Powell River, British Columbia
Powell River is a city on the northern Sunshine Coast of southwestern British Columbia, Canada.[3] Most of its population lives near the eastern shores of Malaspina Strait, which is part of the larger Georgia Strait between Vancouver Island and the Mainland. With two intervening long, steep-sided fjords inhibiting the construction of a contiguous road connection with Vancouver to the south, geographical surroundings explain Powell River’s remoteness as a community, despite relative proximity to Vancouver and other populous areas of the BC Coast. The city is the location of the head office of the qathet Regional District.
Prior to the establishment of European settlement in the area, the area was inhabited by Coast Salish peoples of the Tla’amin Nation and was used as a landing spot for gold prospectors coming from Vancouver Island who were treading their way to the Fraser River to find quick fortune prior to the creation of the Cariboo Road.[citation needed]
The Powell River was named for Israel Wood Powell, Powell was a prominent doctor who became the first president of the Medical Council of British Columbia and for a short time served in the Legislative Assembly of Vancouver island. He was travelling up the coast of BC in the 1880s and the river and lake were named after him. Powell was a supporter of B.C. being part of the union with Canada and brought the first Canadian flag to BC on June 17, 1871.
The pulp mill was started in 1908, with a corresponding townsite company town commenced in 1910: the first roll of paper was produced at Powell River Mill in 1912. Similarly, large logging companies had earlier moved in to take advantage of the huge timber. Brooks, Scanlon & Obrien; Bloedel, Stewart and Welch; and Theodosia Logging were but a few logging companies, with the Brooks brothers and M.J. Scanlon forming the Powell River Company, western Canada’s first pulp and paper mill. The Historic Townsite was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1995, recognizing the exceptionally well preserved early 20th Century planned community, rooted firmly in the Garden City Design Movement and the Arts and Crafts philosophy.[4]
