence in 1895 when Robert Wood recognized the potential for a town site that was within easy travelling distance of the many mining camps. He paid $5,000 for 81 hectares at the junction of Boundary and Twin Creeks and the building started. Houses, hotels, livery stables, a blacksmith shop, a general store, hospital and school sprang up from the undergrowth. The "Hub of the Boundary" grew quickly into a bustling mining town. In 1897 Greenwood was incorporated as a city, a status retained to this day. By 1899, the population numbered 3,000, having doubled in six months. Three banks, sixteen hotels, fifteen general stores, three printing offices, four doctors, six legal firms and many other thriving businesses were located in the city. Streets, sidewalks, water lines, electric lights, telephones and telegraphs had been installed or were planned. It was written that, "Such an era of prosperity will dawn upon Greenwood as has never yet lighted any city situated in the districts of western America."

Deposits of copper were the main reason for this prosperity. Stimulated by the success of mining in the western United States and by the demand for electric wire, rail lines from the east were built which made it possible to develop the deposits. The Columbia and Western, built by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), reached Greenwood in August 1899. At the same time the B.C. Copper Company built a smelter near the southwest corner of the town site to process ore from the Mother Lode mine four kilometers to the west.

The city and the smelter prospered together through the first decade of the century. But during World War I they struggled to keep alive. A shortage of ore and the uncertain price and demand for copper after the War, finally brought the operations to an end in 1918. The city declined rapidly.

The next two decades the city survived with persistent individuals finding, in the nearby hills, small pockets of ore that they could mine at a profit. Others turned to logging and millwork. In 1942 new life came to the city when about 1,200 Japanese Canadians were evacuated from the coast and interned in the old buildings of the city, many of which were vacant.

Mining of copper resumed after World War II, and again brought prosperity to the city. Today, even those mines have closed and the economy depends mainly on logging. Relics of the prosperous early years can be seen all around the city."

Prepared with the assistance of the Greenwood District Mining Heritage Committee