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60-616: Pemberton Meadows is an unincorporated community on the west shore of the Lillooet River in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia . On Pemberton Meadows Road, the locality is by road about 170 kilometres (110 mi) north of Vancouver , 49 kilometres (30 mi) north of Whistler , and 17 kilometres (11 mi) northwest of Pemberton . During the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush , miners en route named

120-589: A few miles to the north bears his name. In the 1910s, the Pemberton Trading Co (PTC) bought the store, engaging J. Frank Brokaw as the manager. Brokaw was the inaugural Agerton postmaster from 1912 to 1915. The origin for the Agerton name is unclear. One possibility is the Latin "ager" meaning field, another is an abbreviation for "a great town". The post office location was not far from the former Currie ranch, where

180-541: A few months later provided only partial relief. In fall 1940, heavy rains breached inadequate dykes causing serious crop and livestock losses and property damage. After years of petitioning, the Pemberton Dyking District was formed in 1947 to manage drainage and flood control in the Pemberton Valley. In a tri-partite agreement with federal and provincial governments, the organization dyked and straightened

240-506: A longer period. The location is unclear, but may have been over the Green River . By 1953, a gravel road across former swampland replaced the old narrow dirt road to Mount Currie, which had included three unguarded railway crossings . A wider bridge over the Lillooet opened that year. Until 1958, no road existed between Pemberton and Bridge River . In earlier times, produce was transported to

300-524: A population of 3,407 living in 1,357 of its 1,430 total private dwellings, a change of 32.4% from its 2016 population of 2,574. With a land area of 61.36 km (23.69 sq mi), it had a population density of 55.5/km (143.8/sq mi) in 2021. According to the 2021 census , religious groups in Pemberton included: The village fortunes have been interdependent with Mount Currie for decades. Whereas agriculture, then forestry, previously dominated,

360-400: A roughly hewn temporary platform, and a weekly mail service began. During the decades of passenger travel, Pemberton was a regular stop. Tisdall station 7.1 kilometres (4.4 mi) to the southwest also opened in 1914, but existed intermittently over the years. Eastward links existed to Mount Currie and beyond . A water tower stood during the steam train era. The first reference using

420-750: Is the norm. In 2019, TELUS completed the laying of fibre optic cables to homes and businesses in the area. New modernized traditional-style commercial structures include Portage Station, Winchester, and the Pemberton Gateway Village Suites Building (with nostalgic Red Clock Tower) with covered porches, Pemberton Valley Lodge, and the Pemberton Barn that houses the Friday Farmers Market. The library and community centre have covered walkways on three sides. Two residential development proposals presented in 2022 were Benchlands on

480-655: The craft brewing industry across Canada. Around 1905, the Perkins mill assisted many new settlers with materials for their homesteads. In 1907, Patrick G.Dermody arrived. He established a water-powered mill at the falls on Ryan Creek. From the mid-1920s, logging and sawmill jobs were attracting new people. Mobile mills, powered by gasoline motors, were set up on farms. Pole and tie manufacturing rapidly expanded. Cut poles were dragged overland or rafted downriver to Mile 60 (east of Pemberton) for loading onto railway cars. In 1929, several flat-deck trucks were purchased to haul ties to

540-566: The Cariboo Prospector in October 2002 ended passenger train service. The Lillooet Cattle Trail , built via Pemberton in 1877, rendered limited benefit in relation to its cost. Maintained for four years, the trail slowly fell into disrepair. In 1891, rehabilitation was carried out, but the route remained unpopular. Bob Miller built the first wagon road in Pemberton. In 1909, the Red Bridge

600-772: The Green River , and the Birkenhead River . Below Harrison Lake , the stream is renamed as the Harrison River , which enters the Fraser near the First Nations community of Chehalis . The lower Lillooet River and Lillooet Lake were part of a short-lived main route between the Coast and the Interior in the days of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush . See the Douglas Road . Until the 1910s,

660-499: The Hudson's Bay Company and Surveyor-General for the Colony of Vancouver Island in the 1850s. Joseph Pemberton probably never visited the area. By 1874, only a few settlers remained and the indigenous people had returned to their traditional ways. By 1882, only one name appeared on the voters' list. Pemberton House was abandoned in the mid-1890s. This section outlines agriculture south of

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720-632: The Pemberton Valley revived interest in farmland. In 1890, speculators bought and resold 1,800 hectares (4,500 acres), but few owners became residents. Carl Abraham Hartzell, who settled in 1891, is remembered for raising pigs, plowing with oxen, and eccentric behaviour. In a plea for better roading, he stated in 1901 that an acre could produce 680 kilograms (1,500 lb) of grain or 12 tons of potatoes. Farther northwestward, at about 28 kilometres (17 mi) from Pemberton, Duncan Morrison settled in 1897. Around 1904, preemptions were made by James Ryan on

780-563: The 30 km (18.6 mi) length of Lillooet Lake , it resumes again just north of the native community and ghost town of Skookumchuck Hot Springs , which is known in the St'at'imcets language as Skatin . The lower stretch of the Lillooet River, from Lillooet Lake to Harrison Lake , is approximately 55 km (c. 34 mi) in length. Its main tributaries are Meager Creek , the Ryan River ,

840-477: The BC Forest Service built a new office in Pemberton, which closed and moved to Squamish in the 1990s. In 1961, forestry was a principal activity in the general Pemberton area. By the early 1980s, forestry remained the largest employer. By 1991, only 13 per cent of total employment was in forestry. On reopening, the post office relocated about 13 kilometres (8 mi) up the trail to Hartzell's property, who

900-607: The Heartbreakers , The Tragically Hip , Death Cab for Cutie , Vampire Weekend , Metric , and Interpol . The festival was the first to be held in the valley since the Stein Voices for the Wilderness Festivals of 1989–90, held in nearby Mount Currie, which drew over 35,000 people, the largest number of people in the valley since the gold rush. Its roster of artists included Gordon Lightfoot , Bruce Cockburn , and Spirit of

960-521: The Howe Sound, Pemberton Valley & Northern Railway (HSPV&N) in 1912. Pettit, who had pre-empted immediately east of Pemberton, sold land to Charles Barbour in the early 1900s. The Currie household also provided meals and lodgings, a practice continued by Leonard Neill, the beef farmer who bought the property in 1903. In the early 1900s. John McKenzie opened a store on the Barbour land. A small lake

1020-513: The Lillooet River lowering the level by 4.6 metres (15 ft). The project was carried out under the Prairie Farmer's Rehabilitation Act. The new land made available by the drainage project brought a rush of new settlers in the late 1940s–1950s. The project was only half completed before the 1948 floods, which inundated the lower valley farms. The ongoing drainage program made abandoned farms viable and created new farmland from swamps. In 1984,

1080-486: The Lower Mainland. Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) employees were among the first outsiders to venture into the valleys of the Birkenhead River and Lillooet River . In 1827, Francis Ermatinger came from the northeast via Seton Lake and Anderson Lake . Three years later, James Murray Yale arrived from the south. Their likely objective was to discover a feasible route between Kamloops and Fort Langley that bypassed

1140-456: The PTC relocated closer to the station, with upstairs accommodation for the storekeeper. About 1931, the Pemberton community hall was erected, which hosted the Pemberton community dances instead of the more distant Boys' Club hall at Pemberton Meadows . That year, the Pemberton and District Board of Trade was formed, and the Agerton post office was renamed Pemberton. In 1934, the PTC store burned to

1200-420: The PTC store was about a mile from the built train station, Charles Wellington opened a store with upstairs accommodation around 1914 by the station. In 1915, William C. Kiltz took over at the PTC. About 1923, he left to establish the first Creekside store. Joseph Taillefer, who had joined the staff around 1920, became the PTC store manager. Their boarding house next door had six upstairs bedrooms. About 1930,

1260-565: The Pemberton Express (PX), which delivered express parcels, general freight, private mail, and groceries. He provided taxi, car rental, and produce haulage services. Also, he sold gasoline, farm machinery, and real estate. Warren Taillefer's store carried a wide variety of goods compared to Prendergast's small store in a log cabin, which closed by 1948. In the 1950s, the Prendergast building became Wendell and Grethyll Watson's café. In 1951,

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1320-523: The Pemberton Meadows post office had closed a decade earlier. However, the store soon moved closer to the proposed HSPV&N train station (which was never built at that location). Bob McLauchlan operated the first Pemberton Hotel for a few years before rebuilding in 1914 near the station. Decades later, this structure became the first unit of the Pemberton Motor Hotel. By the late 1920s,

1380-657: The Pemberton Valley Farmers Institute promoted advances in agriculture. Disease-free potato varieties became a speciality. During the 1930s, professionals from the Department of Agriculture were judging the exhibits at the fall fairs held at the Pemberton Meadows school. In 1961, agriculture remained a principal activity in the general Pemberton area but had declined by the early 1980s. By the end of that decade, agriculture had all but disappeared as an employer. The Pemberton Farmer's Institute continues to oversee

1440-463: The Rockslide, settlers to the northwest did not own wagons. The approximate distances by road from Pemberton of the cross-river ferries were 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) for Dermody, 19 kilometres (12 mi) for Ronayne, and 25 kilometres (16 mi) for Crown Mountain. Dermody was an unspecified ferry, intermittently subsidized 1921–1933. Ronayne was a pontoon ferry, subsidized 1926–1934. Crown Mountain

1500-525: The West . Pemberton Music Festival was re-organized in 2014 by New Orleans –based company, HUKA Entertainment . The event took place July 16–20, 2014, and brought in over 30,000 attendees over the span of five days. The festival featured multiple stages of live entertainment, with different genres including rock , indie rock , hip hop , electronic , heavy metal , and comedy . Buses and shuttles were used to bring people from surrounding communities to prevent

1560-422: The community moved from a resource-based town to a resort-dependent town in the 1980s. By the end of the 1980s, agriculture and manufacturing had all but disappeared. Accommodation, food, and beverage had become the largest employer. However, residents dislike being a bedroom community for Whistler. The rapid population growth has created a housing shortage. Local employment opportunities are limited and commuting

1620-596: The completion of the Bridge River Power Project brought electricity to Pemberton. In 1953, the British Columbia Telephone Co. installed party lines connected through the Squamish exchange. In 1958, an automatic telephone exchange opened at Pemberton. The village was incorporated in 1956. Brotherston and McNally bought Jack Taillefer's garage and Ford agency in 1952, but the building became

1680-668: The dangerous waters of the lower Fraser Canyon . The need became more critical when the HBC lost the main access to the Interior via the lower Columbia River after the Oregon Treaty transpired. To determine a new route suitable for horse travel, which connected the Fraser with present-day Mount Currie , Alexander Caulfield Anderson journeyed by way of Lillooet Lake and Harrison Lake in 1846. The Douglas Road , which conveyed miners and supplies,

1740-418: The expression Pemberton station was 1919. The precise date the station name officially changed from Agerton is unclear, but was definitely the case by 1922. About 1932, a steel structure replaced the wooden trestle bridge over the Lillooet River. A wye existed at the southern end of the station. Later construction projects were a station agent house in 1958 and a new station in 1962. The withdrawal of

1800-407: The farmlands north of Port Pemberton as Pemberton or Lillooet Meadows. This delineation as northeast of present day Pemberton, later refined to northwest of the town. Joseph Despard Pemberton , who was a surveyor for the Hudson's Bay Company and Surveyor-General for the Colony of Vancouver Island in the 1850s, probably never visited the area. Rumours that a railway line would possibly extend up

1860-472: The first drugstore in 1964. In 1956, the Pemberton and District Credit union was established, and two years later, the Bank of Nova Scotia opened twice weekly. In 1957, Warren's (Taillefer) department store split into separate grocery and hardware stores. The latter opened a laundromat in 1964. An RCMP detachment formed in 1961. In 1873, a route via the Pemberton area was an option surveyed, but rejected, for

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1920-530: The flood. Pemberton, British Columbia#Early community Pemberton is a village municipality in the Squamish-Lillooet region of southwestern British Columbia . This Pemberton Valley community is on the southwest shore of the Lillooet River and northeast shore of Pemberton Creek. On BC Highway 99 , the locality is by road about 153 kilometres (95 mi) north of Vancouver , 33 kilometres (21 mi) northeast of Whistler , and 100 kilometres (62 mi) southwest of Lillooet . The valley lies in

1980-413: The ground when gasoline from a lamp dripped onto a newly waxed upstairs floor. The store safe and some goods were saved. After temporarily operating from the community hall, Wellington's store was bought to become known as Taillefer's store. For decades, the train station possessed the only phone. By the 1940s, Taillefer's store had a phone served by the provincial government network which operated across

2040-555: The growing of certified virus-free seed potatoes. The annual Slow Food Cycle Sunday is a 50-kilometre (31 mi) bicycle tour of Pemberton Meadows, which was founded in 2005 at Helmer's Organic Farm. This agri-tourism event provides cyclists with the opportunity to purchase or sample local produce at participating farms along the route. Established in the Pemberton Valley in 2013, with the growing of Canada's first proprietary, patented hop called Sasquatch, Hops Connect expanded to multiple facilities and distribution centres to better serve

2100-500: The hotel offered limited interior plumbing. The wife of William Tuck, the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE) roadmaster, was the proprietor. The dining room also served train passengers and later received a liquor licence. The business passed through several hands over a short period. Although World War I enlistments temporarily reduced the population, the presence of the railway attracted many new families. Whereas

2160-413: The local creek named after him and by Arthur Keirstead about 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Pemberton. The Rockside, about 6 kilometres (4 mi) from Pemberton, was a natural obstacle. When Jack Ronayne and his brothers blasted a passage in 1906, their wagon was the first to reach the upper valley. At this time, James Punch settled locally. Jack Ronayne also kept weather records for the government and

2220-538: The mines by packhorse. In addition, the Pemberton Portage Road has provided a northward link. Paving of the Duffy Lake Road (Highway 99) to Lillooet was completed in 1991. The narrow Squamish to Whistler gravel road built in the early 1960s was extended to Pemberton in 1964. This road was paved in 1969 as far Mount Currie. First Nations were the first loggers. During the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush , timber

2280-401: The mouth of Ryan Creek. Pemberton Meadows includes north of this point. John Currie, whose spouse was indigenous, was listed as a permanent resident by 1885, having significant landholdings with partners Dugald McDonald and Owen Williams. In 1888, Currie and McDonald pre-empted two 65-hectare (160-acre) lots which included present day northern Pemberton. McDonald left in 1890. John Currie

2340-599: The name Lillooet River also applied to what is now the Alouette River in Maple Ridge ; the neighbourhood that grew up on its south branch became known as South Lillooet, but to avoid confusion the new postmaster was requested to come up with a name, choosing Yennadon after his family manor on the Devonshire Moors. The river name was changed formally on March 31, 1915 with "Alouette" chosen because of its resemblance to

2400-418: The next most significant flood caused extensive damage. In 2003, flooding impacted the southern end of the valley. The flood risk from the Lillooet River was increased by the 2010 Capricorn Creek landslide, the largest in recorded Canadian history. The resulting sediment moving downstream has made the river shallower, reducing flow capacity and increasing vulnerability to floods. Lillooet River Below

2460-506: The northwest corner of Pemberton and Redwoods between Pemberton and Mount Currie. The former would create 270 new single-detached and multi-family units and the latter 176 multi-family townhouses. Community opinions are split between affordability and high density, threatening the community's character. BC Transit provides daily services. The municipality operates the Pemberton Regional Airport (CYPS) In 1929, Bertha Green

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2520-461: The port, Drinkall's Pemberton House provided lodgings and Otis Parsons (later of Parsonville ) ran a general store. Completed in 1864, the shorter Cariboo Road , which connected Yale to Barkerville via Ashcroft , ended most traffic on the Douglas Road. Consequently, most settlers abandoned the Pemberton area. The port and general area were named for Joseph Despard Pemberton , a surveyor for

2580-582: The proposed Canadian transcontinental railway. By 1909, the HSPV&;N Railway had bought the Neill ranch and Miller land. By 1911, the company owned 1,190 hectares (2,930 acres) around Pemberton. The HSPV&N planned townsites adjacent to the Squamish and Agerton settlements, naming the former as Newport. The prior Neill land was subdivided into 74 lots ranging from 2 to 4 hectares (5 to 10 acres). The former Miller land

2640-419: The railway transmission lines. The Pemberton and District Co-operative Association, founded in 1941, primarily maintained a warehouse adjacent to the railway for shipping potatoes but also operated a small store managed by Mrs Prendergast. During the 1940s, the main street included the community hall, Bob Taylor's garage, Taillefer's store, the hotel, Prendergast's store, and Jack Taillefer's garage. Taylor ran

2700-410: The railway. In 1950, Fleetwood Logging Co. introduced large scale logging. At a camp on the upper end of Lillooet Lake, the company hauled using A-frame logging structures supplemented by crawler tractors. Three loading yards existed near the train station. By 1972, 100 logging trucks a day headed south from the timber leases in the upper Lillooet River region through to Squamish in the south. In 1973,

2760-526: The sound of "Lillooet". The Lillooet River was dammed with breccia from a Plinian style eruption of the Mount Meager massif 2,400 years ago. The breccia damming the Lillooet River was not very strong, and the water soon eroded the breccia that was damming the river, forming Keyhole Falls . There was a massive flood when the water first broke through the breccia. The flood was big enough that small house sized blocks of breccia were carried away during

2820-486: The unceded traditional territory of the Lil'wat First Nation , who have resided for thousands of years, but are now concentrated at Mount Currie . During the hunting season, the people journeyed into the headwaters of the Lillooet River. The absence of trails indicates travel was mostly by canoe. Indigenous farmers introduced potato growing to the area, having received seed potatoes either from passing early traders or from visiting

2880-508: The valley, which allowed movies to be shown in the Boys' Club hall. Jack Taillefer lived in Pemberton where he ran a garage. As the only electrician and plumber, wiring work in the valley became so plentiful that he sold the garage. The trail up the valley was in such poor condition in the early 1900s that Hartzell, Morrison, and others often used canoes. Prior to 1906, when the Ronayne brothers blasted

2940-486: The village: Q'aLaTKu7em Community School, Signal Hill Elementary and Pemberton Secondary School . The latter two offer dual track English and French immersion . The Pemberton Valley Trail Association has built 48 kilometres (30 mi) of public trails for cross-country skiing, biking, walking, or horseback riding. The latest trail connects One Mile Lake to Nairn Falls , a 1-hour hike in summer each way but can be used year-round with skis or snowshoes in winter. This trail

3000-510: Was a raft ferry, subsidized 1926–1945. These ferries likely operated for longer periods. The Ronayne one still existed in 1940. In the early 1950s, the capsizing of a raft ferry in which two occupants drowned may well have been the Crown Mountain one. The gravelling and ditching of the valley road began in the early 1950s. About 2000, the road was paved. In 1912, government help was sought to address flooding. The blasting of river obstructions

3060-404: Was a trail upgraded in 1858 during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush . The now ghost town of Port Pemberton, at the head of Lillooet Lake and the hub of this trail, comprised about six restaurants and six huts. Hemmed in by steep bluffs and large differences between high and low water on the lake, the unsuitable site is about 17 kilometres (11 mi) by road east of present-day Pemberton. South of

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3120-571: Was also the inaugural Pemberton Meadows postmaster from 1895 to 1901. Unlike the later definition, Pemberton Meadows then included the current Pemberton. The general store/post office was housed in a log building on his farm, which was immediately northwest of Pemberton. Mail travelled via Lillooet. After a few years, the post office reopened at the later defined Pemberton Meadows . In 1895, Will Miller preempted about 5 kilometres (3 mi) northwest, adjacent to what would become Miller Creek. Acquiring further land with his brother Bob, they sold out to

3180-665: Was completed in 2012 and is part of the TransCanada Trail Network, Sea to Sky and Cariboo Trail Section. There are real hitching posts all round town to tie up your horses. There are almost 200 kilometres (120 mi) of public trails in the Pemberton Valley System. On July 25–27, 2008, Pemberton hosted the Pemberton Festival , produced by Live Nation , which had a musical lineup of 66 acts including Nine Inch Nails , Coldplay , Jay-Z , Tom Petty &

3240-402: Was divided into larger acreages. After the company floundered, Foley, Welch and Stewart agreed in 1912 to build the line under the title of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE). In February 1914, PGE renamed Newport as Squamish. The rail head reached the Pemberton area in early October 1914. When the first train from Squamish reached Pemberton later that month, passengers alighted onto

3300-461: Was erected north of the later PGE bridge. During 1914 and 1915, a 10-kilometre (6 mi) road was built from the eastern end along the north bank of the Lillooet River to Mount Currie. Formerly, travel was only possible during low water along the south bank. In 1922, two 30-metre (100 ft) howe trusses were replaced over the Lillooet, one being the Red Bridge. A Pemberton ferry was subsidized from 1926 to 1935 but may well have operated for

3360-455: Was felled to build bridges and boats. Pemberton Meadows includes a broad outline of logging and milling in the area. In 1938, a BC Forest Service ranger cabin was built close to the railway. In 1971, Evans products established a sawmill, creating 175 mill jobs and 125 logging ones. During its short lived presence, the wellbeing of the community was enhanced. In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada , Pemberton had

3420-589: Was first to realize that the high livestock losses in the valley were due to goitre , which was treatable by administering iodine doses. Crops such as hay and potatoes, which had been grown mainly for local use, found new customers with the arrival of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE) construction crews in 1913. The establishment of the railway enabled crops, milk, and cream to be shipped out. Previously, sizeable farms were few. The formerly smaller subsistence operations soon planted greater acreages of wheat, oats and peas, and expanded dairy farming. Founded in 1925,

3480-463: Was postmaster 1904–1912. Damage from spring and fall floods and mosquito infestations shattered most dreams, causing many settlers to depart. Christine Lanoville was the inaugural teacher when the Pemberton Meadows school opened in August 1915, but the schoolhouse was not completed until four months later. In 1929, a new school building was erected. In 1956, the replacement had two rooms, but the second room

3540-513: Was the inaugural teacher when the Pemberton school opened near the train station. In 1951, the Pemberton Superior School opened for grades 1–10 to replace the existing school. In 1957, the new larger Elementary-High school was completed, which provided additional classrooms and a gym. In 1963, Signal Hill Elementary opened. In 1995, a separate new high school was built. School District 48 Sea to Sky operates three public schools in

3600-424: Was used for only two years because enrolments declined. Erected in 1925, the Boys' Club hall was as a venue for community dances. The upper valley hall, which replaced the former around 1932, collapsed under the weight of snow in the 1970s. In the 1930s, Joseph Prendergast opened a log cabin store with a barber's chair. He was the first licensed barber. In 1951, the post office closed. That year, electricity came to

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