Rock Creek is a settlement in the

Boundary Country The Boundary Country is a historical designation for a district in southern British Columbia lying, as its name suggests, along the boundary between Canada and the United States. It lies to the east of the southern Okanagan Valley and to the west ...

region of south central

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 unincorporated settlement is mostly on the southwest side of the Kettle River at the confluence with Rock Creek. The place lies at the junction of BC Highway 33 (about south of

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan, Okanagan Valley in the British Columbia Interior, southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna ...

), and BC Highway 3 (about west of Greenwood and east of

Osoyoos Osoyoos (, ) is the southernmost town in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia between Penticton and Omak. The town is north of the United States border in the Washington State and is adjacent to the Osoyoos Indian reserve. The origin of ...

Gold rush

In 1859, gold discovered along the creek (after which the community is named) triggered the

placer mining Placer mining () is the mining of stream bed deposits for minerals. This may be done by open-pit mining or by various surface excavating equipment or tunneling equipment. Placer mining is frequently used for precious metal deposits (particularly ...

of the Rock Creek Gold Rush. By the following year, many substantial log buildings housed stores and saloons that created the earliest community in the Boundary. However, the prospectors' tents were strung out along the creek beyond what is now Rock Creek Canyon Bridge ( west), the most dramatic span on the

Crowsnest Highway The Crowsnest Highway is an east-west highway in British Columbia and Alberta, Canada. It stretches across the southern portions of both provinces, from Hope, British Columbia to Medicine Hat, Alberta, providing the shortest highway connection ...

. To collect taxes on imports and royalties on exported gold,

William George Cox William George Cox (ca. 1821 – 6 October 1878) was Gold Commissioner for the Cariboo and Boundary Country, Boundary Districts in the Colony of British Columbia (1858–1866), Colony of British Columbia, Canada during the Rock Creek Gold Rus ...

was appointed gold commissioner and customs agent, and instructed to proceed to Rock Creek. In the interim,

John Carmichael Haynes John Carmichael Haynes (July 6, 1831 – July 6, 1888) was an Irish-born rancher, judge and public servant in British Columbia. He was born in Landscape, County Cork, the son of Jonas Haynes and Hester Carmichael, and came to Victoria, Britis ...

, his deputy, arrived in October 1860 to establish the first customs post outside the colonial capital of

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the cap ...

Gold bust

A reliable road from the coast was needed. At the time, the

Dewdney Trail The Dewdney Trail is a trail in British Columbia, Canada, that served as a major thoroughfare in mid-19th century British Columbia. The trail was a critical factor in the development and strengthening of the newly established British colony of Br ...

reached as far the

Similkameen Valley Similkameen may refer to: * Similkameen, a former community in British Columbia, Canada * Similkameen City, British Columbia, a former community in British Columbia, Canada * Similkameen Country or Similkameen District, or "the Similkameen", a ...

. In January 1861, Dewdney and Moberly won the £300/mile contract to extend their pack trail to Rock Creek. By the time they entered their destination that August, the boom was over, the prospectors gone, and most of the 23 permanent buildings abandoned. In March 1862, Cox was re-assigned to the Cariboo district and Haynes proceeded to close down the offices. In 1886 and 1900, high-pressure hoses were used for a few years to dislodge gold, but neither attempt proved profitable. Only four lots sold of a government townsite surveyed to the east in 1898. The Madge family operated a hotel from 1898.

Railway era

The westward construction of the

Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway The Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway (VV&E) was a railway line proposed to connect Greater Vancouver, Metro Vancouver with the Kootenays, in Canada. After acquisition by the Great Northern Railway (U.S.), Great Northern Railway (GN), most ...

(VV& E), which followed Myers Creek a couple of miles south during 1905, offered no benefit to the settlement. In 1911, the westward advance of the Kettle Valley Railway passed on the northeast side of the river. A bridge soon connected to the station that was west of Kettle Valley, and south of Zamora. The final passenger train ran in 1964. The line westward closed to all traffic in 1973, and eastward in 1979.

Lode mining & quarrying

Immediately adjacent to the lower few kilometres of Highway 33 were the Riverside and Imperial Mines, where claims began in the late 1890s. The latter were last worked for their gold and silver ores in 1926. During the 1970s much of the area was prospected for Uranium with no apparent success. A joint venture between Rock Creek Resources and Silver Falls Resources surveyed these sites in 1988, noting the presence of greenstone and copper. Since 1972, several operators have quarried dolomite for crushing into sparkling white gravel for agricultural, landscaping and decorative purposes.

Commerce

Businesses comprise a café, two gas stations, a hotel, a motel, two souvenir shops and a campground. The hotel vies with the Leland Hotel in Nakusp for the title of the oldest operating hostelry in BC. The small settlement remains important as a regional service centre for the farming and mining communities of the Boundary Country and the Monashee Country, which lies northward. It is the effective base town for Mount Baldy Ski Area, which lies to its northwest and overlooks the

Okanagan Valley The Okanagan ( ), also called the Okanagan Valley and sometimes the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of t ...

town of

Oliver Oliver may refer to: Arts, entertainment and literature Books * ''Oliver the Western Engine'', volume 24 in ''The Railway Series'' by Rev. W. Awdry * ''Oliver Twist'', a novel by Charles Dickens Fictional characters * Ariadne Oliver ...

Riverside

Riverside existed a mile away, but it is unclear when that community maintained a separate identity. By 1960, nearly all the buildings were gone.

Television

Rock Creek was featured on the historical television documentary series ''

Gold Trails and Ghost Towns ''Gold Trails and Ghost Towns'' is a Television in Canada, Canadian historical documentary show, created and produced by television station CHBC-DT, CHBC-TV in Kelowna, British Columbia for Canadian Broadcast syndication, syndication and hosted b ...

'', Season 3, Episode 8.

References

{{reflist Designated places in British Columbia Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Populated places in the Boundary Country British Columbia gold rushes Mining communities in British Columbia