Phoenix, British Columbia
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Phoenix is a
ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * Ghost Town (1936 film), ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * Ghost Town (1956 film), ''Ghost Town'' ...
in the
Boundary Country The Boundary Country is a historical designation for a district in southern British Columbia lying, as its name suggests, along the boundary between Canada and the United States. It lies to the east of the southern Okanagan Valley and to the west o ...
of
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, ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, 11 km east of
Greenwood Green wood is unseasoned wood. Greenwood or Green wood may also refer to: People * Greenwood (surname) Settlements Australia * Greenwood, Queensland, a locality in the Toowoomba Region * Greenwood, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth C ...
. Once called the “highest city in Canada” by its citizens (1,412 metres / 4,633 feet above sea level) it was a booming copper mining community from the late 1890s until 1919. In its heyday it was home to 1,000 citizens and had an opera house, twenty hotels, a brewery and its own city hall. Phoenix’s magistrate, Judge Willie Williams, who served there from 1897 until 1913, became famous for his booming declaration, “I am the highest judge, in the highest court, in the highest city in Canada.” In 1911, Phoenix’s hockey team won the provincial championship and asked for the right to compete for the
Stanley Cup The Stanley Cup (french: La Coupe Stanley) is the championship trophy awarded annually to the National Hockey League (NHL) playoff champion. It is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded to a professional sports franchise in North America, an ...
, but it was too late to qualify. The
Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Company Granby Consolidated Mining, Smelting and Power Co. was established by charter to operate in the Boundary region of southern British Columbia. Primarily involved in the mining and smelting of copper, the conglomerate became a publicly traded compan ...
operated the Phoenix Mine, a copper mine that produced 13,678,901 tons of ore before operations ceased on June 14, 1919.


Boom years

Copper was discovered at Phoenix in 1891, credited to American prospector named Bob Denzler. His discovery became the first of many claims and a settlement called Greenwood Camp was built, but it was not until 1895 that the full riches of the area were realized and the boom really began. The log cabins of Greenwood Camp were replaced by frame houses and brick homes. Then, in 1896, the
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...
and the Great Northern Railway arrived. By then, with the exception of the one at Rossland, the output of the mines was exceeding the combined output of every other copper mine in British Columbia. It was named after
Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
or the mythical phoenix of Egypt. The town got its own newspaper, the ''Phoenix Pioneer'', in 1896 and on October 1, 1898, Greenwood Camp was renamed Phoenix when the first post office opened. By the early 1900s, Phoenix was a thriving community with electricity and telephone services, a hospital, banquet hall, ballroom, opera house and its own stage line. There was no lack of fine meals or accommodation: on the Christmas Day menu at the Brooklyn Hotel in 1911 the variety of delicacies included Russian caviar, Green Turtle soup and English plum pudding with brandy sauce.


Aftermath

When
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
ended in 1918, the price of copper dropped dramatically and Phoenix, which was completely reliant on its one industry, began to die. When the last ore was shipped out in 1919, thousands exited soon after. Many left their homes and belongings, making Phoenix the largest ghost town Canada had ever seen. In 1920 wrecking crews arrived to haul away the churches, halls, stores, skating rink and hospital – all of which were dismantled and re-erected in other communities. An open pit mine operated in Phoenix during the 1950s and through to 1978 but the venture was ultimately abandoned and the mining had caused the historic buildings to be buried or bulldozed. One remaining relic is Phoenix’s World War I cenotaph. Another memorial can be found in nearby Greenwood where the open pit miners of the seventies erected a commemorative phoenix bird sculpture to mark the hopes that someday Phoenix will rise again. In recent years, locals have restored the pioneer cemetery in Phoenix.


Television

Phoenix was featured on the historical television series ''
Gold Trails and Ghost Towns ''Gold Trails and Ghost Towns'' is a Canadian historical documentary show, created and produced by television station CHBC-TV in Kelowna, British Columbia for Canadian syndication and hosted by Mike Roberts with historian/storyteller Bill Barlee. ...
'', season 1, episode 3.


See also

* List of ghost towns in British Columbia


References


External links

* {{authority control Former cities in British Columbia Ghost towns in British Columbia Mining communities in British Columbia Populated places in the Boundary Country