Industry has shaped Northwest livelihoods, community growth, the economy and the environment 鈥� positively and negatively.
B.C.'s northwest has 17 industrial heritage sites, a newly-released online map of 76 sites across B.C. has revealed.
Prepared by Heritage BC, the sites range from the North Pacific Cannery in Prince Rupert and Red Rose Mine in Kitimat-Stikine, to ghost and company towns riddled across the northwest.
There is also an accompanying document that provides context to the map as communicating the history of B.C. industry.
The sites were submitted by communities, organizations and individuals across the province. The submissions were then reviewed by a committee of industrial heritage advisors from Heritage BC.
"We were very happy with the support and enthusiasm we heard from across the province in the nomination process," said Kirstin Clausen, executive director of Heritage BC. "The number and diversity of nominations clearly show the impact that industry has had on communities all over the province."
The map represents a wide range of industries, including commercial and manufacturing, power, transport and infrastructure, food and drink production, forestry, pulp and paper, and non-renewable resource extraction and processing.
Heritage BC acknowledges that the map and document only scratch the surface of industry in B.C. Rather, they attempt to set the scene and encourage the viewer to consider both the positive and negative ways in which industry has shaped the province, from economic growth and urbanization, to the colonization of Indigenous peoples, and deforestation.
A key detail is that this map only includes industrial activities that occurred after the second industrial revolution, which was from the 1860s to 1950s.
The document does note an example of pre-industrial revolution industrial activities in B.C.
The land of the Secw茅pemc and Nlaka鈥檖amux Nations, which is now known as the Arrowstone Hills Toolstone Quarry near Cache Creek, was used for 11,000 years to gather and process lithic materials during the Stone Age. This was close to several other Neolithic toolstone sites in this region as well.
Heritage BC supports and advocates for B.C.'s broad heritage sector through education, training, skills development, and capacity building in heritage planning and conservation.
They fund projects through their Heritage Legacy Fund and in partnership with the Province of British Columbia.
