Country Canada Time zone PST (UTC– 08:00) Local time Monday 8:28 AM Population 10,832 (2011) | Incorporated 1929 Elevation 600 m Postal code V2G | |
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Weather 1°C, Wind E at 6 km/h, 61% Humidity | ||
Williams Lake is a city in the Central Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Located in the central part of a region known as the Cariboo, it is the largest urban centre between Kamloops and Prince George, with a population of 10,832 in city limits.
Contents
- Map of Williams Lake BC Canada
- History
- Demographics
- Economy
- Climate
- Education
- Colleges and universities
- Sports and recreation
- Arts and culture
- Transportation
- Williams Lake Stampede
- Scout Island
- Television
- Radio
- Other radio services
- Publications
- Notable people
- References
Map of Williams Lake, BC, Canada
Williams Lake hosts the annual Williams Lake Stampede, which takes place over the Canada Day long weekend. It is the home town of Rick Hansen, the Canadian paraplegic athlete and activist for people with spinal cord injuries, who became famous during his fundraising Man in Motion world tour.
History
Williams Lake is named in honour of Secwepemc chief William, whose counsel prevented the Shuswap from joining the Tsilhqot'in in their uprising against the settler population.
The story of Williams Lake began in 1860 during the Cariboo Gold Rush when Gold Commissioner Philip Henry Nind and William Pinchbeck, a constable with the British Columbia Provincial Police, arrived from Victoria to organize a local government and maintain law and order.
At the time, two pack trails led to the goldfields, one from the Douglas Road and the other through the Fraser Canyon. They met at Williams Lake, which made it a good choice for settlers and merchants. By 1861, Commissioner Nind had built a government house and had requested the funds to build a jail. With the centre of local government being at Williams Lake, the miners and businessmen all had to travel there to conduct their business and soon the town had a post office, a courthouse, a roadhouse and the jail that Nind had requested. Meanwhile, William Pinchbeck had not been idle and had built his own roadhouse, saloon and store. Eventually he would own most of the valley.
In 1863, the town was excited by the news of the construction of Cariboo Road, believing it would pass through their already established and important trading centre. However, the roadbuilder Gustavus Blin Wright rerouted the original trail so that it bypassed Williams Lake and went through 150 Mile House instead.
The Williams Lake by-pass doomed the city and accusations flew that Gustavus Blin Wright had changed the route for his own personal benefit as he owned a roadhouse at Deep Creek along the new route. Regardless of Wright's motives, Williams Lake was forgotten and wouldn't be reborn until nearly half a century later with the construction of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway, later BC Rail and now CN Rail.
Demographics
Below is the ethnic origin of people from Williams Lake. Note that percentages total more than 100% due to multiple responses e.g. German-East Indian, Norwegian-Irish-Polish.
Economy
The primary industries in Williams Lake are forestry, logging, milling, mining and ranching.
Climate
Williams Lake has a humid continental climate with warm summers. Spring is the driest time of year, and summer and winter are the wettest seasons respectively. Williams Lake receives about 2,000 hours of bright sunshine per year, which is more than most of the province.
The lowest temperature ever recorded in Williams Lake was −42.8 °C (−45 °F) on 22 January 1943, and the highest temperature ever recorded was 41.1 °C (106 °F) on 16 & 17 July 1941. Williams Lake – along with Billings, and nearby McLeese Lake – holds the record for the highest maximum temperature ever recorded in the province during the month of September. This occurred on September 4, 1988.
The Williams Lake Airport weather station is at an elevation of 939.7 m (3,083 ft) while the Williams Lake River weather station is at 585.2 m (1,920 ft), a difference of 354.5 m (1,163 ft). Thus the average temperature is significantly warmer in the city proper than the table below displays.
Education
Williams Lake is served by Cariboo-Chilcotin School District 27. It has five public elementary schools teaching up to grade 6 and three StrongStart BC centres. These are Cataline Elementary (Cataline Strong Start Centre), Chilcotin Road Elementary, Marie Sharpe Elementary (Marie Sharpe StrongStart Centre), Mountview Elementary (Mountview StrongStart Centre), Nesika Elementary. There is also SD 27 OR#1 Wildwood, a StrongStart Outreach Centre. One secondary school, Lake City Secondary School, which was formed by an merger of Columneetza Secondary School and Williams Lake Secondary School in 2013, teaches grade 7 to 12 students. Alternative education provision is met by the Graduation Routes Other Ways centre and the Skyline Alternate School program. The GROW Continuing Education Centre offers grades 10–12 for adults. Anne Stevenson Secondary School was closed in 2003 due to falling numbers of students.
There are four independent schools in Williams Lake, West Coast Adventist DL School (K-12), Sacred Heart Catholic School (K-7), Maranatha Christian School (K-12) and Cariboo Adventist Academy (K-12).
Colleges and universities
Thompson Rivers University has a campus in Williams Lake and offers a wide variety of programs and courses including university transfers, certificate and diploma programs, health and safety certification, trades and technology, and university and career preparation. The Elder College is another local division of Thompson Rivers University, and offers programs and opportunities for people who are 50+ and are interested in participating in the programs, courses and special events.
Sports and recreation
Arts and culture
Transportation
Williams Lake is located on the junction of Highway 97 and Highway 20. Greyhound Lines provides bus service south to Vancouver and Kamloops, north to Prince George. CN Rail offers freight service north and south of Williams Lake. Local public transportation consists of the BC Transit and HandyDART bus service.
The Williams Lake Airport is located 4.2 nautical miles (7.8 km; 4.8 mi) northeast of the city and was opened in 1956 by Transport Canada and on January 1, 1997 the ownership of the airport was transferred to the City of Williams Lake. The airport is served by both Pacific Coastal Airlines, and Central Mountain Air with daily flights to Vancouver. There was a small seaplane base at Williams Lake Water Aerodrome but it is no longer in operation.
Williams Lake Stampede
Held annually, on the Canada Day long weekend, the Williams Lake Stampede features Canadian Professional Rodeo Association action including bull riding, barrel racing, Bareback riding, tie-down roping, steer wrestling, team roping and chuckwagon races. The Williams Lake Stampede plays host to many top cowboys and international rodeo competitors from Canada and the United States, most of which continue on the circuit to the Calgary Stampede, the following weekend.
The Stampede festivities also include a parade of floats from local organizations, such as 4-H groups, native bands, community service groups, the stampede royalty and local merchants. There is also a carnival with rides and games located near the stampede grounds.
Scout Island
Scout Island, which is 9.69 ha (23.9 acres) in size, is both a park and a nature area. It consists of a beach, picnic area, boat launch and several trails through mainly natural environment. Scout Island is actually two islands that are connected to the west end of Williams Lake by a causeway.
Located on the island is the Nature House, which provides a view of the marsh next to the island. It is run by the Williams Lake Field Naturalists and provides information, displays and programs dealing with the local environment.
The island is leased to Williams Lake by the owners, the Nature Trust of British Columbia.
Television
Radio
Other radio services
There was a Loran-C station at Williams Lake.