NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release 2011TTI0008-000155 Feb. 18, 2011

Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Investment

 

Test your B.C. HQ during Heritage Week

 

VICTORIA – Heritage Week starts Monday – and it’s the perfect time to increase your heritage knowledge quotient, or HQ, as part of celebrating British Columbia’s rich history.

 

In proclaiming Heritage Week, Margaret MacDiarmid, Minister of Tourism, Trade and Investment, urged people to participate in the many heritage activities taking place throughout the province, listed on the Heritage BC website at: www.heritagebc.ca/events/heritage-week

 

“Heritage tourism is growing in British Columbia, particularly in rural areas,” said MacDiarmid. “British Columbians are particularly proud of their heritage as evident from the 5,200 historic places officially listed on community heritage registers.”

 

This year the Heritage Week theme is B.C. Parks in honour of the upcoming centennial of the creation of the first provincial park.

 

Here are just a few facts from B.C.’s history book to boost your Heritage Quotient (HQ):

 

·         Strathcona Provincial Park was created by the B.C. government in 1911, marking the first Western Canadian provincial park to be created. The park will celebrate its 100th anniversary on March 1.

 

·         Sir James Douglas is often referred to as the father of British Columbia. Today his name is found on a Victoria street, schools and a college in Vancouver. Douglas was a company fur-trader and British colonial governor on Vancouver Island from 1851 to 1864. In 1858, while still governor of Vancouver Island, he became the first Governor of the Colony of British Columbia, in order to assert British authority during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, which had the potential to turn the B.C. Mainland into an American state.

 

·         Barkerville was named after the region’s most successful miner, Billy Barker, who on Aug. 17, 1862, went against the advice of many to try his mining luck around William’s Creek and was proven correct. Gold Rush towns are not unique in B.C. but Barkerville stands out because it has over 100 heritage structures still remaining on the site they were built. http://www.barkerville.ca/default.htm

 

 

 

·         Victoria’s Chinatown is the province’s oldest surviving Chinatown. While Chinatowns exist in both Barkerville and Vancouver, Victoria’s Chinatown traces its origins back to 1858 and the sudden expansion of Victoria during the Fraser River Gold Rush. Victoria’s Chinatown is a popular area for locals, tourists as well as the artistic community.

 

·         McLeod’s Lake Post is British Columbia’s oldest trading post and the first site west of the Rocky Mountains where First Nations and non-Aboriginal people co-existed on a permanent basis. The Northwest Company established the post in 1805. It was operated by the Hudson’s Bay Company from 1821 until 1952. Despite changes over the years, including relocation of the post to the current site in 1823 from its original location a short distance west along the lake shore, the essential functions of the fur trade post continued for 148 years. During this time, buildings were added, moved or demolished to meet the changing needs of the post. The remaining structures all date from the late 1920s and early 1940s.

 

·         For a detailed list of provincially owned heritage sites see: http://www.tti.gov.bc.ca/heritage/historic_sites/site_list.htm

 

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Media Contact:

Carolyn Heiman Communications Manager Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Investment Carolyn.Heiman@gov.bc.ca 250 888-3545

 

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