Revelstoke, British Columbia
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Revelstoke was also the name of a well-known Canadian chain of hardware and home improvement stores, now known as Rona.
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Revelstoke (population 7,782 est. 2003) is a town in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It is located 641 kilometers (398 miles) east of Vancouver, and 415 kilometers (258 miles) west of Calgary, Alberta.
Revelstoke was founded in the 1880s when the Canadian Pacific Railway(CPR) was built through the area; mining was an important early industry. The construction of the Trans-Canada Highway in 1962 further eased access to the region, and since then tourism has been an important feature of the local economy, with skiing having emerged as the most prominent attraction. Mount Revelstoke National Park is just north of the town.
The town is situated on the banks of the Columbia River just south of the Revelstoke Dam. East of Revelstoke are the Selkirk Mountains and Glacier National Park, penetrated by Rogers Pass used by the Trans-Canada Highway and the Canadian Pacific Railway. South of the community down the Columbia River are the Arrow Lakes and the road to the Kootenays. West of the town is Eagle Pass through the Gold Range of the Monashee Mountains and the route to Shuswap Lake and points west.
The town was named by the Canadian Pacific Railway in appreciate to Lord Revelstoke, the head of Baring & Glyn, a UK banking firm that saved the Canadian Pacific Railway from bankruptcy in the summer of 1885 by buying the company's bonds just as the railway was nearing completion. The town was known before that as Farwell, after a local land owner and surveyor. In yet earlier days, the spot was called the Second Crossing, to differentiate it from the first crossing of the Columbia River by the Canadian Pacific Railway near Golden.
Revelstoke, which is the site of railway museum well known throughout Canada, is situated at 51 ° 0' North latitude and 118 ° 12' West longitude.
During the haydays of the CPR, Revelstoke was THE place where the CPR's engineers would buy their precision watches.
References
- Canadian Railway Hall of Fame (http://railfame.ca/2003/member/revelstoke)
External Links
- City of Revelstoke (http://www.cityofrevelstoke.com/)
- Revelstoke Railway Museum (http://www.railwaymuseum.com/)