Lytton, British Columbia
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Lytton is a village of about 250 residents in southern
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, on the east side of the
Fraser River The Fraser River () is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain (Canada), Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of V ...
and primarily the south side of the Thompson River, where it flows southwesterly into the Fraser. The community includes the Village of Lytton and the surrounding community of the
Lytton First Nation The Lytton First Nation (), a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government, has its headquarters at Lytton, British Columbia, Lytton in the Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the largest of all Nlaka ...
, whose name for the place is Camchin, also spelled ''Kumsheen'' ("river meeting"). During heat waves, Lytton is often the hottest spot in Canada despite its location north of 50°N in latitude. In three consecutive days of June 2021, it broke the all-time record for Canada's highest temperature, ending at on June 29. This is the highest temperature ever recorded north of 45°N and higher than the all-time records for
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and
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. The next day (June 30), a wildfire swept through the valley, destroying the majority of the town. The Lytton area has been inhabited by the
First Nations First nations are indigenous settlers or bands. First Nations, first nations, or first peoples may also refer to: Indigenous groups *List of Indigenous peoples *First Nations in Canada, Indigenous peoples of Canada who are neither Inuit nor Mé ...
people for over 10,000 years. It was one of the earliest locations settled by immigrants in the Southern Interior of British Columbia. The town was founded during the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush of 1858–59, when it was known as "The Forks."


History

The people of the Nlakaʼpamux First Nation lived on the site before the town of Lytton was founded. Lytton was on the route of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush in 1858. The same year, it was named after Edward Bulwer-Lytton, the British Colonial Secretary and a novelist.Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V; 1001 British Columbia Place Names; Discovery Press, Vancouver 1969, 1970, 1973, p. 106 For many years, Lytton was a stop on major transportation routes, namely, the River Trail beginning in 1858, Cariboo Wagon Road in 1862, the
Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , 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 Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
in the 1880s, the Cariboo Highway in the 1920s, and the
Trans Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, 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 A ...
in the 1950s. The town is much less important since the construction of the Coquihalla Highway in 1987, which uses a more direct route to the BC Interior. In 2015, Lytton was featured on the CBC television show '' Still Standing'' with host Jonny Harris.


2021 wildfire and destruction

On June 30, 2021, the day after Lytton set a Canadian all-time high temperature record of , a wildfire swept through the community, destroying most structures. All villagers were ordered to evacuate. Local MP Brad Vis said 90% of the village burned down. Two people died. In the year since the fire, only a quarter of the properties were cleared of ash and debris. There was incessant wrangling between local residents who wanted to restore buildings and power immediately, and the local council who wanted fire-prevention standards in place. Coupled with inadequate insurance payouts and local record-breaking floods, residents were running out of time to restore the village. They were further hampered when another wildfire took out six residences across the river in July 2022.


Name origin

Novelist Edward Bulwer-Lytton was a friend and contemporary of
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
and was one of the pioneers of the historical novel, exemplified by his most popular work, '' The Last Days of Pompeii''. He is best remembered today for the opening line to the novel ''Paul Clifford'', which begins " It was a dark and stormy night..." and is considered by some to be the worst opening sentence in the English language. Bulwer-Lytton is also responsible for sayings such as " The pen is mightier than the sword" from his play '' Richelieu''. Though he was a popular author in the 19th century, fewer people today are aware of his prodigious body of literature, which spans many genres. In the 21st century, he may be better known as the namesake for the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest (BLFC), sponsored annually by the English Department at
San Jose State University San José State University (San Jose State or SJSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Jose, California. Established in 1857, SJSU is the List of oldest schools in California, oldest public university on the West Coast of ...
, which challenges entrants "to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels." In 1858, Governor James Douglas named the town after Bulwer-Lytton "as a merited compliment and mark of respect." Bulwer-Lytton served as Colonial Secretary. As governor of the then-colony, Douglas would have reported to him.


Lord Lytton literary debate

On August 30, 2008, the Village of Lytton invited Henry Lytton Cobbold, the great-great-great-grandson of Edward Bulwer-Lytton, to defend the great man's honour by debating Professor Scott Rice, the sponsor of the BLFC, on the literary and political legacies of his great ancestor. The debate received wide media coverage including ''
The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...
'', ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', ''
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'', CBC's '' As It Happens'', and many local and regional media outlets. The debate was moderated by Mike McArdell of Global TV. Lytton Cobbold provided a spirited and crowd-inspiring defence of his ancestor, and despite a factual and well-researched presentation by Rice, Lytton Cobbold emerged as the crowd favourite by a wide margin. In the end, Rice begrudgingly admitted to an admiration of Bulwer-Lytton. This event was held as part of the Village of Lytton's BC150 celebrations, which marked the 150th anniversary of the date that the community received its name, in addition to the province-wide celebration of the establishment of the original
Colony of British Columbia The Colony of British Columbia refers to one of two colonies of British North America, located on the Pacific coast of modern-day Canada: * Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866) * Colony of British Columbia (1866–1871) See also * History of ...
on August 2, 1858.


Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by
Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...
, Lytton had a population of 210 living in 104 of its 118 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 249. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. Another 1,700 people in the immediate area live in rural areas and on reserves of the neighbouring six
Nlaka'pamux The Nlakaʼpamux or Nlakapamuk ( ; ), also previously known as the ''Thompson'', '' Thompson River Salish'', ''Thompson Salish'', ''Thompson River Indians'' or ''Thompson River people'', and historically as the ''Klackarpun'', ''Haukamaugh'', ''K ...
communities. 802 members out of 1,970 registered members of the
Lytton First Nation The Lytton First Nation (), a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government, has its headquarters at Lytton, British Columbia, Lytton in the Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the largest of all Nlaka ...
live on reserves immediately adjacent to the municipality.


Climate

Lytton experiences an inland
hot-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 ...
(''Csa)'', using the -3 °C isotherm, or a dry-summer continental climate (''Dsa''), using the 0 °C isotherm. During summer heat waves, Lytton is often the hottest spot in Canada, despite its location north of 50°N in latitude. Because of the dry summer air and a relatively low elevation of , summer afternoon shade temperatures frequently reach and occasionally top . Lytton holds the record for the highest temperature ever recorded in Canada with a record high of on June 29 of the 2021 Western North America heat wave. This occurred after having already broken records multiple times during the previous days of that heat wave. This is the world's highest temperature ever recorded north of the 45th parallel. The previous record was 121 °F (49.4 °C) in Steele, North Dakota on July 6, 1936. Lytton has recorded a higher temperature than all but 4 U.S. states, with only
Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...
,
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
,
New Mexico New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
, and
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a landlocked state in the Western United States. It borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. Nevada is the seventh-most extensive, th ...
ever recording higher temperatures. Lytton has also recorded higher temperatures than all of Europe and South America have ever recorded. Before the 2021 heat wave occurred, Lytton, along with the nearby community of Lillooet, shared the second-highest temperature ever recorded in Canada. On July 16 and 17, 1941, the temperature reached a then-record on both days in both communities. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Lytton was on January 18, 1950. While reporting on the new records in 2021,
Global News Global News is the news and Current affairs (news format), current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as ...
noted that the official Environment and Climate Change Canada weather station is located in the shade and is about cooler than the rest of the village. Hot summer temperatures are made more tolerable by low humidity. The heat can be intense under usually clear skies and sunlight, or by the valley's radiant slopes. Forest fires are not uncommon during the summer. Lytton's climate is also characterised by relatively short and mild winters (although average monthly temperatures in December and January are just below freezing), with Pacific maritime influence during the winter ensuring thick cloud cover much of the time. Cold snaps originating from arctic outflow occur from time to time, but tend to be short-lived, and mountains to the north usually block extreme cold from penetrating the Fraser Canyon. Lytton receives of annual precipitation on average, making it much drier than communities to the south but certainly wetter than some of the driest spots in the BC interior, such as Ashcroft,
Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North Thompson River, North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the ad ...
, Spences Bridge, and Osoyoos. It has the driest summers in the interior of British Columbia and one of the driest summers of all places in Canada. Maximum precipitation occurs in the cooler months, with late autumn and early winter constituting the wettest time of the year.


Vegetation

Open coniferous forests 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 ...
and ponderosa pine dominate the slopes around Lytton. Some black cottonwood is scattered among the conifers.
Bunchgrass Tussock grasses or bunch grasses are a group of grass species in the family Poaceae. They usually grow as singular plants in clumps, tufts, hummocks, or bunches, rather than forming a sod or lawn, in meadows, grasslands, and prairies. As perennia ...
dominates the forest floor. Non-native trees cultivated in Lytton include black locust and Manitoba Maple.


Transportation

Lytton lies on the
Trans-Canada Highway The Trans-Canada Highway (Canadian French, 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 A ...
as well as both the
Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway () , 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 Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...
and Canadian National Railways. The Canadian National Railway crosses both the Fraser and Thompson Rivers on two large steel bridges at Lytton. Via the Trans-Canada, Lytton is approximately from the city of Vancouver, north of
Hope Hope is an optimistic state of mind that is based on an expectation of positive outcomes with respect to events and circumstances in one's own life, or the world at large. As a verb, Merriam-Webster defines ''hope'' as "to expect with confid ...
, and south of Cache Creek and Ashcroft. Highway 12 runs north from Lytton to Lillooet, connecting there to Highway 99, which leads southwest to Pemberton and Whistler and beyond to Vancouver, and northeast to its terminus at Lower Hat Creek (Carquile) at a junction with Highway 97 just north of Cache Creek. The Lytton Ferry, a free reaction ferry, crosses the Fraser River at Lytton. On the river's west side are
Indian reserve In Canada, an Indian reserve () or First Nations reserve () is defined by the '' Indian Act'' as a "tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band." ...
communities of the
Lytton First Nation The Lytton First Nation (), a First Nations in Canada, First Nations band government, has its headquarters at Lytton, British Columbia, Lytton in the Fraser Canyon region of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the largest of all Nlaka ...
and the Stein Valley Nlaka'pamux Heritage Park via trails from the confluence of the Stein River with the Fraser. From the ferry, a route known as the West Side Road leads through the Nesikep and Texas Creek areas to Lillooet and BC Highway 99; the route south from the ferry is much more difficult but leads to North Bend- Boston Bar. When the ferry is out of service because of ice or low water levels on the Fraser River, pedestrian access is available via a walkway on the Canadian National Railway bridge crossing the river.
Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...
's
Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...
and the Rocky Mountaineer pass through Lytton but do not make any stops. Via Rail's closest stops are Ashcroft, to the north, and North Bend/ Boston Bar, to the south.


Municipal

The mayor of Lytton is Denise O'Connor, who was first elected in the 2022 municipal election. Lytton is a corporate entity created under the Community Charter. Elections for Village Council are held every four years. The current Council comprises the following members: *Mayor Denise O'Connor *Councillor Nonie McCann *Councillor Jessoa Lightfoot *Councillor Melissa Michell *Councillor Jen Thoss


Provincial

Originally part of the Lillooet provincial riding, then part of Yale-Lillooet, Lytton is now in the provincial riding of Fraser-Nicola, represented by Jackie Tegart of BC United, who first won in the 2013 election.


Federal

Federally, the town is in the riding of Mission—Matsqui—Fraser Canyon and is currently represented by Brad Vis of the
Conservative Party of Canada The Conservative Party of Canada (CPC; , ), sometimes referred to as the Tories, is a Government of Canada, federal List of political parties in Canada, political party in Canada. It was formed in 2003 by the merger of the two main Right-wing ...
, who was first elected in the 2019 elections.


Economy

The single main employer in the village produced forestry products and was forced to close because of market uncertainties in 2007. Lytton is the self-proclaimed " River Rafting Capital of Canada". A provincial campsite, Skihist Provincial Park, adjacent to the Trans-Canada Highway six kilometres north of the village, has space for tenting as well as RVs and enjoys one of the few views available of Skihist Mountain, the highest summit of the Lillooet Ranges, across the Fraser to the west of Lytton. The privately run Jade Springs Restaurant, also east of the village on the Trans-Canada, burned down in the fire of June 2021.


Education

School District 74 operated Lytton Elementary School which was lost in 2021 Lytton Creek Wildfire. and Kumsheen Secondary School (Kumsheen ShchEma-meet School). Stein Valley Nlakapamux School is a registered member with the B.C. First Nations Schools Association. The School is mandated to provide instruction and courses approved by the B.C. Ministry of Education and BC Independent Schools.


Notable residents

* Ilona Verley, Canadian-American drag queen


See also

* List of francophone communities in British Columbia


References


External links


lytton.ca
* {{authority control Villages in British Columbia Populated places in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District Populated places on the Fraser River Thompson Country Fraser Canyon Populated places established in 1858 1858 establishments in the British Empire