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The road from Quesnel to Barkerville
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Cottonwood House around 1930 (credit: BC Archives #HP10461)
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Built by G.B.Wright in 1864 as far as the Cottonwood River, the Barkerville Road ran due east for 30km. Other contractors completed the wagon road to Beaver Pass and Van Winkle the following year. From Van Winkle on Lightning Creek, the route of the original road ran east, past Jack 'Clubs Creek, to where it turned north again to Williams Creek and the community of Richfield.
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Pine Grove House (credit: Barkerville Historic Town #G-3787 This image
only links to a text record at BC Archives.) |
In 1885 a new road was built from Stanley, (1 ¸ miles down Lightning Creek from Van Winkle) through Devil's Canyon and past the Last Ketch Mine to what later became the town of Wells, and south again to Barkerville.
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Coldspring House (credit: Barkerville Historic Town )
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As many as 12 roadhouses were built along this route during the 1860s the earliest of which had to change location more than once due to the several surveys of the road by the Royal Engineers. Some of these were the 10 Mile House, the 13, Cottonwood House, Cold Spring, Pine Grove, and Beaver Pass House.
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All text and images
© Quesnel & District Museum and Archives unless otherwise
noted. Thanks to the B.C. Archives for permission to show various
images. Thanks to the BC Encyclopedia for permission to quote information
on the roadhouse communities. Thanks to the Living Landscapes Project,
the Royal British Columbia Museum, Ministry of Community, Aboriginal
and Women's Services for their support of site development.
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