New Denver is a village in the Central Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada at the mouth of Carpenter Creek, on the east shore of

Slocan Lake Slocan Lake is a lake in the Slocan Valley of the West Kootenay region of the Southeastern Interior of British Columbia, Canada. With an area of it has a maximum depth of . It is fed by Bonanza Creek and drained by the Slocan River. In 1947 ...

, in the

West Kootenay The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootena ...

region of southeastern

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 ...

. The village is west of Kaslo on Highway 31A, and southeast of Nakusp and northeast of Slocan on Highway 6.

Name origin

In 1892, the town was mostly called Slocan City or Slocan for about a month, Eldorado City or Eldorado for about seven months, and New Denver since. However, these names were used interchangeably for months. Furthermore, the place may have been known as Carpenter Creek townsite after its founding in 1891. Appearing about the same time as the Slocan community at the foot of the lake, it is unclear why the latter prevailed in keeping the name. Until the government survey in mid 1892, the place was a squatters camp for miners. Named for

El Dorado El Dorado () is a mythical city of gold supposedly located somewhere in South America. The king of this city was said to be so rich that he would cover himself from head to foot in gold dust – either daily or on certain ceremonial occasions � ...

, the legendary city of gold, the surrounding mines were hoped to bring comparable prosperity. On discovering the mines were silver deposits, the name changed to reflect the famed silver mines of

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

History

New Denver was an early service center for mines and the nearby mining towns. It could be reached by boat, and a stagecoach ran every two days to Nakusp, and every four days to

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

. In 1895, Denver Canyon became a stop on the former Nakusp and Slocan Railway. The settlement was incorporated as a village in 1929. After the decline in mining, forestry became the economic base, and tourism in more recent times.

Japanese internment during World War II

One of nine West Kootenay

internment Internment is the imprisonment of people, commonly in large groups, without Criminal charge, charges or Indictment, intent to file charges. The term is especially used for the confinement "of enemy citizens in wartime or of terrorism suspects ...

centres for

Japanese Canadian are Canadians, Canadian citizens of Japanese people, Japanese ancestry. Japanese Canadians are mostly concentrated in Western Canada, especially in the province of Japanese Canadians in British Columbia, British Columbia, which hosts the largest ...

s during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

(following removal from the BC Coast), by 1942 the camp held 1,505

s, who built 275 shacks in a fruit grove known as the "Orchard." Other internment centres in the Slocan region were nearby at Slocan City, Lemon Creek, Rosebery, Kaslo and Sandon. New Denver's

Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre is a museum that preserves and interprets one of ten Canadian concentration camps where more than 27,000 Japanese Canadians were incarcerated by the Canadian government during and after World War II (1942 to 1 ...

is dedicated to the history of the 27,000 interned Japanese Canadians, and is a National Historic Site.

Doukhobor residential school

For decades

Freedomites The Freedomite movement split-off from the Doukhobors, a community of Spiritual Christians who began a mass migration from Russia to Canada in 1898. The Freedomite movement first appeared in 1902 in what is now Saskatchewan, and later most moved ...

refused to send their Doukhobor children to school. After multiple warnings, the government forcibly removed such children from their families. Operating 1953–1959, about 170 children, aged 7–15, passed through the New Denver facility but attended the public school. Although parents were allowed twice-monthly visits, most chose instead to speak to their children through the wire fence.

Zincton resort controversy

In May 2020, New Denver resident David Harley, owner of Valhalla Pure Outfitters, proposed building a 55-acre "world-class, all-season, backcountry-oriented" resort called Zincton between New Denver and Kaslo. Those promoting Zincton claim the resort will create jobs and do much to remedy economic and social decline in the area. The proposed site is in a critical

wildlife corridor A wildlife corridor, also known as a habitat corridor, or green corridor, is a designated area habitat (ecology), that connects wildlife populations that have been separated by human activities or structures, such as development, roads, or land ...

connecting Goat Range and Kokanee Provincial Parks and is also prime grizzly bear habitat; opponents fear the resort's negative ecological impact. Of the 3000 emailed comments received by British Columbia's Ministry of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development regarding Zincton, 2300 opposed building the resort.

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 ...

, New Denver had a population of 487 living in 248 of its 304 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 473. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Communications

The town is notable for its resistance to mobile phones. In a 2008 referendum, many citizens voted against the introduction of cellular telephone service. Despite this, on 20 July 2010, Telus Canada began installation of a cell phone facility in the heart of the village, with many citizens peacefully protesting the installation.

Climate

Flora and fauna

2019 saw a drastic increase in New Denver's native roof rat population. The Norwegian rat was introduced to the area the same year and is thought to have arrived by transport truck from other regions. Council members blamed the infestation on local gardening and composting practices.

Notable people

Aubrey Nealon Aubrey Nealon (born 1971 in New Denver, British Columbia) is a Canadian film and television director, producer and writer, most noted as the creator and showrunner of the CTV drama series ''Cardinal''. Nealon began his career as a teen actor, wit ...

(born 1971), film and television director, producer and writer * David Suzuki, Canadian geneticist, broadcaster and author, was among those interned here during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

References

External links

* * {{authority control Doukhobors Mining communities in British Columbia Populated places in the Slocan Villages in British Columbia World War II internment camps in Canada