Sicamous is a

district municipality A district municipality is a designation for a class of municipalities found in several locations, including Canada, Lithuania, and South Africa. Canada British Columbia Under provincial law, municipalities in British Columbia are to be desig ...

in British Columbia located adjacent to the

Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway ( French: ; abbreviated as the TCH or T-Can) is a transcontinental federal–provincial highway system that travels through all ten provinces of Canada, from the Pacific Ocean on the west coast to the Atlantic Ocean on ...

at the Highway 97A junction, where

Mara Lake Mara Lake is a lake in the Shuswap Country of the Southern Interior of British Columbia, Canada, located immediately south of the community of Sicamous and to the north of the community of Enderby. It is the outlet of the Shuswap River, which b ...

empties into

Shuswap Lake Shuswap Lake (pronounced /ˈʃuːʃwɑːp/) is a lake located in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada that drains via the Little Shuswap River into Little Shuswap Lake. Little Shuswap Lake is the source of the South Thompson River ...

via a short narrows. Sicamous is a

resort town A resort town, often called a resort city or resort destination, is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding ...

about halfway between Calgary and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. T ...

and is the eastern gateway to the Apple Country. With of shoreline, it styles itself as the

houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Most houseboats are not motorized as they are usually moored or kept stationary at a fixed point, and often tethered to land to provide utilities. Ho ...

capital of Canada. It has a population of 2,613 according to a 2021 census.

Name origin

Sicamous is an adaptation of a

Shuswap language The Shuswap language (; shs, Secwepemctsín ) is the traditional language of the Shuswap people ( shs, Secwépemc ) of British Columbia. An endangered language, Shuswap is spoken mainly in the Central and Southern Interior of British Columbia ...

word meaning "river circling mountains".

History

In the 1800s, Sicamous and area was inhabited by a semi-nomadic Indigenous nation called the Secwepemc or Shuswap. They crossed the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in straight-line distance from the northernmost part of western Canada, to New Mexico in ...

to hunt buffalo on the

plain In geography, a plain is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and as plateaus or uplands. I ...

s. In this area they were called the "Schickamoos". In 1872, a Provincial Map shows Schickamoos Narrows, which in early history was known as a "meeting place of Indians". In 1864,

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile m ...

was discovered on the

Columbia River The Columbia River ( Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, ...

. Seymour Arm became a supply centre in the

Big Bend Gold Rush The Big Bend Gold Rush was a gold rush in the Big Bend Country of the Colony of British Columbia (now a Canadian province) in the mid-1860s. History Discovery & early miners In 1861, the gold commissioner at Rock Creek reported a First Nations a ...

. In 1885, permanent settlers arrived after the driving of the Last Spike at Craigellachie, which linked Canada sea to sea. Among the first settlers in Sicamous were the families from Finland. Old Town, or Eagle Pass Landing as it is now known, became an almost instant town in 1871. It was the central supply centre for railway construction. Today it is used primarily for recreational purposes such as sledding, houseboating, hiking, swimming, and biking. Later, in the early 1900s, CPR hill became a residential development. Finlayson's store and a jail were built in 1892, adding a post office in 1904. The first school opened around 1908. In 1949 a bridge was built across the channel, previously having been just a ferry crossing. Several hotels opened. In 1890 the original Sicamous Hotel was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway. It was operated for 8 years when in May 1898 it caught fire and burned down along with the station. In 1900 the hotel was rebuilt. The hotel was Tudor style with 75 rooms and a large elegant dining room. The dances were locally popular and well attended. In 1956 the railway ended service to the hotel and it closed. The hotel was demolished in 1964. Eagle Valley, in Sicamous, became the home of many settlers. They came and farmed the land, putting up with forests, deep snow, and hordes of mosquitoes. The first newspaper in Sicamous was the '' Eagle Valley News''. It was printed for the first time on 22 October 1958; it continues today. On January 29, 1983 the Sicamous and District Recreation Centre had its Grand Opening. The arena was built with much volunteer help and local contractors that contributed supplies. Located in the M. J. Finlayson Centennial Park the Recreation Centre has become a vibrant and essential part of Sicamous. Many civic projects followed including a skateboard park built behind the arena. Unofficially formed in 1885, Sicamous became British Columbia's 148th municipality to be incorporated on Monday, December 4, 1989 when Letters Patent were presented to Mayor-elect Gordon Mackie by Municipal Affairs Minister Lyall Hanson. Mr. Mackie served as Mayor of the District of Sicamous for 10 years. In June 2012, the community experienced major flooding due to heavy rains and an abnormally high amount of snow melt from higher elevations nearby. Over 350 residents were evacuated, and many homes were heavily damaged.

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 ...

, Sicamous had a population of 2,613 living in 1,244 of its 1,905 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 2,429. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Religion

According to the 2021 census, religious groups in Sicamous included: *

Irreligion Irreligion or nonreligion is the absence or rejection of religion, or indifference to it. Irreligion takes many forms, ranging from the casual and unaware to full-fledged philosophies such as atheism and agnosticism, secular humanism and ant ...

(1,605 persons or 61.0%) * Christianity (995 persons or 37.8%) **Catholic (190 persons or 7.2%) **Anglican (140 persons or 5.3%) **United Church (135 persons or 5.1%) **Lutheran (55 persons or 2.1%) **Baptist (50 persons or 1.9%) **Pentecostal (50 persons or 1.9%) **Other Christian (375 persons or 14.3%) *Other (10 persons or 0.4%)

Gallery

File:Sicamous' welcome sign.JPG, Sicamous' welcome sign File:Shuswap Lake BC 1889.jpg,

on the C.P.R., near Sicamous, BC, 1889

Notable natives

* Kristopher "Kris" Beech, professional ice hockey player *

Colin Fraser Colin Fraser may refer to: * Colin Fraser (Australian politician) (died 1877), Australian politician * Colin Fraser (Canadian politician) (born 1978), Canadian politician *Colin Fraser (ice hockey) Colin Fraser (born January 28, 1985) is a Canadi ...

, professional ice hockey player * Andrew Kozek, professional ice hockey player * Carolyn Mark, singer-songwriter *

Shea Weber Shea Michael Weber (born August 14, 1985) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman under contract with the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played sixteen seasons in the NHL for the Nashville Predators and M ...

, professional ice hockey player *

Cody Franson Cody Franson (born August 8, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman who is currently an unrestricted free agent. He most recently played for the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL). Franson was drafted in the third ...

, professional ice hockey player * Rob Flockhart, professional ice hockey player, retired

References

External links

* * {{coord, 50, 50, 16, N, 118, 58, 13, W, scale:60000, display=title Populated places in the Columbia-Shuswap Regional District District municipalities in British Columbia Shuswap Country