List of ghost towns in British Columbia explained

This is a list of ghost towns in the Canadian province of British Columbia, including those still partly inhabited or even overtaken by modern towns, as well as those completely abandoned or derelict. Region of location and associated events or enterprises are included.

Ghost Towns	Alternate Name(s)	Locality/Region	Regional district	width=140px	Location (BCGNIS)	Events/Activity	Company town	Peak population & era	Latest population	Lifespan
		Robson Valley, British Columbia	Fraser-Fort George	54.1167°N -122.0333°W (BCGNIS)	Railway station		200	7	1914–1999
Alice Arm		Alice Arm, Observatory Inlet North Coast	Kitimat–Stikine	55.4833°N -129.4667°W (BCGNIS)	Base for mining operations up the Kitsault River to the Cambria Icefield
Allenby		Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen	49.4167°N -120.5167°W (BCGNIS)	copper mining; see Copper Mountain
		now part of Whistler	Squamish-Lillooet	50.1417°N -122.9556°W (BCGNIS)
Alvin		Pitt Lake	Fraser Valley	49.6°N -160°W (BCGNIS)
		Boundary	Kootenay Boundary	49.0847°N -118.6831°W (BCGNIS)	copper mining & smelter	Anaconda Copper			1894-1924(?)
	Antler	Cariboo	Cariboo	53.2667°N -141°W (BCGNIS) (location of creek mouth, may be incorrect for settlement)	gold
Anyox		North Coast (Observatory Inlet)	Kitimat–Stikine	55.4167°N -178°W (BCGNIS)	mining & smelter	Granby Mining & Smelter Co.		10
		Upper Arrow Lake	Columbia-Shuswap	50.7111°N -117.9208°W (BCGNIS)
Bamberton		Vancouver Island	Cowichan Valley	48.5858°N -123.5222°W (BCGNIS)	Cement plant	BC Cement Company			1912–1980
Barkerville		Cariboo	Cariboo	53.0667°N -121.5167°W (BCGNIS)	Cariboo Gold Rush		16,000	100 (staff)
Barkley Valley		Cayoosh Range, Lillooet Country	Squamish-Lillooet	50.4833°N -142°W (BCGNIS)	Barkley Valley Mines, Ltd - gold/silver			0
Barnet		Burnaby (Burrard Inlet)	Metro Vancouver	49.3°N -177°W (BCGNIS)				0
		East Kootenay	East Kootenay	49.2333°N -128°W (BCGNIS)	sawmill & railway	Adolph Lumber Company		280
Bennett	Bennett Lake, Bennett Lake City			59.85°N -135°W (BCGNIS)
	Sixty Mile, Big Bar Ferry	Fraser Canyon	Squamish-Lillooet	50.8333°N -122.8167°W (BCGNIS) (record is for Big Bar Creek)			2,000	50 (IR)
		Columbia	Columbia-Shuswap		Big Bend Gold Rush			0
		Prince George	Fraser-Fort George		Grand Trunk Pacific Railway construction/realty promotion			0
		Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen		Similkameen Gold Rush			0
		Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen	49.4817°N -120.7403°W (BCGNIS)	Coal Mining	Coalmont Collieries (1927–1940)	250 (ca1932)	0
	Boothroyd, Canyon Alpine	Fraser Canyon	Fraser Valley	49.9653°N -121.4833°W (BCGNIS)
	Quayome	Fraser Canyon	Fraser Valley	49.8667°N -147°W (BCGNIS)
		Boundary	Kootenay Boundary	49.0333°N -118.7°W (BCGNIS)	smelter & railway			0
Bullion		Cariboo	Cariboo	52.6167°N -160°W (BCGNIS)	Cariboo Gold Rush			0
		Bridge River	Squamish-Lillooet	50.7667°N -122.8167°W (BCGNIS)	gold mining		8,000	300
	Bralorne Third Townsite	Bridge River	Squamish-Lillooet	50.7694°N -122.7917°W (BCGNIS)			2,000	20
		Bridge River	Squamish-Lillooet	50.8333°N -122.8167°W (BCGNIS)			3,000	20
	Six Mile, Lower Fountains, Lower Fountain	Lillooet	Squamish-Lillooet	50.8333°N -122.8167°W (BCGNIS)			3,000	50 (IR)
	Britannia; there were two towns, one called Mount Sheer or The Townsite on the mountain, and The Beach at sea level	Howe Sound	Squamish-Lillooet	49.6333°N -123.2°W (BCGNIS)	copper mining (hard rock)and milling	1904-1959 Britannia Mining & Smelting Company; 1959-1962 Howe Sound Company; 1962-1974 Anaconda	several thousands in the 1940s and 1950s	approx. 300	1904-1974 (now site of Britannia Mine Museum)
		Boundary	Kootenay Boundary					0
		Central Coast	Central Coast	53.15°N -128.7°W (BCGNIS)			2,000	10
		Upper Arrow Lake	Columbia-Shuswap	50.7833°N -155°W (BCGNIS)
	Cameronton	Cariboo	Cariboo	53.075°N -121.5083°W (BCGNIS)
Camp McKinney		Boundary	Kootenay Boundary	49.1167°N -119.1833°W (BCGNIS)				0
		Vancouver Island	Mount Waddington	50.7833°N -148°W (BCGNIS)	religious colony (Danes)		500	10
Carmi		Okanagan	Kootenay Boundary	49.5°N -126°W (BCGNIS)				0
		Boundary	Kootenay Boundary	49.2°N -130°W (BCGNIS)				0
Cassiar		Cassiar		49.0167°N -130°W (BCGNIS)	Cassiar Gold Rush and later mining		1,500	0	1952-1992
			Nanaimo	49.05°N -176°W (BCGNIS)	coal mining			976
		Vancouver Island	Cowichan Valley	48.8833°N -146°W (BCGNIS)	logging, sawmill & railway	British Columbia Forest Products	400+	52
		Cassiar		59.2833°N -153°W (BCGNIS)
Cherryville		Okanagan (northern Monashees)	North Okanagan	50.2417°N -118.6167°W (BCGNIS)				1000
		Upper Arrow Lake-Kootenay Lake	Columbia-Shuswap	50.7611°N -117.4458°W (BCGNIS)
Clayburn		Abbotsford	Fraser Valley	49.0833°N -138°W (BCGNIS)	clay mining/brickery			0
		East Kootenay	East Kootenay	49.4861°N -114.9833°W (BCGNIS)				0
		Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen	49.5103°N -120.6928°W (BCGNIS)		Columbia Coal & Coke (est.1911)	400 (c. 1926)	80
		Slocan	Central Kootenay	49.9667°N -129°W (BCGNIS)
		Boundary	Kootenay Boundary	(BCGNIS)				0
		Upper Arrow Lake	Columbia-Shuswap	50.75°N -163°W (BCGNIS)
		Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen	49.325°N -120.5389°W (BCGNIS)				0
		East Kootenay	East Kootenay	49.5167°N -153°W (BCGNIS)				0
Coryell	Gladstone	Boundary	Kootenay Boundary	49.15°N -124°W (BCGNIS)	Burnt Basin Gold Rush			0
		Eagle Pass	Columbia-Shuswap	50.9667°N -161°W (BCGNIS)	CPR construction
		Boundary	Kootenay Boundary	49.1°N -160°W (BCGNIS)				0
Dease Lake	Dease Lake Post	Cassiar-	Stikine	Kitimat–Stikine	58.4333°N -130.0242°W (BCGNIS)	Cassiar Gold Rush seat of Cassiar Mining District			500
	Old Fort Langley	Fraser Valley	Metro Vancouver		founding of Colony of British Columbia-Fraser Canyon Gold Rush			40 (now rural area in Langley)
		Cassiar		59.6°N -166°W (BCGNIS)
		Revelstoke	Columbia-Shuswap	51.4958°N -117.1736°W (BCGNIS)	CPR construction
	Howser	Kootenay Lake	Central Kootenay	50.3°N -173°W (BCGNIS)
Dunkeld	Manson Creek	Omineca	Bulkley-Nechako	(BCGNIS)	Omineca Gold Rush
		Shuswap	Columbia-Shuswap	50.9653°N -118.3694°W (BCGNIS) (record is for Eagle Pass)	CPR construction			near today's Sicamous
		Hazelton area	Kitimat–Stikine	55.25°N -167°W (BCGNIS) (record is for Hazelton)	Grand Trunk Pacific Railway construction/realty promotion			0
		Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen					0
		Boundary	Kootenay Boundary	49.1583°N -118.5417°W (BCGNIS)	railway			0
	Emory, Emory Bar	Fraser Canyon	Fraser Valley	49.5167°N -121.4167°W (BCGNIS)	Fraser Canyon Gold Rush & CPR construction				1858–1885
Fairview		Okanagan	Okanagan-Similkameen	49.175°N -119.6°W (BCGNIS)				0
		Upper Arrow Lake-Kootenay Lake	Columbia-Shuswap	50.6833°N -146°W (BCGNIS)
Field		Kicking Horse River Valley, Yoho National Park	Columbia-Shuswap	51.6639°N -116.8167°W (BCGNIS)	Railway construction, mining		3,000	170
	Wild Horse, Kootenai, Kootenay, Kootenais	East Kootenay	East Kootenay	49.6553°N -115.5942°W (BCGNIS)	Wild Horse Creek Gold Rush		1000	0	1863–1880
			Squamish-Lillooet	50.6889°N -121.9167°W (BCGNIS)	fur trade, gold rush			0	never finished construction; adjacent to Parsonville and Marysville
		Nechako (New Caledonia)	Bulkley-Nechako	54.0667°N -157°W (BCGNIS)				0
	Fort Similkameen	Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen	49.2°N -169°W (BCGNIS)				0
	Fort Babine, Babine	Babine Lake (New Caledonia)	Bulkley-Nechako	55.3181°N -126.6222°W (BCGNIS)				0
		East Kootenay	East Kootenay					0
			Mount Waddington	50.7°N -152°W (BCGNIS)	coal mining			0
	Fort Sheppard, Sheppard		Kootenay-Boundary			fur trade		0
Fort Steele		East Kootenay	East Kootenay	49.6167°N -153°W (BCGNIS)	Wild Horse Creek War (see Fisherville)			staff
	Upper Fountains, The Fountain, Fountain Flats	Lillooet	Squamish-Lillooet	50.75°N -121.8833°W (BCGNIS)				300
		Burns Lake area	Bulkley-Nechako		Grand Trunk Pacific Railway construction/realty promotion			0
	Galena	Upper Arrow Lake	Columbia-Shuswap	50.6667°N -168°W (BCGNIS)
		Cheakamus River	Squamish-Lillooet	49.9667°N -132°W (BCGNIS	railway lodge, ski cabins (see The Barrier)
		Upper Arrow Lake-Kootenay Lake	Columbia-Shuswap	50.5167°N -134°W (BCGNIS)
Germansen's Landing	Germansen Creek	Omineca Country	Bulkley-Nechako	55.7833°N -166°W (BCGNIS)	Omineca Gold Rush
	Coryell	Boundary	Kootenay Boundary	49.15°N -124°W (BCGNIS)	Burnt Basin Gold Rush			0
		Bridge River	Squamish-Lillooet	50.85°N -172°W (BCGNIS)			3,000	300
		Kootenay Lake	Central Kootenay	50.3833°N -122°W (BCGNIS)
		Upper Arrow Lake	Columbia-Shuswap
Granite Creek	Granite City, Granite	Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen	49.5044°N -120.6806°W (BCGNIS)	Tulameen Gold Rush		2000 (c. 1886)	0
Greenwood		Boundary	Kootenay Boundary	49.1°N -159°W (BCGNIS)	copper/galena mining & smelting		8,000	500	1897–present
	Soo Valley	now part of Whistler	Squamish-Lillooet	50.2167°N -175°W (BCGNIS)	mill camp, later hippie/skier squat				BCR/PGE station was
		Cariboo	Cariboo		Grouse Creek War
Harewood		mid-Vancouver Island	Nanaimo
Harrison Mills	Carnarvon	Fraser Valley	Fraser Valley	49.25°N -178°W (BCGNIS)	sawmill & railway		3,000	30
Hedley		Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen	49.35°N -124°W (BCGNIS)	gold mining			300
Hendrix Lake		Cariboo	Cariboo	52.0972°N -120.7903°W (BCGNIS)	Boss Mountain Mine (molybdenum)	Noranda (mining company)	300-500 (late 60's)	6 (approx)	1965-1972 (now primarily a cottage community)
Hill's Bar		Fraser Canyon, 10 mi. south of Yale	Fraser Valley	49.5333°N -146°W (BCGNIS)	Fraser Canyon Gold Rush			0
Hogem	Old Hogem	Omineca	Bulkley-Nechako		Omineca Gold Rush
		Vancouver Island	Mount Waddington	50.65°N -129°W (BCGNIS)	religious colony (Danes); CFB Holberg (DEW Line)		500	10
Howellton		Omineca Country	Bulkley-Nechako		Omineca Gold Rush
		Revelstoke	Columbia-Shuswap	51.1833°N -162°W (BCGNIS)	CPR construction
		Indian Arm	Lower Mainland	49.4486°N -122.8589°W (BCGNIS)	Quarrying, Logging
		Cariboo	Cariboo
Keefers	Keefer, Keefer's	Fraser Canyon	Fraser Valley	near North Bend	railway (CPR?)
Keithley Creek		Cariboo	Cariboo	52.7667°N -146°W (BCGNIS)	Cariboo Gold Rush			40
		Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen	49.2°N -169°W (BCGNIS) (record is for Keremeos)				0
Kerr Creek		Similkameen	Yale-Similkameen	49.05°N -163°W (BCGNIS)
		North Coast (Observatory Inlet)	Kitimat–Stikine	55.4569°N -129.4767°W (BCGNIS)	Molybdenum mining & processing.	Amax of Canada Ltd.	1200		1978–1983
		Cassiar District		58.7°N -136°W (BCGNIS)
		Upper Arrow Lake	Columbia-Shuswap
	Summit City	Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen					0
			Capital	48.4833°N -166°W (BCGNIS)				0
		Slocan	Central Kootenay	49.7°N -145°W (BCGNIS)	Mining, Japanese internment
		East Kootenay	East Kootenay	49.4167°N -167°W (BCGNIS)				0
McDame	Fort McDame, McDame Post	Cassiar		59.1833°N -129.2333°W (BCGNIS)	Cassiar Gold Rush
McGillivray Falls		Lillooet	Squamish-Lillooet	50.6167°N -148°W (BCGNIS)	railway resort
Manson Creek		Omineca	Bulkley-Nechako	55.6667°N -153°W (BCGNIS)	Omineca Gold Rush
		Columbia	Columbia-Shuswap		Big Bend Gold Rush			0
Michel		East Kootenay	East Kootenay		CNP Coal	CPR	1200	0	1898–1970
		Bridge River	Squamish-Lillooet				2,500	0
Monashee Townsite		Okanagan						0
		East Kootenay	East Kootenay	49.3833°N -116°W (BCGNIS)				0
		East Kootenay	East Kootenay	49.3542°N -115.0042°W (BCGNIS)				0
Moyie City		East Kootenay	East Kootenay	49.3°N -165°W (BCGNIS)				450
		East Kootenay	Sparwood (As of 1966)
	Zwicky	Kootenay Lake	Central Kootenay	49.9208°N -116.9861°W (BCGNIS)
		Slocan	Central Kootenay	49.9917°N -117.3819°W (BCGNIS)
New Hogem	Hogem; see also Old Hogem	Omineca Country	Bulkley-Nechako		Omineca Gold Rush
Niagara		Boundary Country	Kootenay Boundary	49.1°N -146°W (BCGNIS)				0
	Boston Bar (Name moved across the river when this community was renamed.)	Fraser Canyon	Fraser Valley	49.8833°N -150°W (BCGNIS)
Ocean Falls		Central Coast	Central Coast	52.3556°N -127.6889°W (BCGNIS)				50
Okanagan Mission		Okanagan	Central Okanagan	49.8167°N -148°W (BCGNIS)				(now part of Greater Kelowna)
		Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen	49.2667°N -169°W (BCGNIS)
Omineca City		Omineca	Bulkley-Nechako		Omineca Gold Rush
Parkhurst Ghost Town	Parkhurst	Whistler	Squamish-Lillooet		Logging outpost	Barr Brothers Logging Company^[1]	70 (c.1930)^[2]	0	1923–1966
Parsonville	Parsonsville	Lillooet	Squamish-Lillooet		Fraser Canyon Gold Rush			0
Pemberton Meadows		Lillooet	Squamish-Lillooet	50.4417°N -122.9167°W (BCGNIS)				0
Phoenix	Greenwood Camp	Boundary	Kootenay Boundary	49.1°N -153°W (BCGNIS)	Copper mining	Granby Co.	4,000 (1919?)	0	1891–1951
Pinchi Lake		Omineca	Bulkley-Nechako	54.6333°N -149°W (BCGNIS)	Mercury mining	Tech Resources (formally Cominco Ltd.)^[3]		0	1940–1944, 1968–1975
		Kootenay Lake	Central Kootenay	50.4167°N -125°W (BCGNIS)
Port Douglas		Lillooet River-Harrison Lake	Fraser Valley	49.7667°N -132°W (BCGNIS)	Fraser Canyon Gold Rush			30 (Xa'xtsa people)
		North Coast	North Coast	54.15°N -187°W (BCGNIS)
		Cassiar District		58.8°N -136°W (BCGNIS)
Quesnel Forks		Cariboo	Cariboo	52.6667°N -161°W (BCGNIS)	Cariboo Gold Rush
Red Gap		Vancouver Island	Nanaimo	49.2531°N -124.1711°W		Straits Lumber Co		0	1912–1942 (some milling to 1950)
	Whitewater, White Water	Slocan	Central Kootenay	50.05°N -125°W (BCGNIS)
Richfield		Cariboo	Cariboo		Cariboo Gold Rush
		Boundary	Kootenay Boundary	49.05°N -119°W (BCGNIS)				500 (area)
		Slocan	Central Kootenay	49.9833°N -131°W (BCGNIS)				10(area)
	Bridge River	Seton Lake, Bridge River	Squamish-Lillooet	50.7333°N -135°W (BCGNIS)			5000	700
		Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen					0
Sointula		Malcolm Island (Queen Charlotte Strait)	Mount Waddington	50.6333°N -128°W (BCGNIS)	Fabian/socialist colony (Finns)			800
	Green River	now part of Whistler	Squamish-Lillooet	50.1667°N -177°W (BCGNIS)
		Thompson Canyon	Thompson-Nicola	50.4167°N -142°W (BCGNIS)
		Cariboo	Cariboo	53.0333°N -164°W (BCGNIS)	Cariboo Gold Rush		1500 (in 1900)	0 (?)
	Stave Gardens	Lower Mainland	Fraser Valley	49.2167°N -143°W (BCGNIS)	BCER		2-3,000	500 (area)
		Silverhope Creek, Hope area, Silver Skagit Rd.	Fraser Valley		small mining town that sprung up during the Skagit Gold Rush			0
		Silverhope Creek, Hope area, Silver Skagit Rd.	Fraser Valley		small mining town that sprung up during the Skagit Gold Rush			0
		Silverhope Creek, Hope area, Silver Skagit Rd.	Fraser Valley		small mining town that sprung up during the Skagit Gold Rush			0
		Hope-Princeton Highway	Fraser Valley	49.2667°N -135°W (BCGNIS)	Japanese-Canadian internment camp			0
	Tassoo, Old Tassoo, Tasu Sound	Moresby Island, Haida Gwaii	North Coast	52.7667°N -134°W (BCGNIS)	gold mine & camp	various owners, most lately WesFrob Mines, a subsidiary of Falconbridge		0
		Robson Valley	Fraser-Fort George	52.9659°N -119.4301°W (BCGNIS)	Grand Trunk Pacific Railway construction
		Slocan	Central Kootenay	50.0167°N -117.2833°W (BCGNIS)	Mining				1892–~1920
Heritage Ghost Town	Three Valley Gap	Eagle Pass	Columbia-Shuswap	50.9344°N -118.4786°W	Gold mine^[4]				~1886–?^[5]
	Tipella	Harrison Lake	Fraser Valley	49.7334°N -122.15°W (BCGNIS)	real estate promotion/townsite
Tranquille Sanatorium	Padova City, Tranquille	Kamloops	Thompson-Nicola		Tuberculosis Sanatoria				1907–1983
	Trout Lake	Upper Arrow Lake-Kootenay Lake	Columbia-Shuswap	50.6513°N -117.5404°W (BCGNIS)
	Otter Flat	Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen	49.5459°N -120.7597°W (BCGNIS)
Upper Keremeos		Similkameen	Okanagan-Similkameen					0
Volcanic City		Boundary	Kootenay Boundary				1	0
		East Kootenay	East Kootenay	49.2°N -128°W (BCGNIS)				0
		Thompson	Thompson-Nicola	50.7586°N -121.0212°W (BCGNIS)				150
		West Kootenay	Central Kootenay		after abandonment, location of ferry operated by Doukhobor community			150
		Slocan	Central Kootenay	50.0333°N -117.2°W (BCGNIS)

See also

• Fisherman, British Columbia
• List of mines in British Columbia
• Paulson, British Columbia
• Teepee, British Columbia

References

• Bruce Ramsey, Ghost Towns of British Columbia, Mitchell Press, Vancouver, 1963, OCLC: 39371

• T W Paterson, Encyclopedia of ghost towns & mining camps of British Columbia, Stagecoach Pub., Langley, 1979, ISBN

Notes and References

1. Web site: Parkhurst Ghost Town . 2022-10-22 . Outdoor Project . en.
2. Web site: Parkhurst Ghost Town . 2022-10-22 . Atlas Obscura . en.
3. Donald . Bruce . Unger . Michelle . Marsland . Rob . 2013 . Decommissioning and remediation of the Pinchi Lake Mine . 2022-10-22 . open.library.ubc.ca. 10.14288/1.0042657 .
4. Web site: GHOST TOWN: 3 Valley Gap - British Columbia Rocky Mountain Vacation . 2022-10-22 . www.3valley.com.
5. Web site: Roe . JoAnn . 2017-10-19 . Glorious Ghost Town . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20211206051900/https://www.canadashistory.ca/explore/travel/glorious-ghost-town . 2021-12-06 . 2022-10-22 . Canada's History.