Sandon, British Columbia

Sandon, British Columbia is one of many mining ghost towns in British Columbia, Canada. It is also the birthplace of hockey legend, Cecil 'Tiny' Thompson.

Sandon is located in the Selkirk mountains, about ten kilometers east of the town of New Denver. After the discovery of vast amounts of galena ore here by Eli Carpenter and Jack Seaton in 1891, propectors flocked from around North America to stake their claims. For a short time, Sandon had more than 5,000 residents and a booming economy. Two different railways raced to reach the town first; the K&S Railway, connecting Sandon with nearby Kaslo, on kootney lake, and the N&S Railway, from New Denver and Nakusp. Well into the 1900's, the hills around Sandon where activly mined by mines such as the Silversmith, the Slocan Star and The Payne. Smaller communities, such as Cody and Three Forks appeared on the map, continuing to provide opportunity to the miners. Like the other silver towns of the era, Sandon faded with the silver prices, and in 1951, a massisve flood of Carpenter Creek swept away most of the town. Today, all that is left of the once-great Sandon are a few buildings and a handfull of residents. Both railways that serviced the town, have been dismantled and turned into hiking trails, leaving only traces of a rich mining history.

ee also

*Silver rush

ources

May, Day. Sandon: The Mining Centre of the Silvery Slocan. Self Published. 1983.Pellowski, Veronika. Silver, Lead and Hell: The Sandon Story. Sandon Historical Society. 1991.

External links

* [http://www.slocanlake.com/sandon/social/social.html Sandon's Social & Cultural History]