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36-649: Sicamous ( / ˈ s ɪ k ə m uː s / ) is a district municipality in the Shuswap Country region of south central British Columbia . The place is adjacent to the narrows , which is the confluence of Mara Lake into Shuswap Lake . At the BC Highway 97A intersection on BC Highway 1 , the locality is by road about 73 kilometres (45 mi) west of Revelstoke , 140 kilometres (87 mi) east of Kamloops , and 75 kilometres (47 mi) north of Vernon . The Secwepemc (Shuswap) First Nations have long inhabited

72-475: A double track swing bridge, comprising five 23-metre (75 ft) spans plus a 48-metre (157 ft) swing span, was erected 2 metres (7 ft) higher than the former single track structure, adjacent to its north. In 1890, several cars of a train derailed 3 kilometres (2 mi) west, destroying two cars. In 1892, the locomotive tender and four cars of a westbound passenger train derailed 8 kilometres (5 mi) west, causing extensive damage. Months later,

108-455: A fallen tree upon the track derailed a passenger train. In 1893, the station platform was extended 30 metres (100 ft) each way. In 1900, a yard worker was crushed to death between the buffers of two freight cars, which unexpectedly rolled during a coupling exercise. In 1901, a woman on the track did not survive after a train severed her leg. In 1908, a fireman manoeuvring along a work train 3 kilometres (2 mi) east, who fell between

144-625: A hill", "river circling mountains", "in the middle", and "narrow" or "squeezed in the middle". The Sicamous Channel is the only inland port in BC that does not freeze during the winter. During the Big Bend Gold Rush of 1865, Governor Frederick Seymour commissioned Walter Moberly to identify the best route for a wagon road or railway from Shuswap Lake to the Columbia River . Although most prospectors travelled via Seymour Arm , many instead went up

180-495: A province. South Africa recognizes three types of municipality; metropolitan, district and local. District municipalities are made up of a number of local municipalities. The vast majority of land consists of district municipalities, with metropolitan municipalities being reserved for large cities and the areas around them. There are eight metropolitan municipalities, and 44 district municipalities subdivided into 226 local municipalities. This British Columbia -related article

216-477: A stay by the future Edward VIII in the 1920s. CP funded a police constable based at the hotel from 1890. The jail was built on the other side of the tracks, east of the hotel in 1909. In 1892, Mary Janet Finlayson opened a store west of the station. Two years later, the building burned down. Her next store was north of the Lake View Hotel site. The government wharf was west of the station before relocating to

252-452: A stop, where the royal couple alighted, greeted the crowd at Finlayson Park for over 10 minutes, reboarded, and waved from the observation platform. In 1959, the westbound royal train carrying the Queen and Prince Philip made a 20-minute stop, which comprised a similar program to the previous visit. The train stopped overnight opposite the station, entering the branch line the next day. In 1963,

288-442: A store on the ground floor, was appointed postmaster, and erected a barn. The Kamloops general store owned by John Andrew Mara operated this Sicamous store as a branch. At that time, a narrow and swampy in places wagon road was built to supersede the trail southward along the western side of Mara Lake, which connected Sicamous and Enderby . Schubert Bros. established a stage service on the route. In 1890, Wood and Tunstall purchased

324-428: A train severed a man's left leg, resulting in death. In 1964, multiple cars of a freight train derailed at the pole yard crossing. In 1968, the wreckage of a truck that plunged off the highway and onto the railway tracks delayed a passenger train three hours. In 2004, a man was sentenced to six years jail for causing bodily harm, having lain on the tracks with his son 13 kilometres (8 mi) east and being struck by

360-499: A train. In 2013, an intoxicated man, who received a glancing blow from a westbound train, was seriously injured. The CP Sicamous passing track is 2.2 kilometres (7,290 ft). In May 1891, the southward advance of the S&;O rail head from Sicamous passed through Enderby. By yearend, a two-stall engine house was completed and the turntable was nearing completion. In 1898, a derailment 10 kilometres (6 mi) south extensively damaged

396-406: A truck crossing the track, an approaching train shattered the load. West of the station were the coal chute (1920), bunkhouse, freight shed, and water tower. East of the station were the roundhouse, powerhouse, turntable , Chinese laundry, and police residence/jail. In 1937, a freighthopper, who slipped while attempting to board an eastbound freight train, sustained fatal injuries. In 1939, when

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432-430: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This South Africa-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about geography terminology is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . John Andrew Mara John Andrew Mara (July 21, 1840 – February 11, 1920) was a Canadian merchant, rancher and a politician at both the provincial and federal levels. Mara

468-474: The goldrush ended. George Murdock obtained the first pre-emption in the vicinity. During 1882–1892, in partnership with Mr. Hill, he operated a hotel, store, and saloon. In 1884, the Gustavus Blin Wright syndicate completed the wagon road through the pass to Revelstoke. At the time, Murdock ran the only business at the landing. Steamboats connected to Kamloops and Savona . By the next year, during

504-569: The Eagle River and followed First Nations trails to the Columbia. Moberly camped at the river mouth in 1865, which was soon called Eagle Pass Landing, because the river flowed from the direction of the Eagle Pass . A boom town of tents sprang up at the landing. The main buildings were an assay office, general store, blacksmith, and saloons, which were largely abandoned by the end of the following year, when

540-579: The J.A. Mara business. The access point for Okanagan mail had transferred from Ducks to Sicamous, and the Schubert stage carried the mail for several years. In 1892, the Shuswap and Okanagan Railway (S&O) assumed the mail contract, the railway construction having severely damaged the Mara Lake road. In 1894, fire destroyed the hotel and store. A few months later, the replacement hotel opened immediately south of

576-478: The Legislature between January 1883 and June 1886. Federally, Mara was a Conservative and was twice acclaimed as a Member of Parliament in the federal riding of Yale before being defeated by Hewitt Bostock in the 1896 election in the new riding of Yale—Cariboo . Mara's greater claim to fame (or infamy) is the alleged rape and pregnancy of Annie McLean, the sister of the " Wild McLean Boys ". The McLeans were

612-465: The cars, sustained a fatal severing of an arm and leg. A few months later, a conductor was crushed to death while coupling cars. In 1909, a train struck and killed a man walking through the Mowich tunnel, about 10 kilometres (6 mi) west. A petition that year to change the station name to Okanagan Junction was unsuccessful. In 1913, A train struck a man near the bridge, causing fatal injuries. In 1914,

648-672: The direction of the province's lieutenant governor , as is the case with the District of North Vancouver . A district municipality, also called a rural municipality, is one of three municipal types, along with towns and regional municipalities. District municipalities and county municipalities are further considered rural municipalities . The province's twelve district municipalities are referred to as municipal districts by Statistics Canada . Currently, only one district municipality exists in Ontario – District Municipality of Muskoka . It

684-522: The first stake on the CP route in BC at Sicamous. In September 1885, the eastward advance of the CP rail head from Port Moody passed through Sicamous, reaching a point about 55 kilometres (34 mi) west of Revelstoke by month end. A construction camp was based at Solsqua. The Sicamous station built at that time was the standard-design (Bohi's Type 3) station building with prominent overhang (identical to Albert Canyon and Beavermouth ). To temporarily disperse

720-645: The halfbred children of the former HBC factor at Kamloops, Donald McLean , who had died in the Chilcotin War . Mara's alleged outrage of their sister led to the McLean brothers' bloody rampage across the Nicola Country and the death of provincial magistrate and gold commissioner Johnny Ussher . Mara owned the large ranchlands between Enderby and Sicamous where the Okanagan and Shuswap countries meet. Mara Mountain east of

756-414: The mosquito infestation in the earlier decades, a yard locomotive belching smoke and steam was run through the station prior to passenger train arrivals. The 1885 timber pile trestle rail bridge had a wooden drawbridge for river traffic, which was replaced in 1898 by a manually turned swing span. In 1913, three 20-metre (65 ft) and one 16-metre (54 ft) steel spans replaced timber trestles. In 1982,

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792-562: The mouth of the Eagle River. For centuries, the river had provided an abundance of salmon, which also created a trade in dried fish. A trail on the north side of the river was used up to the 1930s to reach tracts of wild blueberry bushes. "Schik-mouse", recorded in 1865, was the earliest known spelling of the First Nations word for Sicamous. The word describes the narrows, but the specific aspect has remained unclear. Suggestions have been "place cut through", "the narrows", "stream winding round

828-507: The narrows in 1913, where the new 49-metre (160 ft) wharf was built. On the arrival of the government telephone line in 1914, phones were installed in the Finlayson store and two hotels. In 1921–22, a footbridge was attached to the rail bridge. Situated east of the CP hotel, the CP power plant provided electricity to these premises and a few houses on CPR hill. About 1929, hydro power transmission lines arrived being extended eastward across

864-562: The narrows in 1949. Great Depression relief camp workers built the Canoe–Sicamous road, which would reduce the travel distance between Salmon Arm and Sicamous by 23 kilometres (14 mi). In 1934, the road was completed to a rudimentary level. By this time, Robert (Bob) H. Congreve supplied boats and cars at his service station on the shore below the Bellevue Hotel. The upgrading of this road continued over subsequent years. In 1956,

900-441: The new 49-by-24-metre (160 by 80 ft) station/hotel was under construction, the Lake View Hotel thrived. In 1900, the new CP hotel opened. In 1908, a further storey was added. In 1914, an electrical fire caused considerable damage to the upper storey. In 1919, the lobby and main staircase at the west end were transposed with the dining room at the east end. All 75 guest rooms had hot and cold running water. Important guests included

936-524: The original ranch, and Mara Lake south of Sicamous, bear his name. Today Mara Lake Provincial Park on Mara Lake is now a popular tourist destination during the summer months. The village of Mara still exists south of Mara Lake along the Shuswap River . Mara's wife Alice was the daughter of Frank Barnard , founder of the Barnard's Express Co. or "B.X." . Her brother, and therefore Mara's brother-in-law,

972-474: The peak of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) construction, more than 100 buildings lined the foreshore. The rebuild included a few hotels, stores, dance halls, livery barns, and a NWMP barracks and jail. Railway contractors Mackenzie and Mann had their headquarters at the landing. The new name was Eagle City. A stage operated to Farwell . In 1885, Fred White was appointed inaugural postmaster of

1008-416: The present highway bridge on the same site. A couple of ownership changes occurred. In 1906, the building burned to the ground. The next year, the three-storey Bellevue Hotel was opened by Leopole Congreve on the site. In 1890, the first CP hotel was built beside the station. In 1898, a fire ignited by a dropped oil lamp in the dining room of the hotel spread to the station, destroying both properties. While

1044-438: The primary access point for rail passengers into the Okanagan switched to Salmon Arm, which offered a superior bus connection. The CP hotel at Sicamous closed that year and was demolished in 1964. In 1957, Phil Gaglardi , minister of highways, officially opened the rebuilt Canoe–Sicamous section of highway. In August 1871, as a symbolic gesture that the railway would one day become a reality, Ed Mohun, government engineer, drove

1080-509: The shores of Shuswap and Mara lakes, evidenced by the presence of pit-houses dating back over 3,200 years. An annual potlach was held at the mouth of the Eagle River . In the 1840s, an encampment existed west of the narrows on the slopes later called CPR hill. From the early 1820s, they brought furs to trade at the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) fort at Kamloops. By the 1840s, an HBC outpost opened at

1116-456: The short-lived post office. The unwillingness of Mr. Bryne to sell land for a railyard east of the narrows compelled CP to build on the west side. This decision soon vacated the river mouth location, which then became known as the Old Town or Old Sicamous. In 1884, Colonel E. Forester constructed the first building, which was the Lake View Hotel. In 1887, he built a two-storey extension which housed

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1152-453: The track was raised 2 metres (6 ft). In 1915, a constable confronted two freighthoppers beneath a dining car at the station. While restraining one, the officer fired a shot in the air to halt the other one fleeing. The first one broke free, fired a gun, and was killed when the constable returned fire. During World War I , a military camp was established to house soldiers guarding the rail bridge. In 1919, when 15 beehives tumbled from

1188-664: The track, sending three boxcars plunging down a 5-metre (15 ft) embankment and leaving the baggage car, express car, and two passenger cars of the northbound train derailed. District municipality Under provincial law, municipalities in British Columbia are to be designated "district municipalities" on incorporation if the area to be incorporated is greater than 800 hectares (8.0 km ; 2,000 acres) and has an average population density of less than 5 inhabitants per hectare (500/km ; 1,300/sq mi). Municipalities may be incorporated under different classifications under

1224-399: The westbound royal train made a 10-minute stop, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth came out onto the rear observation platform of their car and the king chatted with the children who filed by in an orderly procession. In 1946, an incorrectly set switch derailed a caboose onto the station platform. In 1951, the westbound royal train carrying Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip made

1260-463: Was elected to four terms in the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia . He sat in the provincial legislature as the member from Kootenay (1871 to 1875) and then from Yale (1875 to 1886). He ran as an Independent, as a Reform supporter, and as both a Government and Opposition supporter - this was before political parties were organized to contest provincial elections. He served as Speaker of

1296-426: Was formerly a district but has undergone heavy urbanization and development , particularly from tourism , as it is the heart of Ontario's cottage country . As a result, it was "upgraded" from a district (such as neighbouring Parry Sound District ) to having powers similar to a regional municipality , such as York Regional Municipality . In South Africa, district municipalities are administrative divisions of

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