Today - G is for Geography of BC - and a little about Ghost Towns
Blogging about British Columbia Genealogy Resources
Greenwood and Phoenix, B.C., Postcard, unused. Published by McRae Bros. of Greenwood & Phoenix, BC, copyright 1906. Image MSC130-2217-01, courtesy of the British Columbia Postcards Collection, a digital initiative of Simon Fraser University Library.
For a bit of fun, I'm adding some websites I like showing glimpses of a few of British Columbia's ghost towns, old and new. Some of these are now almost forgotten place names. Enjoy the outdoors online while we have extra time at home.
Cody, BC -
Kitsault, BC - https://604now.com/bc-abandoned-town-kitsault/
Ocean Falls, BC - not quite a ghost town. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/ocean-falls-government-25-people-town-british-columbia-canada-remote-1.5177001
Phoenix, BC - https://globalnews.ca/news/1524326/ghost-town-mysteries-the-lonely-cenotaph-of-phoenix-b-c/
Quesnel Forks, BC - https://backcountrycanadatravel.com/quesnel-forks-ghost-town-bc-camping/
Michael Kluckner's Vanishing British Columbia art: https://www.michaelkluckner.com/bciw.html
List of Ghost Towns in British Columbia, Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ghost_towns_in_British_Columbia
There can be a lot to learn about geography in British Columbia, Canada. Although there is much to discover about the places your families lived, quite a few geographic aids are online, so you can start right now.
SELECTED WEBSITES
GeoBC, BC Geographical Names: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/governments/celebrating-british-columbia/historic-places/geographical-names
GeoBC, Historical Air Photo Index Map Viewer, British Columbia's original set of air photo flight indices, dating back to 1936. Requires Google Earth:
University of Victoria, Guides and links to Historical cartographic collections at UVic and further, e.g. at National Archives of the UK and the Hudson's Bay Archives:
https://www.uvic.ca/library/featured/collections/cartography/index.php And early BC and Victoria maps: https://www.uvic.ca/library/featured/collections/about/earlyBCmaps.php
University of British Columbia Historical Map Collections - research guides, links to Rare Books and Special Collections at UBC Library maps, including fire insurance maps: https://guides.library.ubc.ca/historicalmaps
Old Maps Online, British Columbia Maps: https://www.oldmapsonline.org/en/British_Columbia
University of Alabama, historical maps of British Columbia:
Canadian Atlas Online, Royal Canadian Geographical Society:
http://www.canadiangeographic.com/atlas/ See Canadian
Geographic - The Ultimate Canadian Geographic Photo Edition Quiz online: http://geoquiz.canadiangeographic.ca/ult19/
Atlas of Canada and Geographical Names of Canada: http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geography/atlas-canada
Historical Map Society of British Columbia (The site is available as a finding aid; the society is no longer active): http://www.historicalmapsbc.ca
These BC place name books are always at my shoulder.
SELECTED BOOKS - once you are confident about a location, check for local geography and place name books. I am recommend some books to get you on firm ground later. I know you may not be able to read all of them now, but I see that Google Books, for one, will let you search within some of these books now or they could be available through your local library's ebook programme.
British Columbia Place Names by G.P. (Philip) V. Akrigg, Helen Akrigg
(UBC Press, 1997, Third Edition 2011). Their first book was 1001 British Columbia Place Names (Discovery Press, 1973). Google Books
Canadian Mountain Place Names: The Rockies and Columbia Mountains by Glen W. Boles, William Lowell Putnam, and Roger W. Laurilla (Place Names of the Canadian Alps, Footprint, 1990; Rocky Mountain Books, Ltd., 2006). Google Books
British Columbia: A New Historical Atlas by Derek Hayes (Douglas and McIntyre (2013) Ltd., 2020).
2001 Indian Place Names of the West - Part 1. Joachim Fromhold (Lulu.com, 2011) Google Books
Place Names of the Pacific Northwest Coast: origins, histories and anecdotes in bibliographic form about the coast of British Columbia, Washington and Oregon by Lynn Middleton
(Superior Publishing Co., 1969)
Nooksack Place Names: Geography, Culture, and Language by Allan Richardson, Brent Galloway (UBC Press, 2011). Google Books
The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia
by Andrew Scott, (Harbour Publishing, 2009).
British Columbia Coast Names 1592-1906, to which are Added a Few Names in Adjacent United States Territory: Their Origin and History by Captain John T. Walbran
(Ottawa: Government Printing Bureau, 1909). Free in UBC Open Collections: https://open.library.ubc.ca/collections/bcbooks/items/1.0221858
3 comments:
I love visiting ghost towns and finding out about their history. There are a few on Vancouver Island, and on some islands around.
Hoping to visit BC again next year after a cruise from Japan.We'll get a rental car and go exploring so these links will be most useful. Thanks.
I checked out the Cody ghost town website. Wow, spooky setting -- and a fun virtual interlude along with your usual great summary of resources for BC research.
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