Emory City was a town on the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...

just 5 km (3 miles) south of

Yale, British Columbia Yale is an unincorporated town in the Canadian province of British Columbia, which grew in importance during the gold rush era. Located on the Fraser River, it is generally considered to be on the dividing line between the Coast and the Interio ...

. By 1858 over 25,000 men had travelled up the Fraser River staking claims and working the sand bars in an attempt to strike it rich and 500 men are recorded to have spent the winter of 1858–1859 camped at Emory's bar in tent and shingle dwellings. Although considerable gold was found at Emory's bar, the mother-lode was never found. Emory again came into prominence in the fall of 1879 when it became the Canadian Pacific Railway's western terminus. Emory City soon consisted of 13 streets, 32 blocks, and 400 lots of goodly dimensions. The Inland Sentinel Newspaper, the first on the mainland, erected a two-story building on Front street and the Emory City Sawmill was producing of lumber in a 24-hour shift. Two hotels, nine saloons, a brewery, blacksmiths shop, general store, residences and "less reputable businesses" rounded out Emory City's economy. But by late 1881, it became obvious that the CPR would make Yale, their center for railroad activities and Emory City was abandoned. By the late 1890s people traveling through the area said that not a trace of the city could be found as the forest had reclaimed the site. Today the original site of Emory City is located within a Provincial Campground named "Emory Creek".

References

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/emory_crk/
http://www.britishcolumbia.com/regions/towns/?townID=3380

References

See also