Montrose is in the
West Kootenay
The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people.
Boundaries
The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootenay ...
region of southeastern
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, ...
. The village lies east of the city of
Trail
A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or small road usually passing through a natural area. In the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, a path or footpath is the preferred term for a pedestrian or hiking trail. Th ...
along
Highway 3B.
Establishment
Smoke pollution triggered the
legal dispute between American landowners in the region and the Trail Smelter. Since the 1910s, on the Canadian side of the border, the smelter had been buying out farmers who complained the smoke was killing their crops and orchards. Over up the northern slopes of Beaver Creek, was a plateau comprising stumps and second growth known as Wood's Flats, much of which was owned by the company.
Leon Selk Simmons, a smelter employee, and Arthur Garfield Cameron, a Trail lawyer, created the subdivision as a bedroom community for Trail. Developed as Beaver Heights, the existence of many settlements in BC with "Beaver" as part of their names, prompted the change to Montrose prior to the lot sales by Montrose Homesites Limited. The new name likely arose from Leon's Scottish roots and images of
Montrose, Angus
Montrose ( , gd, Monadh Rois) is a town and former royal burgh in Angus, Scotland. Situated north of Dundee and south of Aberdeen, Montrose lies between the mouths of the North and South Esk rivers. It is the northernmost coastal town in Angus ...
, but possibly could have been the name of a rural school in the area which had opened in 1928. Furthermore, the choice was appropriate, because wild roses grew throughout this mountain plateau.
Growth & access
Engvold Melgard and Louis Campeau established a grocery store in 1947. The three-room elementary school opened in 1952. When Beaver Falls lost its post office the next year, Montrose gained one. In 1956, the settlement incorporated as a village. St. Monica’s Anglican opened in 1961, but later the building became a Baptist church.
The Trail–
Fruitvale section of Highway 3B, completed in the early 1960s, replaced the rudimentary "cut-off " road, dating from the early 1920s.
Demographics
In the
2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada
Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...
, Montrose had a population of 1,013 living in 429 of its 435 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 996. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Economy
There is a post office, a Chinese-Canadian restaurant and one combined gasoline station/corner store in the village. Other than home-based businesses, virtually all other employment is based in the nearby city of Trail. Major employers of Montrose residents include
Teck Teck may refer to:
* Teck Castle (Burg Teck) in Württemberg, Germany
* Teckberg, mountain on which it is located
* Duke of Teck, a title of nobility, associated with Teck Castle
* Teck Railway, Germany
* Teck Resources, a Canadian mining company ...
, the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital, School District 20, Ferraro Foods, and the Trail operations of such large corporations as
Fortis BC,
Wal-Mart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
,
Extra Foods
Extra Foods (also branded as ''extrafoods'') is a supermarket chain, part of Loblaw Companies Limited. There are 10 stores in Canada, mostly in Western Canada. Most Extra Foods stores are smaller than its sister chain, Real Canadian Superstore, ...
(Weston Corp),
Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is a Canadian retail company which operates in the automotive, hardware, sports, leisure and housewares sectors. Its Canadian operations include: Canadian Tire (including Canadian Tire Petroleum gas stations a ...
and international engineering consultants Wood.
Montrose is known throughout the Kootenay region of BC for its excellent drinking water, a sample of which received silver medals in the 2008 and 2009 Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting Competition.
Features
Montrose is also the location of the "Antenna Trail" a 4 kilometre loop hiking trail that rises 250 metres above the village and has views of the Beaver and Columbia Valleys. This trail is part of the Kootenay Columbia Trail system although it is not contiguous with the rest of the trails located near, and accessed from, nearby Rossland. The Antenna Trail is popular because it is snow-free much earlier in the spring than the higher elevation trails, and has little if any mountain bike traffic.
The village shares its territory with a variety of native BC wildlife. Elk, Whitetail Deer, Mule Deer, Black Bears, and Wild Turkeys are frequently spotted on Montrose Mountain, and occasionally within the village proper. Hummingbirds are attracted by the numerous feeders put out by residents, with at least seven different species recorded.
References
External links
*
{{authority control
Villages in British Columbia
Populated places in the West Kootenay
British Columbia populated places on the Columbia River