Gerrard, British Columbia

Gerrard
Gerrard is located in British Columbia
Gerrard
Gerrard
Location of Gerrard in British Columbia
Coordinates: 50°30′30″N 117°16′14″W / 50.50833°N 117.27056°W / 50.50833; -117.27056
Country Canada
Province British Columbia

Gerrard is a ghost town in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia.[1] The settlement was at the south end of Trout Lake, east of Upper Arrow Lake.[2]

Honouring banker George Bentley Gerrard, prior names were Selkirk and Twin Falls.[3] The Canadian Pacific Railway's (CPR) Kootenay and Arrowhead Railway from Lardeau northwest to the terminus at Gerrard opened in 1902, where it connected with vessels on Trout Lake.[4] At the time, the Great Northern Railway commenced a parallel line, but soon abandoned the project, and CPR never extended its line farther northwest in the direction of Arrowhead.[5] The company abandoned the Lardeau–Gerrard line in 1942.[6]

Although comprising several scattered residences, the old settlement has disappeared with time. A campground exists about a kilometre to the northwest.[3]


Footnotes

  1. ^ Basque Garnet (1982), British Columbia Ghost Town Atlas. Sunfire Publications Limited.
  2. ^ "Gerrard (former community)". BC Geographical Names.
  3. ^ a b "Nelson Star, 8 Sep 2014". www.nelsonstar.com. 8 September 2014.
  4. ^ Meyer 1967, p. 22.
  5. ^ Meyer 1967, p. 62.
  6. ^ Meyer 1967, p. 27.


References