New Denver

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. 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. One of nine West Kootenay internment centres for Japanese Canadians during World War II (following removal from the BC Coast), by 1942 the camp held 1,505 Japanese Canadians, 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 is dedicated to the history of the 27,000 interned Japanese Canadians, and is a National Historic Site. For decades Freedomites 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. 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 connecting Goat Range and Kokanee Provincial Parks and is also prime grizzly…