Riondel, British Columbia

Riondel is on the eastern shore of Kootenay Lake in the Kootenays region of southeastern British Columbia. The village of approximately 266 people is on Riondel Road about north of Kootenay Bay, the Kootenay Lake ferry eastern terminal. The latter is about by road north of Creston and by road and lake ferry northeast of Nelson.

History

Explorers

The Kutenai (Ktunaxa) showed Archibald McDonald of the Hudson's Bay Company the huge lead outcrop in 1844. However, the estimated to the mouth of the Columbia River made the deposits worthless. By the 1880s, railroads advancing across the United States, and steamboats travelling up the rivers into British Columbia, would change the economics.

Sproule and Hendryx

In 1882, Robert Evan (Bob) Sproule staked four claims along the Riondel Peninsula, which included the Bluebell Mine. In 1884, Sproule sold an interest in the mine to Dr. Wilbur A. Hendryx, but forfeited an interest to George Jennings Ainsworth to settle a partner's debt. In 1886, Sproule was sent to the gallows and hanged for murdering Thomas Hammill over a claim dispute from years earlier. At this time, on buying out the Ainsworth interests, the mine ownership passed wholly to Hendryx's Kootenay Mining and Smelting Company (KM&S). The settlement was known as Hendryx or Hendryx Camp. When the ineffective Pilot Bay smelter closed in 1896, the Hendryx settlement was renamed the Blue Bell Camp.

Canadian Metal Company

In 1905, the Canadian Metal Company purchased the mine. The next year, the steamboat hulks containing dormitories were replaced by married men's cottages and single men's bunkhouses. In 1907, the settlement was renamed Riondel after Count Edouard Riondel, the company president and French banker. Often mispronounced, the correct way is ''Ree-on-del'' with the accent very slightly on the first syllable. The concentrator, operational from 1908, proved effective. When new pumping equipment failed to keep pace with flooding at the lower levels, the mine was abandoned in 1921.

Fowler and Eastman

In 1924, engineer and entrepreneur, S.S. Fowler, with partner B.L. Eastman, obtained some financial backing from Canadian Pacific Railway's Consolidated Mining and Smelting (CM&S and now Teck Resources) subsidiary to reopen the operation. Able to sufficiently dewater the mine, extraction resumed. After concentrating the zinc-rich lead ore using a methodology determined by the limited electricity supply, the product went to the Trail smelter. To raise further capital, the venture was incorporated in 1929 as the Blue Bell Mines Limited, but the October stock market crash financially ruined the partners.

Consolidated Mining and Smelting

The major creditor, CM&S assumed ownership, leaving the mine idle until after World War II. The Riondel population, formerly stable at around 70 people, dropped to 22 by 1943. Beginning in 1950, the mine and the settlement were refurbished at a cost of $1.3 million, including a new smelter. Hydroelectricity plants across the lake on the Kootenay River replaced local generators for the electricity supply. The mine operated from 1952 until exhausted in 1971. Having supported a population of 300, it was the longest active mine in the province. The site was abandoned four years later.

Post-mining community

Most employees departed, but many older ones stayed. Riondel became a popular retirement community, at one time having more seniors per capital than any other postal code in Canada.

Today Riondel is a tidy village with streets, a lakeside campground, beach, community centre, playground, cable TV system, 9-hole golf course, grocery and liquor store, café, and pub. In April 2006, Telus connected Riondel with dial-up internet.

Demographics

As of the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Riondel had a population of 266 living in 140 of its 206 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 253. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

The median age of Riondel is 62, average age 55.2, compared with 42.8, and 43.1, for the province as a whole. Compared to the rest of the province the population is older with 42.6 per cent being 65 or older, while only 20.3 per cent of all British Columbians are in that age group.

In terms of language and ethnicity the community was fairly homogeneous with 92.4 per cent reporting English as their mother tongue, 1.89 per cent French, and 5.66 per cent reporting Slavic or German languages. There were no reported visible minorities or people with Indigenous ancestry. However, there was a small Indigenous population with 15 people reporting they were First Nations.

Services

Emergency Services

Riondel has a volunteer fire department as well as ambulance service, both on Fowler Street. Both are available at all times for emergencies.

Riondel Market

The Riondel Market, located at 1504 Eastman Avenue, is a small general store carrying, among other things, groceries, liquor, and camping supplies.

Postal Service

Sharing a building with the Riondel Market, the Riondel Post Office is part of Canada Post. It is closed on Saturdays and Sundays and closes daily from 1:00 P.M. to 1:30 P.M. for the lunch break.

Ro Neighbourhood Coffee

Ro Neighbourhood Coffee is a Christian coffee shop at 1508 Eastman Avenue, next to the Riondel Market. It was built by a group of Christians in 1959, and first became a coffee shop in 2022. It is currently owned by the Harbour at Riondel. It was closed in early 2024 and still awaits reopening.

Schooling

Public schooling is available in Crawford Bay. The Riondel Community Centre was once a school but is now a town complex.

Recreational activities

Hiking

*The Waterfront Trail follows of the lake shore from the south end of North Bay beach;
*Pebble Beach Trail, north of Riondel, leads from the Kootenay Lake East FS Road to a south-facing pebbled beach;
*The 15-minute Pilot Bay Lighthouse Trail, in the Pilot Bay Provincial Park, leads to an historic 1907 lighthouse;
*The one-hour Pilot Bay Marine Park Trail covers varying terrain along the lake shore;
*Plaid Lake Hiking Trail, near Crawford Bay, is a full-day hike to the alpine Plaid Lake on the west side of the Purcell Mountains;
*Duck Lakes Dykes Trail, near Sirdar, offers miles of almost level hiking through some of the richest waterfowl habitat in BC.

Golf

The two golf clubs are the 9-hole, Par 3 course at the Riondel Golf Club (on Galena Bay Wharf Road, 10 minutes from the Kootenay Lake ferry), and the 18-hole championship Kokanee Springs Golf Resort (in Crawford Bay).

Fishing

Kootenay Lake is well stocked with many species of fish, including kokanee (sockeye salmon), rainbow and cutthroat trout, Dolly Varden, burbot, and whitefish. The lake supports record-sized rainbow trout. The world's largest recorded kokanee, almost , was caught in Kootenay Lake. ''Kokanee'' (Kekeni) means 'red fish' in the Interior Salish languages of the Sinixt. It is the name given to the land-locked salmon that spawn in large numbers in Kokanee Creek in the late summer. The best fishing time is in the fall and winter months.

Camping

The private Riondel Campground is from the Riondel general store. It has 34 sites and is located next to North Beach. A second campground and RV park lies north of Riondel at Garland Bay.

Riondel Daze

During the weekend of the August Civic Holiday, Riondel hosts an annual celebration called Riondel Daze. The Historical Society of Riondel usually has its vintage ambulance, a 1949 Mercury, at the event. Other elements are a ball tournament with a hot dog stand, local music, and a stand-still parade.

Sundry

Other outdoor opportunities in Riondel include canoeing or kayaking the waters of Kootenay Lake (rentals available), swimming, wildlife and nature viewing, boating and sailing, horse-drawn adventures, and back country exploration. On Sundays, a youth group at the Riondel Recreation Centre plays floor hockey and other games such as pool and air hockey; they also have movies available.

Riondel Community Centre

The Riondel Community Centre, in a former school, has an auditorium for community events. The centre houses the Riondel Art Club, the Riondel Community Association, the Riondel Commission of Management, Riondel Community Library, and the Historical Society. A children's playground is outside.

Footnotes

References

Community of RiondelKootenay Lake Region

Further reading

* ''Bluebell Memories'' by A. Terry Turner
* ''Impressions of the Past'' by A. Terry Turner
* ''A Recollection of Moments: Riondel 1907-2007'' by Wendy M E Scott

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Populated places in the Regional District of Central Kootenay
Populated places in the West Kootenay
Designated places in British Columbia