Roosville is a small farming community immediately north of the
Canada–United States border in the
East Kootenay
The Regional District of East Kootenay (RDEK) is a regional district in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. In the 2016 census, the population was 60,439. Its area is . The regional district offices are in Cranbrook, the larges ...
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, ...
. On
BC Highway 93, the locality is east of
Lake Koocanusa
Lake Koocanusa () is a reservoir in British Columbia (Canada) and Montana (United States) formed by the damming of the Kootenai River by the Libby Dam in 1972. The Dam was formally dedicated by President Gerald Ford on August 24, 1975.
The la ...
, at the southeast corner of Tobacco Plains Indian Reserve No. 2.
Sharing the name are adjacent
Roosville, Montana and the
Roosville Border Crossing.
First Nations
As early as the 1840s, the region was known as Tobacco Prairie and later as Tobacco Plains. The Tobacco Plains band has inhabited this land since time immemorial. The traditional name in the
Ktunaxa language for this site is ¿/u¿/uqa, pronounced tsoo-tsoo-qa.
Name origin
The
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...
(HBC) moved Fort Kootenay several times within the plains region, finally settling immediately north of the boundary on the east shore of the
Kootenay River
The Kootenay or Kootenai river is a major river in the Northwest Plateau, in southeastern British Columbia, Canada, and northern Montana and Idaho in the United States. It is one of the uppermost major tributary, tributaries of the Columbia Ri ...
. In 1865, Michael Phillipps, a clerk, transferred to this outpost for a brief period. In the 1890s, he established a ranch on the plains and the area became known as Phillips.
In 1899, Fred Roo was granted a liquor licence for his hotel at Phillips. A month later, he took charge of the general store.
The next year, Fred Roo built a larger hotel. By 1901, he was calling the location Roosville. A year later, the new name was in common usage.
Community
Michael Phillipps was the inaugural postmaster 1899–1903, when the post office closed. Michael and many of his descendants are buried in the Roosville cemetery. Fred Roo was the next postmaster 1908–1922. The post office closed in 1926. In 1910, Miss N. Bartlett was the inaugural school teacher. During the earlier decades, Roosville was centred farther north than the border, closer to present day
Grassmere.
Around 1930, the general store closed. During the mid-1930s, a National Defence Relief camp existed at Roosville. In 1949, the school closed.
At the border, a four-unit motel operated 1965–1989.
See also
*
Roosville Border Crossing
External links
United States Port of Entry
References
Populated places in the Regional District of East Kootenay
Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia
{{EastKootenay-geo-stub