Joan and Keith's Travels: On To Smithers & Prince George

We Left Stewart- Hyder

Heading For Smithers

Good Bye!

Glacier Close to the Road

The Visitor Center Had Some Cool Statues!

Our Over Night Stop!

Final Stop

Prince George!

Prince George, with a population of 71,973, is the largest city in northern British Columbia, Canada, and is the "Northern Capital" of BC. Situated at the confluence of the Fraser and Nechako Rivers, and the crossroads of Highway 16 and Highway 97, the city is the service and supply hub for one of the fastest-growing regions in Canada and plays an important role in the province's economy and culture.

The origins of Prince George can be traced to the North West Company fur trading post of Fort George, which was established in 1807 by Simon Fraser and named in honor of King George III. The post was centered in the centuries-old homeland of the Lheidli T'enneh First Nation, whose very name means "people of the confluence of the two rivers".

Throughout the 19th century Fort George remained unchanged, while Fort St. James reigned as the main trading post and capital of the New Caledonia area. Even during the Cariboo Gold Rush, Fort George was isolated, although Quesnel prospered as the Cariboo Road was built to its doorstep, making it the main staging area for the miners going to the goldfields at Barkerville. Then, when the Collins Overland Telegraph Trail was built in 1865–67, it bypassed Fort George, following the Blackwater Trail from Quesnel and continuing northwest towards Hazelton.

Grand Trunk Pacific Railway

Finally in 1903, Fort George's fortune began to change when it was announced that the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (later part of CN Rail) would pass near the fur post. In 1906, agricultural settlement began around Fort George and then in 1909, development of the town began as two rival land speculation companies built the communities of South Fort George and Central Fort George. South Fort George was built on the Fraser River near the Hudson's Bay Company’s trading post and Central Fort George was built two miles (3 km) to the northwest on the Nechako River. Both communities flourished due to the marketing strategies of the land promoter for Central Fort George, George Hammond, who advertised the community all over Canada and Britain, describing Fort George in glowing terms as being the future hub of British Columbia, having mild winters and being suitable for any agricultural endeavor (except for the growing of peaches). Ten paddle steamer sternwheelers serviced the area, coming up on the Fraser River from Soda Creek.

Properties were sold in both of the main town sites and many others nearby, such as Birmingham, Fort Salmon, Nechako Heights and Willow City. By 1913, South and Central Fort George each had a population of 1500 and were booming as thousands of rail construction workers came to town for supplies and entertainment. Both communities believed that the Grand Trunk Pacific station and town site would be built in their town, and both were disappointed when the railway purchased the 1,366 acres of land in between them from the Lhiedli T'enneh instead, even though Charles Vance Millar, then the owner of the BC Express Company, was well into negotiations to purchase that property himself. The railway compensated Millar by giving him 200 acres of the property and, by 1914, when the railway was completed, there were four major communities in Fort George: South, Central, Millar Addition and the railway's town site, Prince George, where the station was built. And, although George Hammond fought a series of bitter legal battles for a station for Central and for the right to incorporate, the railway won in the end and the City of Prince George was incorporated on March 6, 1915. Residents voted by plebiscite to name the new city in honor of the fourth son of King George V, Prince George, Duke of Kent.

War years

With the onset of the Great War in 1914, the local economy was devastated as many local men enlisted and the construction of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway was halted, creating a massive drop in population, a problem that was exacerbated by the ensuing Spanish Flu epidemic of 1918. Prince George persevered through the 1920s and the Great Depression of the 1930s and did not experience any significant growth until World War II when an army camp for 6,000 soldiers was built at the foot of Cranbrook Hill, bringing new life to the struggling businesses and service industries. After the war, as the ravaged European cities rebuilt, the demand for lumber skyrocketed and Prince George, with its abundance of sawmills and spruce trees, prospered. Finally, in 1952, after 40 years of construction, the Pacific Great Eastern was completed and joined with the CN line at Prince George, and with the completion of Highways 16 and 97, Prince George finally fulfilled George Hammond’s long ago promise of being the hub of British Columbia.

Modern history

In 1964 the first pulp mill, Prince George Pulp and Paper was built, followed by two more in 1966, Northwood Pulp and Intercontinental Pulp. New schools and more housing were needed and the new subdivisions of Spruceland, Lakewood, Perry and Highglen were built. Then, in 1975, Prince George amalgamated and extended its borders to include the Hart area to the north, Pineview to the south and the old town of South Fort George to the east. In 1981, Prince George was the second largest city in British Columbia with a population of 67,559, narrowly edging Victoria out of the honor, whose population was then 64,379.

Due to its low-lying location at a confluence of rivers that can freeze, Prince George has suffered flooding on many occasions. In late 2007 an ice jam formed on the Nechako River and soon grew to a length of more than 6 kilometres, causing widespread flooding in the city. Faster runoff due to devastation of nearby lodge pole pine forests by the mountain pine beetle was identified as a contributing factor. A state of emergency was declared on December 11. On January 14, 2008, with the ice jam still present, the Provincial Emergency Program approved an unprecedented plan to melt the ice by piping water from a pulp mill steam plant 2.7 km to the jam area where it would be mixed with well water and poured into the river at a temperature of 15 °C. In the interim an amphibious excavator was used for 10 days to move some of the ice. Costing C$400,000 to build and C$3,000 per day to run, the "Warm Water System" was completed on January 29, by which time the ice jam had grown to 25 km long.

Prince George

Farewell Dinner