Coombs is a small community on

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest by ...

in the

Regional District of Nanaimo The Regional District of Nanaimo is a regional district located on the eastern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the south by the Cowichan Valley Regional District, to the west by the Alberni-Clayoquot Regi ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

, situated on provincial highway 4A approximately west of Parksville. Coombs is home to approximately 1,327 people and is renowned for its Old Country Market (which features a family of goats living on the roof), Butterfly World (which includes a small indoor

tropical rainforest Tropical rainforests are rainforests that occur in areas of tropical rainforest climate in which there is no dry season – all months have an average precipitation of at least 60 mm – and may also be referred to as ''lowland equa ...

), the 106 year old Coombs Fall Fair and the Coombs Bluegrass Festival held every B.C. Day weekend. The history of Coombs goes back many years. The Ford House which is the old log house situated on the Alberni Highway is dated back to the early 1900s. The pioneer Walter Ford house was completed in 1911. Next to the Ford House is the Dutch Store since year 2021, prior, 1912 to 2021 it was the old General Store, which also always housed the General Post Office. The Coombs Fair Grounds is an active place throughout the year. The Rodeo Grounds just up the highway heading towards Port Alberni is a successful and active place during the summer months. The railway line is also a huge part of the history of Coombs. Along with the United Church and just over the French Creek Bridge is the French Creek School, opened in 1912, which closed in 2015 but is used now as a Coombs Community Commons. French Creek school was a huge asset to the community for over 100 years. The community was established in 1910 under a Salvation Army emigration plan to relocate people from the crowded cities in Great Britain. This new town was named after Commissioner Thomas Bales Coombs, head of the Salvation Army movement in Canada in the early 1900s. Coombs was retiring in 1911 so the Salvation Army honored him by naming the new Vancouver Island colony after him. Commissioner Coombs never visited the Coombs Colony.

Climate

Under the

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

, Coombs is located at the northernmost limits of the cool dry-summer subtropical zone (''Csb'') or cool-summer

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

, due to its dry summers.

Gallery

References

;Nature sites
Dudley Marsh

External links

* Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Populated places in the Regional District of Nanaimo Designated places in British Columbia Vancouver Island {{BritishColumbiaCoast-geo-stub