Black Creek is a community on the eastern side of

Vancouver Island Vancouver Island is an island in the northeastern Pacific Ocean and part of the Canadian province of British Columbia. The island is in length, in width at its widest point, and in total area, while are of land. The island is the largest ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. It is approximately north of Courtenay. It is primarily an agricultural hamlet and bedroom community to Courtenay and Campbell River - approximately to the north. It is part of Electoral Area C in the Comox Valley Regional District.

History

Black Creek was the host to several logging camps in the early years of the 20th century such as the Comox Logging & Railway Camp #3 which was on what is now Endall Road. Endall Road public easement joins the dead end road with Hamm Road. Part of the camp bunkhouse is now adjoined to a local estate home. The area was made available to German speaking

Mennonite Mennonites are a group of Anabaptism, Anabaptist Christianity, Christian communities tracing their roots to the epoch of the Radical Reformation. The name ''Mennonites'' is derived from the cleric Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland, part of ...

settlers primarily from the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

via Mexico or the Canadian

Prairie provinces The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in Western Canada. It includes the Canadian portion of the Great Plains and the Prairie provinces, namely Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. These provin ...

in the 1930s. They left a legacy of hard work, wresting dairy and fruit growing farms from stony ground that had once boasted some of the largest Douglas firs in the world. It is still evident today in the many small but beautiful gardens and farms that line the Old Island Highway. The Mennonite tradition still lingers in the peaceful valley producing a population with enduring values. In the 1950s many Austrian and German immigrants were sponsored by Black Creek Mennonites, and much of the life of the community was conducted in a mixture of German and English well into the 1960s. The conservative and church-oriented community contributed significantly to the musical and academic life of the Comox Valley, especially the high schools. Today, Black Creek still retains two

churches (United Mennonite and Mennonite Brethren), though only a few of the original families still live in the area.

Climate

Black creek has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

because the driest month has just enough rainfall to avoid the warm summer

Mediterranean Climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

References

External links

Black Creek
{{Coord, 49, 50, 46, N, 125, 07, 58, W, region:CA_type:city, display=title Populated places on the British Columbia Coast Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Populated places in the Comox Valley Regional District Mennonitism in British Columbia