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, that includes the city of Courtenay, the town of Comox, the village of
Cumberland
Cumberland ( ) is an area of North West England which was historically a county. The county was bordered by Northumberland to the north-east, County Durham to the east, Westmorland to the south-east, Lancashire to the south, and the Scottish ...
Denman Island
Denman Island, (also known by Sla-dai-aich or Taystayic, in the Comox language), is one of the Northern Gulf Islands and part of the Comox Valley Regional District of British Columbia, Canada. It is a member of the Islands Trust group of ...
and Hornby Island are also considered part of the Comox Valley. The Comox Valley contains the 47th largest
metropolitan area
A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...
in Canada with a population of about 76,000 as of 2022.
Geography
The Comox Valley is a lowland area with deep alluvial soil. There are mountains to the west, and the Comox Glacier overlooks the valley, On the east, beaches stretch along the shore of the
Strait of Georgia
The Strait of Georgia () or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington, United Stat ...
.
History
There were three groups of
indigenous people
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
, the Comox, the Pentlatch (who were then nearly extinct), and the Lekwiltok, in the valley. They farmed in the rich soil there, keeping the land cleared through burning.
According to researcher Samuel Bawlf, Sir
Francis Drake
Sir Francis Drake ( 1540 – 28 January 1596) was an English Exploration, explorer and privateer best known for making the Francis Drake's circumnavigation, second circumnavigation of the world in a single expedition between 1577 and 1580 (bein ...
visited this area in 1579. This assertion is written about in ''The Secret Voyage of Sir Francis Drake, 1577–1580'' and suggests that Drake's reference to landing in what he called New
Albion
Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than "Britain" today. The name for Scot ...
(the name of the region of North America explored by Drake) was, in fact, what is now known as Comox. This conclusion is not shared, however, by other historians such as
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne (;''Longman Pronunciation Dictionary''. ; 8 February 1828 – 24 March 1905) was a French novelist, poet and playwright.
His collaboration with the publisher Pierre-Jules Hetzel led to the creation of the ''Voyages extraor ...
and
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson ( – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, literary critic, sermonist, biographer, editor, and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
. According to the Canadian Encyclopedia, first contact in Comox between the original First Nations inhabitants and the first European visitors occurred in 1792 when HMS ''Discovery'' anchored in Comox Harbour.
The first European settlers arrived in the spring of 1861, intending to start farms. At that time, Governor James Douglas was encouraging settlers arriving in the
Colony of Vancouver Island
The Colony of Vancouver Island, officially known as the Island of Vancouver and its Dependencies, was a Crown colony of British North America from 1849 to 1866, after which it was united with the mainland to form the Colony of British Columbia. ...
to establish themselves in the Cowichan Valley and the Comox Valley rather than the gold fields of the mainland as these were the two areas that had agricultural potential on the island. The first settlers were
Nanaimo
Nanaimo ( ) is a city of about 100,000 on the east coast of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. "The Harbour City" was previously known as the "Hub City", which was attributed to its original layout design with streets radiating fr ...
coal miner
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground or from a mine. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extrac ...
s and
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...
employees
Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any othe ...
, John and William Biggs, Thomas Dignan, Edwin Gough, Adam Grant Horne, Thomas Jones, Alexander McFarlane, George Mitchell, Thomas Williams, and Charles York all of whom had arrived on Vancouver Island before the 1858 gold rush. Of these, only Mitchell remained by 1862 when the ''Grappler'' arrived with the Comox Expedition. Dignan went to Gabriola Island. Horne and most of the others went to Nanaimo. A
small pox
Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by Variola virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and pla ...
epidemic
An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...
in 1862 decimated the native population.
In 1862, Surveyor General Pemberton secured funding from the colonial government in Victoria to construct the first road into the Comox area from Nanaimo. When it became clear that a wide wagon road would be too expensive, a bridle path with some bridges was built instead. Flooding and tree falls made maintenance of this road impossible. Until the mid-1890s, access to the area was only by sea. In 1874 the government wharf and the first bridge over the Courtenay River were constructed.
The area became the centre of one of the
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...
's largest private railway concerns, the Comox Logging & Railway Company. It was also the headquarters of Comox Logging, which owned Block 29, a valuable stand of
Douglas Fir
The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is the tallest tree in the Pinaceae family. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Or ...
timber, stretching from south of Courtenay well to the north of Campbell River. For a number of years,
logging
Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidder, skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or trunk (botany), logs onto logging truck, trucksComox Valley Regional District. The growth industries in the Comox Valley in recent years are tourism and construction. A ski resort at nearby Mount Washington brings in tourists. The
Canadian Forces
The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...
in the form of CFB Comox contributes to the local economy as well. The service sector accounts for over 50% of employment. The lumber resources of Comox Logging are now owned by TimberWest and are being cut for the second time. The remaining forest resources in Comox Valley are scattered amongst small woodlots on individual farms, or in isolated parks.
Transportation
Two main highways, a ferry terminal and a commercial, a civilian and a military airport, and are the main transportation routes in and around the Comox Valley. The Southern Railway of Vancouver Island (formally known as the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway (E&N Railway)) operates a freight railway line with its northern terminus at Courtenay. Passenger service on the railway was suspended in 2011.
Highway 19A was the original north-south highway through the valley. For much of its route, it closely follows the shore and connects most of the communities. Highway 19 is farther inland, a faster route that bypasses the populated areas.
Comox Valley Airport/CFB Comox is the main airport for the area. Courtenay Airpark, Courtenay Airpark Water Aerodrome and Smit Field are available for smaller aircraft. Regular air services primarily connect to Vancouver, along with service to destinations like Calgary and Edmonton.
BC Ferries
British Columbia Ferry Services Inc., Trade name, operating as BC Ferries (BCF), is a former provincial Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation, now operating as an independently managed, State-owned enterprise, publicly owned Canadian c ...
In 2007 the area was designated one of Canada's "Cultural Capitals" by Canadian Heritage. A number of music and arts events are undertaken in the region. The community also has a number of volunteer and non-profit organizations devoted to cultural pursuits.
The Valley is known as "The Valley of Festivals". Events include the Art & Bloom Festival, North Island Hot Jazz Festival, Comox Valley Shellfish Festival, About Town!, Marina Park Main Event, CYMC Summer School & Festival, Vancouver Island MusicFest, Hornby Island Festival, Filberg Festival, Comox Nautical Days, Showcase Festival, Comox Valley Exhibition Fall Fair, and Cumberland Wild.