Nelson is a city located in the
Selkirk Mountains
The Selkirk Mountains are a mountain range spanning the northern portion of the Idaho Panhandle, eastern Washington, and southeastern British Columbia which are part of a larger grouping of mountains, the Columbia Mountains. They begin at Mic ...
on the West Arm of
Kootenay Lake in the
Southern Interior of
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. The city is known for its collection of restored heritage buildings that date back to a regional
silver rush in 1886. Nelson is one of the three cities forming the commercial and population core of the
West Kootenay region, the others being
Castlegar and
Trail
A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...
. The city is the seat of the
Regional District of Central Kootenay
The Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK) is a regional district in the province of British Columbia, Canada. As of the 2016 census, the population was 59,517. The area is 22,130.72 square kilometres. The administrative centre is locat ...
. It is represented in the
provincial legislature by the riding of
Nelson-Creston
Kootenay Central is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.
It made its first appearance under the name Nelson-Creston in the general election of 1933 following a redistribution of the earli ...
, and in the
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...
by the riding of
Kootenay—Columbia.
History
Founding
The city of Nelson is located in the western Kootenay region of British Columbia.
Gold and silver were discovered in the area in 1867. The subsequent discovery of silver at Toad Mountain in 1886 led to a rapid expansion of the town's population, resulting in incorporation in 1897.
To support the growing community, two railways were constructed to pass through Nelson, positioning the town as a transportation and distribution hub. Due to its proximity to major transportation corridors, Nelson developed into a supply center for local mining activities and soon became the region’s primary transportation and distribution center.
Nelson was named in 1888 after
Hugh Nelson, who was the Lieutenant-Governor of British Columbia at the time.
Early 20th century
Francis Rattenbury, an architect most noted in
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 ...
for the
Parliament Buildings in Victoria, the
Vancouver Provincial Courthouse, and the
second Hotel Vancouver, designed chateau-style civic buildings made of granite, which stand today. By the 1900s, Nelson boasted several fine hotels, a
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 ...
store and an electric
streetcar
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
system. The local
forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...
and
mining
Mining is the Resource extraction, extraction of valuable geological materials and minerals from the surface of the Earth. Mining is required to obtain most materials that cannot be grown through agriculture, agricultural processes, or feasib ...
industries were well established.
The town built its own
hydroelectric
Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...
generating system. English immigrants planted lakeside orchards, and
Doukhobors from Russia, sponsored by
Tolstoy
Count Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy Tolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; ,Throughout Tolstoy's whole life, his name was written as using pre-reform Russian orthography. ; ), usually referr ...
and the
Quakers
Quakers are people who belong to the Religious Society of Friends, a historically Protestantism, Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations. Members refer to each other as Friends after in the Bible, and originally ...
, tilled the valley benchlands. The Doukhobor museum is located nearby, close to the neighbouring town of Castlegar.
From 1917-1920 Nelson used
Single Transferable Vote
The single transferable vote (STV) or proportional-ranked choice voting (P-RCV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which each voter casts a single vote in the form of a ranked ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vot ...
(STV), a form of proportional representation, to elect its councillors. Councillors were elected in one at-large district. Each voter casts just a single vote using a ranked transferable ballot.
During the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, many American
draft evaders settled in Nelson and the surrounding area. This influx of liberal and mostly educated young people significantly impacted the area's cultural and political demographics.
Nelson's mountainous geography kept growth confined to the narrow valley bottom, except for specific hillside structures such as the local High School and the former
Notre Dame University College (NDU) campus. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, when more prosperous cities were tearing down and rebuilding their downtowns to the design of the time, Nelson merchants 'modernized' their buildings with aluminum siding.
Baker Street
In the early 1980s, Nelson suffered a devastating economic downturn when the local Kootenay Forest Products sawmill was closed. Downtown merchants were already suffering from the opening of a large, regional shopping centre on Nelson's central waterfront, the Chahko Mika Mall. At the time, Victoria and Vancouver were experimenting with historical restorations of their oldest areas, with some success. To save downtown and Baker Street from blight, Nelson quickly followed suit, stripping aluminum facades and restoring the buildings to their original brilliance. Local designer Bob Inwood, one of Nelson's many American immigrants, played a significant role as a consultant. By 1985, Baker Street was completely transformed. Affirmation of the street's success came in 1986 when
Steve Martin
Stephen Glenn Martin (born August 14, 1945) is an American comedian, actor, writer, producer, and musician. Known for Steve Martin filmography, his work in comedy films, television, and #Discography, recording, he has received List of awards a ...
chose to produce his feature film ''
Roxanne'' primarily in Nelson, using the local fire hall as a primary set and many historic locations for others. More broadly, the transformation marked the beginning of Nelson's ongoing transition from a resource-based town to an arts and tourism town. A walk down Baker Street through the Historic District is now one of Nelson's promoted visitor
activities.
Geography
Climate
Nelson has a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers, and cold ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
''Dfb'') with four distinct seasons. Winters are cold and snowy, while summers are warm and drier, with cool temperatures during the night.
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 ...
, Nelson had a population of 11,106 living in 4,948 of its 5,314 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 10,572. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
Nelson's poverty rate has been ascertained to be more than twice the provincial and national averages.
Ethnicity
Religion
According to the
2021 census, religious groups in Nelson included:
*
Irreligion
Irreligion is the absence or rejection of religious beliefs or practices. It encompasses a wide range of viewpoints drawn from various philosophical and intellectual perspectives, including atheism, agnosticism, religious skepticism, ...
(7,415 persons or 69.1%)
*
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
(2,675 persons or 24.9%)
*
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
(150 persons or 1.4%)
*
Judaism
Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...
(115 persons or 1.1%)
*
Sikhism
Sikhism is an Indian religion and Indian philosophy, philosophy that originated in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent around the end of the 15th century CE. It is one of the most recently founded major religious groups, major religio ...
(70 persons or 0.7%)
*
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
(65 persons or 0.6%)
*
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
(20 persons or 0.2%)
*
Indigenous Spirituality (10 persons or 0.1%)
Economy
The economy of Nelson and the surrounding area has historically been heavily based on forestry and other extractive industries. Though less relevant in recent years this sector still represents a significant portion of the local economy. Nelson is also a provincial administrative center for the Kootenays, with several regional and district offices of the provincial, and federal governments located in Nelson. Tourism has been of growing importance to the city.
Many craftspeople live in the Nelson region, and as such the city’s retail sector includes outlets for sales of local crafts.
In recent decades, Nelson and its region had been noted for illegal marijuana production, with ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' reporting in 2010 that:
Nelson has several retail outlets for natural foods, including a year-round market specializing in these products. A local news source claimed the Kootenay Country Co-op is "the largest independent member-owned natural food store in Canada and a respected player nationally in organic retail circles." The
Save-On-Foods in Nelson is that company's leading store for organic and natural foods.
The
Nelson Brewing Company is a
microbrewery
Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...
in Nelson.
Arts and culture
Nelson is noted as a cultural centre.
Nelson has benefited from art education opportunities for many decades. High-school-level art classes had always existed. Then, in 1957-58 an independent Nelson School of Art began to offer two-week programs in a provisional fashion. In 1960 NSA progressed to offering diploma programs in 1960; with an expanded program in 1961, its name was changed to Kootenay School of Art. It was recognized as British Columbia's first art school. In 1969, the School's studio training was relocated into the city's Notre Dame University campus. In 1972, direct support from the province for its programs having ended, the School was steered into a ''trial'' merger with Selkirk College. In 1974 the School, at that point fully merged into Selkirk College, affiliated with Eastern Washington State College as well, to offer graduate internships.
Notre Dame University closed in 1977, and the Kootenay School of Art with it.
It was succeeded in 1979 by offerings of the University of Victoria-sponsored David Thompson University Centre in buildings formerly accommodating Notre Dame. In 1991, an independent institution with an emphasis on fine crafts, Kootenay School of the Arts, was founded. In a few years, the School secured possession of a spacious stone heritage building. In 2006, remaining in its own building, the School was absorbed by the region's Selkirk College as a department, renamed Kootenay Studio Arts. In addition, Selkirk College offers another respected department, its School of Music & Media, in the former Notre Dame buildings.
The independent artists-run Oxygen Art Centre was developed by the Nelson Fine Art Centre Society (founded in 2002) by former writing and visual art faculty from the Kootenay School of the Arts. In 2005, the Society opened the Oxygen Art Centre in downtown Nelson, offering classes, exhibitions, and residencies. The Nelson Museum, Archives & Gallery provides gallery space for travelling exhibitions, and work by some of the region's artists.
Attractions
In 1998, Nelson was highlighted as the "Number One Small Town Arts Community in Canada" by the publisher of The 100 Best Small Arts Towns in America,
[Villani, John 1998 100 Best Small Art Towns In America. Emeryville, Calif: Avalon Travel Publishers.] and is home to a large and diverse artisan community.
The annual Artwalk, a display of artwork at various venues around town, features local talent where trippers and artwalkers (as the locals call them) can get an up close and personal look at the studios and creative processes of local artisans. July, August, and September mark three months of exhibitions throughout the downtown core in a variety of galleries and local businesses. Each month has a separate grand opening (usually the first Friday evening of the month), which includes refreshments, musicians, panhandlers, and artwork for locals and visitors to enjoy as they stroll through downtown Nelson.

The Nelson Farmers Market located at Cottonwood Falls Park takes place every Saturday from May through October. The Downtown Farmers Market happens on Baker Street every Wednesday from June through September. Market Night, a lively nighttime street market in the heart of Nelson's downtown, happens twice each summer. The markets all offer regional farm produce, delicious foods, and a variety of locally hand-crafted products.
Two local
hiking
A hike is a long, vigorous walk, usually on trails or footpaths in the countryside. Walking for pleasure developed in Europe during the eighteenth century. Long hikes as part of a religious pilgrimage have existed for a much longer time.
"Hi ...
trails are popular. The Pulpit Rock Trail offers a short but somewhat challenging hike that ends with a view of the city. After Pulpit Rock, the trail continues up the spine of Elephant Mountain (as the locals call it) to more postcard views and eventually to the radio towers visible everywhere in the city. Hikers venturing beyond Pulpit Rock should have essential wilderness gear and exercise common sense. Public access to the Pulpit Rock trail has been restored with the opening, in the spring of 2009, of a new access point several hundred metres west of the old trailhead, which was on private land.
In the winter,
skiing
Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow for basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the International S ...
and
snowboarding
Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralym ...
are Nelson's primary outdoor activities. Thirty minutes south of town is the
Whitewater Ski Resort, which provides access (via one triple chairlift, one double chairlift, one quad chairlift, and a handle tow) to of beginner to advanced terrain. The resort also provides access to hundreds of kilometres of off-piste skiing and back-country touring. In 2012, Nelson and Rossland, a small city southwest of Nelson, were jointly voted the best ski locales in North America by the readers of California-based ''Powder'' magazine.
Mountain biking
Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...
is part of the local culture, and Nelson offers MTB-oriented trails for a variety of experience levels.
Rock climbing
Rock climbing is a climbing sports discipline that involves ascending climbing routes, routes consisting of natural rock in an outdoor environment, or on artificial resin climbing walls in a mostly indoor environment. Routes are documented in c ...
is also a popular summer activity. Kootenay Crag, Hall Siding, Grohman Narrows, and CIC Bluffs are popular city crags. Slocan Bluffs and Kinnaird are in nearby Slocan City and Castlegar. 2003 saw
bouldering
Bouldering is a form of rock climbing that is performed on small rock formations or Climbing wall, artificial rock walls without the use of ropes or Climbing harness, harnesses. While bouldering can be done without any equipment, most climbers ...
take off in Nelson, with extensive new development of bouldering areas in Grohman Narrows and nearby Robson.
Nelson is also located close to
Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park.
On January 13, 2007, Nelson was the broadcast location for the annual ''
Hockey Day in Canada'' special.
Sports
Infrastructure
Transportation
Highways
3A and
6 pass through Nelson, while a scheduled commercial airline service is available at the
West Kootenay Regional Airport in Castlegar, approximately southwest of the city.
Trail Airport is another nearby airport, while
Nelson Airport is several blocks away from downtown Nelson. Public transit in Nelson is provided by the
West Kootenay Transit System, which runs several routes within the city and to neighbouring communities.
Both Level 2 and Level 3 (DC fast-charging)
electric vehicle
An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...
charging stations
A charging station, also known as a charge point, chargepoint, or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), is a power supply device that supplies electrical power for recharging plug-in electric vehicles (including battery electric vehicle ...
have been installed in the city. A
carsharing
Carsharing or car sharing (AU, NZ, CA, TH, & US) or car clubs (UK) is a model of car rental where people rent cars for short periods of time, often by the hour. It differs from traditional car rental in that the owners of the cars are often pri ...
service is available in the town through the Kootenay Carshare Co-operative.
There is a
lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
pier
A pier is a raised structure that rises above a body of water and usually juts out from its shore, typically supported by piling, piles or column, pillars, and provides above-water access to offshore areas. Frequent pier uses include fishing, b ...
designed by Matthew Stanley in Nelson. The pier
symbolizes the connection betweeen the city and the lake. (see
Nelson Pier for more information).
Nelson is served by the freight-only
Kootenay Valley Railway, an internal business unit of 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 ...
. Nelson is the historic headquarters of the
CPR Kootenay Division, serving as the meeting point of the
CPR Boundary subdivision running towards
Castlegar, BC, and the
CPR Nelson subdivision running towards Cranbrook.
Education
School District 8 Kootenay Lake operates public schools in Nelson and surrounding communities.
Schools include Nelson Christian Community School (NCCS, K-Gr.8) and St. Joseph's Catholic School.
The ''
Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britannique'' operates one French-language school: ''école des Sentiers-alpins''.
[Carte des écoles]
." '' Conseil scolaire francophone de la Colombie-Britanique''. Retrieved on 22 January 2015.
Nelson is home to the Tenth Street and Silver King campuses of
Selkirk College, which absorbed Kootenay School of the Arts as a department and was renamed Kootenay Studio Arts.
Kootenay Columbia College of Integrative Health Sciences has three campuses on Baker Street in Nelson.
Media
Radio
*
CJLY-FM 93.5 (Kootenay Co-op Radio)
*
CBYN-FM 98.7 (
CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent o ...
; repeats
CBTK-FM Kelowna)
*
CHNV-FM 103.5 ("The Bridge")
*
CKKC-FM 106.9 ("
EZ Rock")
Print
The ''
Nelson Daily News'' was a local newspaper that began publishing in 1902. In 2010, it was announced the paper would shut down following a final edition to be published on July 16, 2010.
[ ] The closure occurred shortly after the ''Nelson Daily News acquisition by
Black Press
Black Press Group Ltd. (BPG) is a Canadian commercial printer and newspaper publisher founded in 1975 by David Holmes Black. Based in Surrey, British Columbia, it was previously owned by the publisher of ''Toronto Star'' ( Torstar, 19.35%) and B ...
, which purchased the paper from
Glacier Media Inc.
Black Press owns the ''Nelson Star,'' which is now published weekly.
Notable people
*
Greg Adams — former professional hockey player
*
Sarah Allen — actress
*
Edward Applewhaite — politician
*
Nancy Argenta — soprano singer
*
Beth – drag queen
*
Selwyn G. Blaylock — mining official
*
Robbie Bourdon — freeride mountain biker
*
Margaret Catley-Carlson — civil servant
*
Anne DeGrace — writer and illustrator
*
Alana DeLong — politician
*
Syd Desireau — hockey player
*
Benno Friesen — politician, professor
*
Danny Gare
Daniel Mirl Gare (born May 14, 1954) is a Canadians, Canadian broadcaster, ice hockey coach and former National Hockey League (NHL) player, most notably of the Buffalo Sabres. During a 13-year professional career, Gare also played for the Detroit ...
— former professional hockey player and coach
*
James E. Gill — geologist, engineer
*
Ona Grauer — actress
*
Robert Hampton Gray — naval officer and pilot
*
John Greyson — director and writer
*
Ted Hargreaves — professional hockey player and coach
*
Lillian Hickey — All-American Girls Professional Baseball League player
*
John Houston — newspaper editor and politician
*
Levi William Humphrey
Levi William Humphrey (29 April 1881 – 19 September 1947) was a Progressive party member of the House of Commons of Canada. He was born in Monson, Maine, United States and became a locomotive engineer for Canadian Pacific Railways.
Hum ...
— politician
*
Tim Hus — country and folk singer
*
Martin Michael Johnson — bishop
*
Lionel Kearns — poet and teacher
*
Geoff Kinrade — professional hockey player
*
Laurelee Kopeck — field hockey player
*
Patrick Lane — poet
*
Mike Laughton — professional hockey player
*
Edna Malone — dancer
*
Thomas Middleditch
Thomas Steven Middleditch (born March 10, 1982) is a Canadian actor. He is known for his role as Richard Hendricks in the HBO series ''Silicon Valley'' (2014–2019), earning a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in ...
— actor, writer
*
Kliph Nesteroff - writer
*
John Newlove — poet
*
Frederick Niven - writer
*
Bri Price — musician
*
Pat Price — professional hockey player
*
Sandy Santori — politician
*
Adham Shaikh — composer, sound designer
*
Kurt Sorge — freeride mountain biker
*
Norman Symonds — musician
*
Daniel C. Van Norman
Daniel C. Van Norman (August 17, 1815 - June 24, 1886) was a Canadian educator, clergyman, and school founder, who later moved to New York City.
Early life and education
Daniel Cummings Van Norman was born in Nelson, British Columbia, Nelson, P ...
— educator, clergyman, school founder
*
Tom Velisek — snowboarder
*
Padma Viswanathan — playwright
*
Jack Wright — tennis player
See also
*
List of francophone communities in British Columbia
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{authority control
Cities in British Columbia
Mining communities in British Columbia