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Williams Lake, British Columbia

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Williams Lake also known as BC's Stampede Capital and the Forest Capital of BC is a city in British Columbia, Canada. Located in the Cariboo District, it is the largest urban centre between Kamloops and Prince George. The population is 10,744.

Williams Lake is the proud home of the famous annual Williams Lake Stampede, which takes place on the Canada Day long weekend.

Williams Lake is the home town of Rick Hansen, the Canadian paraplegic athlete and activist for people with spinal cord injuries, who became famous during his fundraising Man in Motion world tour. It is also the hometown of current Montreal Canadiens' starting goaltender Carey Price.

History

Williams Lake is named in honor of broccli William, whose counsel prevented the First Nations tribes of Shuswap and Dene from joining the Chilcotin in their uprising against the settlers.

The story of Williams Lake began in 1860 during the Cariboo Gold Rush when Gold Commissioner Philip Nind and Constable William Pinchbeck arrived from Victoria to organize a local government and maintain law and order.

At the time, two pack trails led to the goldfields, one from the Douglas Road and another trail through the Fraser Canyon. Both met at William's Lake, which made it a good choice for settlers and merchants. By 1861, Commissioner Nind had built a government house and had requested the funds to build a jail. With the center of local government being at Williams Lake, the miners and businessmen all had to travel there to conduct their business and soon the town had a post office, a courthouse, a roadhouse and the jail that Nind had requested. Meanwhile, William Pinchbeck had not been idle and had built his own roadhouse, saloon and store. Eventually he would own most of the valley. In 1863, the town was excited by the news of the construction of Cariboo Road, believing it would pass through their already established and important trading center. However, the roadbuilder Gustavus Blin Wright rerouted the original trail so that it bypassed Williams Lake and went through 150 Mile House instead.

The Williams Lake by-pass was the coming of doom for Williams Lake and accusations flew that Gustavus Blin Wright had changed the route for his own personal benefit as he owned a roadhouse at Deep Creek along the new route. Regardless of Wright's motives, Williams Lake was forgotten and wouldn't be reborn until nearly half a century later with the construction of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, later BC Rail and now CN Rail.

A Chronology of Williams Lake

Geography

The City of Williams Lake has a total land area of 33.03 square kilometers or 2,486.6 hectares and its market area covers more than 12,000 square kilometers. The population of the city and market area is approximately 25,120.

Annual Rainfall 26.88 cm (10.75 inches)
Annual Snowfall 192 cm (76.8 inches)
Average July Temperature 15.5 Celsius (59.9 Fahrenheit)
Average January Temperature -8.7 Celsius (16.34 Fahrenheit)
Average Frost Free Days 120
Growing Season Late May to Mid-September
Annual Sunshine 2,082.1 hours

The city's elevation is 586 meters (1,993 feet), whereas the airport's elevation is 940 meters (3,085 feet),

Distances from Williams Lake to:

Economy

The primary industries in Williams Lake are forestry, logging, milling, mining and ranching.

Education

Williams Lake is served by the Cariboo-Chilcotin School District 27

Elementary schools

Secondary schools

Colleges and Universities

The Thompson Rivers University has a campus in Williams Lake and offers a wide variety of programs and courses including university transfers, certificate and diploma programs, trades and technology, and university and career preparation. The Elder College is another local division of the Thompson Rivers University and offers programs and opportunities for people who are 50+ and are interested in participating in the programs, courses and special events.

Sports and Recreation

Club Sport League Venue Logo
Williams Lake Stampeders Ice hockey Central Interior Hockey League' Cariboo Memorial Complex

  • The (defunct) Williams Lake Timberwolves will take a leave of absence for the 2007-08 season and will resume play for the 2008-09 after their relocation to Wenatchee, Washington, United States.
  • Williams Lake has facilities for curling, golf, tennis, swimming and baseball.
  • Visitors can also enjoy skiing and snowboarding at the Mount Timothy Ski Area.
  • For race enthusiaists, Thunder Mountain Speedway holds stock car races and the very popular, Crash-to-Pass races in the summer months.
  • Carey Price has become a hometown hockey hero.

Arts and culture

  • The Museum of the Cariboo-Chicotin offers a glimpse into the Central Cariboo's fascinating history and is home to the BC Cowboy Hall of Fame.
  • Williams Lake Studio Theater Society has now operated for more than fifty years.
  • The Williams Lake Community Band meets on Thursday evenings at 7:30 pm in the band room at WLSS under the directorship of Michael Butterfield. This band performs at local community events such as the Remembrance Day Ceremony, the Stampede Parade, and at anniversary or opening ceremonies such as the Tourism Centre. There are all ages and levels of playing capabilities from all walks of life, so if you have ever played an instrument, dust it off and come join us!

Transportation

Williams Lake is located on the junction of Highway 97 and Highway 20.

Greyhound Bus Lines provides bus service south to Vancouver, north to Prince George and west to Bella Coola.

CN Rail offers freight service north and south of Williams Lake.

The Williams Lake Airport is located 14 kilometers north of the city and was opened in 1956 by Transport Canada and on January 1, 1997 the ownership of the airport was tranferred to the City of Williams Lake. Local public transportation consists of the BC Transit and Handy Dart bus service.

Local attractions

The Williams Lake Stampede

Held annually, on the Canada Day long weekend, the Williams Lake Stampede features Canadian Professional Rodeo Association action including bull riding, barrel racing, bareback riding and chuckwagon races. The Williams Lake Stampede plays host to many top cowboys and international rodeo competitors from Canada and the United States most of which continue on the circuit to the Calgary Stampede, the following weekend.

Scout Island

Scout Island, located on the west end of Williams Lake off South Mackenzie Avenue, is a nature sanctuary and park area comprised of two islands connected to the mainland by a vehicle causeway. In addition to a beach area, picnic ground and boat launch, Scout Island contains a series of nature trails that take visitors through a relatively undisturbed natural environment, rich in bird and small wildlife habitat.

A key feature of Scout Island is the Nature House which strategically overlooks the extensive marsh adjacent to the island. The Nature Centre is operated by the Williams Lake Field Naturalists and offers displays, programs and information interpreting the diverse and sensitive environment of Scout Island.

The Nature Trust of British Columbia is the owner of this 9.69 hectares which was purchased in 1973 - 1988 and is leased to the City of Williams Lake.
-http://www.williamslake.ca/index.asp?p=40

Media

Radio

FM radio

  • CFFM FM 97.5 "The Rush"

AM radio

  • AM 570 "The Wolf"

Publications

  • Williams Lake Tribune
  • Cariboo Advisor

Bibliography

  • Cariboo-Chilcotin Pioneer People and Places Irene Stangoe ISBN 1-895811-12-0

References

External links



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Last updated on Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 18:44:41 PDT (GMT -0700)
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