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OKOTOKS ERRATIC: The Rock That Ran

Known as the 'Big Rock' or 'The Rock that Ran', the Okotoks Erratic is an enormous glacial boulder that was transported by glacial ice hundreds of kilometres from the Rocky Mountains to its present-day location just west of the Town of Okotoks, Alberta.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l30pSp9t-TQ

Website: https://www.alberta.ca/okotoks-erratic-big-rock.aspx

Location: AB-7, Black Diamond, AB T0L 0H0

Ymir Hotel: 125 Year Old Historic Hotel

The historic Hotel Ymir is nestled in the beautiful Selkirk Mountains along the Salmo River in the West Kootenay of British Columbia, Canada. Built in 1896, during the mining boom years of the Salmo River Valley region, the Hotel Ymir is one of the oldest remaining buildings in the region. Today the Ymir Hotel contains another surprise - It's home to one of the in largest personal collections of artwork in Western Canada!

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY-50JQkYDg

Website: http://www.hotelymir.com/

Location: 7104 1 Ave, Ymir, BC V0G 2K0

NIKKEI INTERNMENT MEMORIAL CENTRE

The Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre serves as a reminder of the forced removal of Japanese Canadian population from the West Coast during the Second World War. Approximately 12,000 of the 22,000 displaced persons were sent to internment camps established in remote regions by federal authorities. Located at the site of a former camp, the Nikkei Centre is one of the few places to have preserved traces of this tragic episode, notably a community centre and three cabins built to house the internees. The Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre was designated a national historic site of Canada in 2007. Dedicated to remembrance, this site constitutes an important memorial for the Japanese Canadian community.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qXiHxZYwL8

Website: http://newdenver.ca/nikkei/

Location: 306 Josephine St, New Denver, BC V0G 1S0

SS MOYIE | World's Oldest Passenger Sternwheeler

The SS Moyie paddle steamer sternwheeler worked on Kootenay Lake in British Columbia from 1898 until 1957. After nearly sixty years of service, she was sold to the town of Kaslo and restored. Today she is a National Historic Site of Canada and the world's oldest intact passenger sternwheeler.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8lr3j0eYFlo

Website: https://www.klhs.bc.ca/

Location: 324 Front St, Kaslo, BC V0G 1M0

Leitch Collieries Provincial Historic Site

Leitch Collieries was one of the largest and most ambitious coal mines in the early history of the Crowsnest Pass. Established in 1907, it was the only coal company in the Pass completely Canadian owned and operated. A ‘colliery’ is a coal mining and processing plant. All of the major mines in the Crowsnest Pass had surface operations where coal was cleaned and graded prior to loading it onto railway cars for shipping, and some operated coke ovens, where coal was superheated without allowing it to burn, producing coke used in the steel industry. The collieries in the Crowsnest Pass were big operations with large impressive structures of stone, brick and wood, each with their own power-generating stations and even their own towns. Leitch Collieries even had its own sandstone quarry, used in the construction of its facilities. Despite less than ten years of active mining, the facilities at Leitch Collieries were impressive structures built to last. Leitch Collieries Provincial Historic Site is located on Highway 3, about 3.5km east of Bellevue. Designated as a Provincial Historic Site, its remaining structures were stabilized, walking trails established and informative displays were installed. Interpretive staff are on site between May 15 and Labour Day. This fascinating site provides a good insight into the large support plant needed for a major coal mining operation a century ago.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTgwIdbJHPU

Website: http://www.leitchcollieries.ca/

Location: Crowsnest Pass, Alberta

Bellevue Underground Coal Mine Tour

The Bellevue Underground Coal Mine Tour is a unique and historically authentic underground coal mine tour in Western Canada. Equipped with a miner’s helmet and lamp, the Bellevue Underground Mine tour takes visitors 1,000 feet into the mine, where they are 150 feet below the surface. The Bellevue Mine was active from about 1905 until 1961 and was the reason for the town of Bellevue‘s existence. Most of the coal produced was sold to the Canadian Pacific Railway. Like other mines in the Pass, methane gas and coal-dust were significant hazards. On December 9, 1910 an underground explosion claimed the lives of 31 of the 42 men on a partial shift – but had the explosion occured during a full shift, up to 200 men would have been in the mine which could have surpassed the Hillcrest Mine Disaster (only a few kilometres away) for loss of life.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAlt8tfGVHU

Website: http://www.bellevuemine.com/

Location: 2531 213 St, Bellevue, AB T0K 0C0

KETTLE RIVER MUSEUM

Midway British Columbia is located at "Mile 0" of the Kettle Valley Railway. From here, the KVR stretches west through the Myra Canyon trestles towards Hope, BC. The Kettle River Museum contains a collection of artifacts chronicling the history of Midway through its glory days as a railroad town in the old west. One of the Museum's main attractions is the original Station House, built in 1901 and currently houses exhibits commemorating the steam railway era of Southern British Columbia and the British Columbia Provincial Police.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcEAIJQD0Hg

Website: https://kettlerivermuseum.org/

Location: 907 Crowsnest Hwy, Midway, BC V0H 1M0

FRANK SLIDE & HILLCREST MINE DISASTERS

Alberta's Crowsnest Pass is the site of two of Canada's worst disasters including the Frank Slide and the Hillcrest Coal Mining Disaster. The Frank Slide was a massive rockslide that buried part of the mining town of Frank in Alberta. At 4.10 a.m. on April 29, 1903 around 110 million tonnes of limestone rock slid down Turtle Mountain taking the lives of approximately 100 people. The Hillcrest mine disaster, worst coal mining disaster in Canadian history, occurred at Hillcrest, Alberta on Friday, June 19, 1914, 9.30 am. Of the 237 men who entered the mine that day, only 48 were rescued, many of them suffering from the effects of toxic gases.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYEQZG9BXWc

Website: https://frankslide.ca/

Location: AB-3, Blairmore, AB T0K 0E0

HISTORIC O'KEEFE RANCH

Situated at the head of Okanagan Lake in the stunning Okanagan Valley, the O'Keefe Ranch historic site is a mecca for tourists. The Ranch was founded in 1867, and in its earliest days was at the end of the wagon road into the Okanagan Valley and the site of the stage coach depot. It was a small, self-contained community, with a Post Office, blacksmith shop, grist mill, and even its own church and cemetery. Many of the original buildings still exist, and are a delight to explore. Historic O'Keefe Ranch tells the story of early BC Ranching and endeavors to preserve the history and culture of the early ranching era for future generations.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--ee5Ng7rug

Website: http://www.okeeferanch.ca/

Location: 9380 BC-97, Vernon, BC V1H 1W9

GULF OF GEORGIA CANNERY: Fish Processing & Legend of the Stinkaroo!

Built in 1894, the Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site remembers the days when it was the leading producer of canned salmon in British Columbia. Today it is a museum with interactive exhibits, film, and tours that demonstrate the Cannery's important role in the history of Canada's West Coast fishing industry.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ox55xymDPX8

Website: http://gulfofgeorgiacannery.org/

Location: 12138 Fourth Ave, Richmond, BC V7E 3J1

Vancouver's Forgotten History: The Internment of Japanese Canadians at Hastings Park

ABANDONED HEADQUARTERS MILL

The abandoned Headquarters Mill was built as a rough timber mill in 1912-1913. Despite being fully equipped, however, the mill was never used for reasons that remain unclear. Some say the mill was only built so that the company could gain certain concessions from the provincial government. The recession of 1913 may have led the company to abandon it. Parts from the mill were later used to build a new mill in Courtenay.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnx43b7cwOU

Location: Comox-Strathcona C, BC V9J 1N5

MCLEAN MILL NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

McLean Mill National Historic Site is a steam-operated sawmill on Vancouver Island, officially open to tourists since July 1, 2000. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1989. The mill originally ran as a family operated saw-milling business from 1926 to 1965. The original plot of land was purchased by Robert Bartlett ("R.B.") McLean, and he moved there with his wife Cora, and his three sons Arnold, Philip, and Walter.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_j9sz4t2ZU

Website: https://mcleanmill.ca/

Location: 5633 Smith Rd, Port Alberni, BC V9Y 8Z1

TOUR OF CRAIGDARROCH CASTLE

Craigdarroch Castle in Victoria, British Columbia, is a historic, Victorian-era Scottish Baronial mansion, designated a National Historic Site of Canada. It was constructed in the late 19th century as a family residence for the wealthy coal baron Robert Dunsmuir and his wife Joan and the building later served as a military hospital, college, offices, and a conservatory, before it was re-purposed into a historical museum in 1979. The museum is currently owned by the Craigdarroch Castle Historical Museum Society, which is a private non-profit society, and receives 150,000 visitors a year.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzyHcfFW2n4

Website: http://www.thecastle.ca/

Location: 1050 Joan Crescent, Victoria, BC V8S 3L5

FORT RODD HILL & FISGARD LIGHTHOUSE

Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site preserves the history of artillery batteries used during war time to defend the Esquimalt Harbor. Just next door is Fisgard Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse on the western coast of Canada.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVodKHt9Y94

Website: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/bc/fortroddhill

Location: 603 Fort Rodd Hill Rd, Victoria, BC V9C 2W8

HAYNES HISTORIC RANCH

Visiting the abandoned remains of the Haynes Historic Ranch. Beginning in about 1865 John Carmichael Haynes began to acquire large amounts of ranch land in the Osoyoos and Oliver area. It was one of the first cattle ranches in the Okanagan Valley and he eventually amassed about 22,000 acres. Haynes also was judge as well as customs officer for the Osoyoos/US border crossing. These buildings, on the east side of the Okanagan River date from the pioneer cattle ranching era. The house dates from 1860, built for Judge John Carmichael Haynes, who died in 1888. A later addition in 1875, and again in the last years of use, it was last inhabited in 1963.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBeiZ2kWaik

Location: Okanagan-Similkameen A, BC V0H 1V7

Ashcroft BC: Pioneer Gold Rush Town

Ashcroft was founded in the 1860s, during the Cariboo Gold Rush, by two English brothers named Clement Francis Cornwall and Henry Pennant Cornwall, who emigrated to Canada from Ashcroft, at Newington Bagpath in Gloucestershire.The brothers had originally come in search of gold; however, on hearing stories from failed gold searchers they decided to found the town to give future gold searchers a place to saddle their horses. They sold flour to packers and miners, helping to make the community. The Cariboo Road ran nearby but on the west bank of the Thompson River. The Canadian Pacific Railway reached Ashcroft in 1884 and the town became a division point and service centre for the rail line. The province built a bridge across the river in 1890 so travellers could ride the train to Ashcroft then board a stagecoach for a journey north. In 1920, when the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (now BC Rail) was partially built, running from Squamish to Clinton and Williams Lake, Ashcroft lost strategic importance as a supply centre and transit point for the north. After this, the townsfolk started to rely on farming to sustain the community. Despite being dry, farming was very successful because of water from the Thompson River and hot sun. During the 1920s the small but successful Chinese community made money by testing the growing of potatoes and tomatoes.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QpgD6X2QPU

Website: http://ashcroftbc.ca/museum/

Location: 404 Brink St, Ashcroft, BC V0K 1A0

Myra Canyon Trestles

Known as McCullochs Wonder, the Myra Canyon Trestles near Kelowna were part of the Kettle Valley Railway. Consisting of eighteen trestles, two tunnels and three deep rock cuts, this section of the railway is known as one of the greatest feats of railroad engineering in the world. Many of the original trestles were destroyed by wildfires in 2003, but have been rebuild and now attract thousands of tourists and recreationists each year.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I0HA4RzVz8

Website: https://www.myratrestles.com/

Location: Myra-Bellvue Provincial Park

Abandoned WWII Buildings: Point Grey Battery

The remains of the abandoned WWII buildings are still visible at Point Grey on the grounds of the University of British Columbia. Port Grey Battery was a World War II defense installation constructed to help secure the Vancouver harbor from incoming ships. The location of the Port Grey Battery is now home to the UBC Museum of Anthropology, but the historic remains can still be found just outside and down below on Tower Beach.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watchv=DgH7Iwcdieg

Haunted Vancouver: Waterfront Station Ghosts

Vancouver's Waterfront Station, built by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), opened in 1914 as the Pacific terminus for the CPR's transcontinental passenger trains. Today, Waterfront Station is a major intermodal public transportation facility in Vancouver. Although 12 million people pass through the building annually, this historic building is also known to be one of Downtown Vancouver's most haunted locations with workers and patrons experiencing a variety of spectral and poltergeist activity at the hands of Waterfront's several resident ghosts.

Our Video (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poTg2HTZt5c

Location: 601 W Cordova St, Vancouver, BC V6B 1G1