Christina Lake, British Columbia
Coordinates: 49°02′35″N 118°12′30″W / 49.04306°N 118.20833°W
| Christina Lake, British Columbia | |
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| — Unincorporated — | |
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| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  British Columbia |
| Regional District | Kootenay Boundary |
| Population (2006) | |
| • Total | 986 |
| [1] | |
| Time zone | PST (UTC−8) |
| • Summer (DST) | PDT (UTC−7) |
| Postal code span | |
| Highway | Highway 3 |
| Waterway | Christina Lake |
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Christina Lake is an unincorporated recreational area in the Boundary Country of the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. It is located on Highway 3, 12 miles (19 km) east of Grand Forks and 44 miles (70 km) southwest of Castlegar.[1]
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[edit] History
Originally an important fishing ground to the Sinixt, Sanpoil, Okanagan and other tribes, pictographs can still be found around the north-east shore of Christina Lake.
The village and the lake were named after Christina McDonald, daughter of fur-trader Angus McDonald, who ran the Hudson's Bay Company trading post at Fort Colville from 1852-1871.[2][3]
The arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the late 1890s brought a number of townsites to the area around Christina Lake and it became a popular recreational area for visitors who came by rail from places like Grand Forks or Phoenix.
In the early 1900s there were summer cottages, fishing and other activities. When the Cascade-Rossland Highway was completed in 1922, more tourists visited the region. During Prohibition in the United States, many American visitors from north-east Washington made the trip across the border to enjoy the local saloons and dance halls.[3]
During World War II, approximately 100 Japanese people were relocated in a summer resort hotel and its adjacent cabins, the Alpine Inn, on nearby English Point, where a school was established to teach Japanese and English.[4] After the war and the restrictions were lifted, some of the families remained in the area.[3]
[edit] Present day
Since the years following World War II, Christina Lake has again become a recreation community. Opened in 1963 and expanded in 1986, the Christina Lake Golf Course was built at the location of the old ghost town of Cascade City.[3] The course was designed by golf course architect Les Furber and it is the first course in Canada to offer the rare feature of black sand traps.[5]
The Trans Canada Trail and the historic Dewdney Trail and Kettle Valley Railroad Trail meet at Christina Lake, attracting hikers and tourists from around the world.[1]
The summer of 2011 will see the opening of the new Christina Living Arts Centre which will act as the town's visitor's centre as well as an art gallery. The centre was built to LEED standards. Accompanying the Centre is the district's first Solar Aquatics water water treatment facility. This is the second cold-climate Solar Aquatics built to date, completed two years after the first cold climate Solar Aquatics built in Cynthia, Alberta by the same company.
[edit] Texas Point Campground
Texas Point is a campground in Christina Lake with a widely known and popular beach that includes cliffs that many residents and tourists scale and jump from. It is the only other public beach or public access to the Lake other than the Provincial Beach.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c British Columbia.com. "Christina Lake". http://www.britishcolumbia.com/regions/towns/?townID=3393. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ^ "Christina Lake (lake)". BC Geographical Names. http://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/5945.html.
- ^ a b c d christinalake.com. "History of Christina Lake". Archived from the original on 2007-07-03. http://web.archive.org/web/20070703002225/http://www.christinalake.com/lakeliving/history.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-21.
- ^ SunflowerInn. "History of Christina Lake". http://www.sunflowerinnbb.com/history.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-22.,
- ^ Christina Lake Golf Club.com. "Christina Lake Golf Club". Archived from the original on 2007-06-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20070622154703/http://www.christinalakegolfclub.com/course_info.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-22.
- "Christina Lake (community)". BC Geographical Names. http://apps.gov.bc.ca/pub/bcgnws/names/40503.html.
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Greenwood | Nakusp | Castlegar | |
| Grand Forks |  |
Rossland | ||
 Christina Lake  |
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| Danville WA | Laurier | Northport WA |
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