Vanderhoof, Nechako Valley, British Columbia |
Nestled in the fertile Nechako Valley, on the banks of the Nechako River, rural Vanderhoof is the geographical centre of the province of British Columbia.
The Carrier Indians pioneered the land in this area long before the first white man arrived. The area lies within the traditional territories of the Cheslatta’ten and Sai’ Kuz (Stoney Creek) First Nations. An ancient Indian village known as Chinlac lies just a few miles east of Vanderhoof, on the junction of the Nechako and Stuart Rivers. Simon Fraser's diary relates that he was the first white man to trade with the people of the Chinlac.
After the fur traders came the packers, miners, telegraph operators, surveyors and finally, settlers looking for the free land of the frontier. In 1906, the Village of Vanderhoof was only a survey line in the wilderness to mark the location of the marked railway. When the last spike was driven on 7th April, 1914, it started a race for the land. The Grand Trunk Pacific Development Company offered cheap land and had one of their employees, Mr. Herbert Vanderhoof, lay out the townsite. Vanderhoof is Dutch for "of the farm", which was very appropriate, since it was the first agricultural settlement in the province. The town grew, and in 1926, the Village of Vanderhoof was born.
With the arrival of World War ll, many young men left, and Vanderhoof came to a standstill. But with the rise in lumber prices, and the arrival of new people in the late 1940s, it started to grow again. The next boost to the population and the economy came with the construction of Kenney Dam in the early 1950s. At the peak of its construction it employed 1,500 men, and a number of them stayed in the area after the dam was built. The next expansion period came with a large influx of American immigrants in the 1960s, and since that time, Vanderhoof has enjoyed steady growth.
There is no opera house here, but plenty of ranching and logging history and lore to be explored at the Heritage Village Museum. Both the ranching and logging industries helped open up the surrounding wilderness for anglers, canoeists, cross-country skiers and wildlife photographers. Vanderhoof is a real live working town typical of the economic life of the north. The town is a central service area for a population of 22,000, with forestry and agriculture - including buffalo and ostrich farms - being the mainstays of the local economy.
Northern British Columbia enthralls visitors with its beauty, hospitality and vast open wilderness spaces accommodating a diverse range of winter and summer outdoor recreation.
Population: 4,799
Location: Vanderhoof is located on the Yellowhead Highway 16, 24 miles (39 km) east of Fort Fraser, 38 miles (60 km) south of Fort St. James, and 63 miles (100 km) west of Prince George.
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