Quicknation    Canada Castlegar

Images of Castlegar: G Y AOL AV MSN News of Castlegar: G Y Books of Castlegar: B

Castlegar (49°19′34″N, 117°39′53″W) is a small city in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers, within the Selkirk Mountains. It is a regional trade and transportation centre, with a local economy fueled by forestry and tourism. It is home to Selkirk College, a regional airport, a pulp mill, and several small sawmills. The population of approximately 7,500 people includes a large number of Doukhobors, who were largely responsible for much of Castlegar's early development and growth. A sizeable Portuguese community grew as workers, mainly from the Azores islands, moved in to take up employment in the area. Outside the city limits are the small surrounding communities of Ootischenia, Brilliant, Robson, Raspberry, Tarrys, Thrums, Shoreacres, Fairview and Genelle. Taken together, these outlying areas comprise an approximate population of a further 8,000 people.

table

David Thompson arrived in the Columbia River area on June 30, 1807. Thompson arrived at the location where Castlegar now sits on September 5, 1811, where he camped near the mouth of the Kootenay River. A plaque dedicated to David Thompson can be found on the east bank of the Columbia River overlooking the present day site of Castlegar.

The first settlement in the area was West Waterloo, now known as South-Castlegar. There was widescpread provincial interest in gold prospecting in the late 19th century, and by 1895 there were forty houses in Waterloo. The town boomed until the end of the century when interest in the local mines declined. Around the year 1902, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) built the bridge at Castlegar and laid the wide gauge railway tracks to Trail. They put in a box car station at the old Waterloo trail crossing and called it Kinnaird Station in honour of Lord Kinnaird who was a shareholder in the CPR.

There was little in Castlegar until after the completion of the CPR bridge. A Mr. Farmer built the first store in town, housing both the post office and the town hall. William Gage built the Castlegar Hotel in 1908, standing until 1982 when it was destroyed by fire. Also in 1908, the first schoolhouse was built by a few local residents who bought the lumber and erected the building. A dance pavilion, garage, tourist cabins and a slaughterhouse had all been established by 1925.

In 1946, Castlegar was incorporated into a village, then in 1966 into a Town. The neighbouring town of Kinnaird was amalgamated into the city on January 1, 1974, effectively doubling the population. On May 20, 2004, the City's boundary was extended to include the Blueberry Creek Irrigation District.

Castlegar is located in the border area between the Kootenai and the interior Salish indian bands. Experts cannot agree where the Kutenai range ended, and where the Interior Salish began. There was much overlapping of cultural and territorial activity between the two Indian bands.

"Qepitles" was a site on the north side of the Kootenay River, just above the junction with the Columbia River. The site was popular as a trading place and, especially in the autumn and winter, for spear and line fishing for salmon, which were dried nearby. Native implements (arrowheads, pestles, etc.) have been found along the nearby Arrow Lakes. A reconstructed kekuli dwelling is located on Zuckerberg Island, at the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia rivers.

The Doukhobors put a ferry into operation near Brilliant on the Kootenay River in 1910 and the Christian Community of the Brotherhood made an application to the CPR for a railway station and siding to this point. Brilliant was the centre of the Christian Community of the Brotherhood commercial enterprises. Located on the site was the Brilliant Jam Factory, a grain elevator, and a flax seed mill.

There are two theories as to the origin of the name "Castlegar":

1. That the name originated in County Galway, Ireland where in the Parish of Castlegar there is a tiny village of the same name. Adjacent to the village is 'Castlegar Castle', now a ruin. The name 'Castlegar' comes from the celtic Irish 'An Caeslean Gearr', or the short castle. As legend has it, no guest stayed for more than one night.

2. That it was named by a member of David Thompson's party or some early day surveyor, boat captain, train engineer or section foreman who came from the parish of Castlegar, Ireland. Immigrants naturally tend to name new places after the cities from which they came.

It is believed there is only one "City of Castlegar" in the world.

Castlegar is serviced by the Castlegar Airport, located in an area owned by the city and legally within city limits but surrounded by the community of Ootischenia. It was constructed in 1950, and in 1967 Canadian Pacific Airlines began jet service from this terminal. Today the airport serves the entire West Kootenay area, with daily commercial flights to both Vancouver and Calgary.