Named for a company of American miners (the native people referred to the Americans as 'Boston men') who found gold at that point on the Fraser in 1858. The community of several stores and a roadhouse were at first situated on a flat close to the river, where a cable ferry connected it to Island Bar, a rich gold bar on the opposite shore. The Cariboo Wagon Road passed through Boston Bar in 1862. Seen here are several freight wagons parked outside
Alex Coutlie's International Hotel." In the spring of 1894, when the Fraser flooded its banks, the community had to be moved to higher ground, and the wagon road was rerouted to where it is today. Following the building of the CPR railway in the mid 1880s Williams Directory of 1892 mentions that Boston Bar was 129 miles east of Vancouver. "There is a post office, telegraph and express office. It is a divisional point on the CPR having a round house and repair shops, etc. The railway has built an excellent hotel, and all trains stop here for half an hour for meals. There are 2 churches, an Episcopal and a Roman Catholic." 49 residents are listed. Today the Village of Boston Bar, with a population of 733 residents is engaged in sawmilling and logging. As Highway 97 runs through the community, a lot of revenue is derived from travelers. It is located at the northern end of the Fraser Canyon, 43km from Yale. A bridge replaced an aerial tramway that crossed the river to North Bend in 1940, in 1986.
"Encyclopedia of B.C." p.86.
Boston Bar (credit: BC Archives #A-03876)
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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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