Hudson's Hope, British Columbia

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Hudsons Hope, British Columbia
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settlement_type = Town
motto =


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flag_size =125px
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image_blank_emblem =Hudsons hope crest.jpg
blank_emblem_size =125px


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dot_map_caption =Location of Hudson's Hope within the Peace River Regional District in British Columbia, Canada
dot_x =107 |dot_y =62
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = Canada
subdivision_type1 = Province
subdivision_name1 = British Columbia
subdivision_type2 = Regional District
subdivision_name2 = Peace River
subdivision_type3 =
subdivision_name3 =
subdivision_type4 =
subdivision_name4 =
government_footnotes =
government_type =
leader_title =Mayor
leader_name =Lenore Harwood
leader_title1 = Governing body
leader_name1 =
leader_title2 =MP
leader_name2 =Jay Hill
leader_title3 =MLA
leader_name3 =Richard Neufeld
leader_title4 =
leader_name4 =
established_title = Settled
established_date = 1805
established_title2 = Incorporated
established_date2 = 1965
established_title3 =
established_date3 =
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area_total_km2 = 927.03
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population_as_of = 2006
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population_total = 1,012
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timezone = MST
utc_offset = −7
timezone_DST = PDT
utc_offset_DST = −6
latd= |latm= |lats= |latNS=
longd= |longm= |longs= |longEW=
elevation_footnotes =
elevation_m = 671
elevation_ft =
postal_code_type = Postal code span
postal_code =VOC 1VO
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website = [http://www.dist.hudsons-hope.bc.ca/ District of Hudson's Hope]
footnotes =

Hudson's Hope is a small town in northeastern British Columbia, Canada, in the Peace River Regional District. It covers an area of km2 to sq mi|927|spell=UK with a population of 1,157 people.BC Stats (February 8, 2006). [http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/dd/facsheet/CF264.pdf "Hudson's Hope District Municipality" (pdf)] , "Community Facts", Retrieved 12 March 2006.] Having been first settled in 1805, it is the third oldest community in the province, although it was not incorporated until 1965. Its main economic support is the nearby W. A. C. Bennett Dam and Peace Canyon Dam, as well as timber logging.

There is debate about the origin of Hudson's Hope's name. One theory derives the word "Hudson's" from the Hudson's Bay Company and "Hope" from the Scottish word "hope" meaning a "small enclosed valley". [District of Hudson's Hope. [http://dist.hudsons-hope.bc.ca/html/history.html Hudson's Hope History Fascinating Fact's] . Retrieved 12 March 2006.] Another theory has the name derived from a prospector named Hudson who came to the area searching gold.Peace Liard Employment Development Association. (October 1985). "Peace Liard Economic Profile". page 53.] The crest uses elements that symbolize the town's history, geography, and economy. For example, the water represents the Peace River, the tower represents hydro power, the trees represent forestry, the fields represent farming, and the sunshine represent the extended period of daylight in the summer. The log cabin is included in remembrance of the pioneers who settled in the area. The two mountains are depictions of the nearby Beattie peaks. The shield in the crest is shaped like the footprint of the Hadrosaur which were once common in the area. The crest and flag were designed by a town councillor, Sam Kosolowsky, in the early-1990s. The original slogan on the crest and flag was "Playground of the Peace" but has since changed to "Land of Dinosaurs and Dams".

History

While nomadic aboriginal Dunneza tribes had lived in the area, Alexander Mackenzie and his team of voyageurs became the first Europeans to travel through as they canoed westward along the Peace River and in 1793. Simon Fraser followed in 1805 and established a North West Company fur-trading outpost, the Rocky Mountain Portage Fort, at the foot of Portage Mountain, several miles from the current townsite. [Citation |last =Bowes |first =Gordon |publication-date =May 1974 |year =1963 |title =Peace River Chronicles |edition =3rd |place =Vancouver |publisher =Prescott Publishing |page =28] The Hudson's Bay Company took control of the fort after its coalition with the North West Company in 1821 and abandoned it in 1823 after a massacre in the nearby Fort St. John outpost. [Kyllo, Edith (1973). "The Peacemakers of North Peace" (Fort St. John: Davies, Ventress and Kyllo, 1973), H5] A new trading post opened on southern river banks in the 1860s, and was acquired by the Hudson's Bay Company in 1875 as trade from prospectors increased. Though its origins are unclear, the name "Hudson's Hope" first appeared at this time. Theories on its origin include an explorer named Hudson searching for the northwest passage, or a prospector named Henry Hudson searching for gold, or the use of the English and Scottish word "hope" meaning a small enclosed valley. [Kyllo, H4.] In 1899 the fort was moved to the townsite's present day location on the north bank to better service those portaging northwestwards.

Much of the area was explored by propspectors and surveying crews as the Peace River Block was opened to mineral staking in 1908 and homestead claims in 1912. A permanent settlement was established in 1912 when a police officer who was previously stationed in Fort St. John and a friend travelled from Victoria to stake a homestead. Others joined them as they travelled through Edmonton, Dunvegan, and Fort St. John to found the communities of Beryl Prairie and Lynx Creek. [Kyllo, H13.] Soon, as other settlers came, a post office, a hotel, and a church were built around the trading post, and in 1923 a school opened. Coal was discovered a few years earlier and used locally. Commercial coal mining, attempted in 1923, was not successful due to remoteness and high transportation costs until the construction of the Alaska Highway in 1942 created a high local demand. [Kyllo, H52-H54.]

Major development came in the 1960s as the provincial government planned and constructed the W. A. C. Bennett Dam with its Gordon M. Shrum Generating Station. Its construction involved thousands workers with the nearest highway and railway being convert|85|km|mi|0|abbr=on to the south in Chetwynd. To help organize and finance the project the Hudson's Hope Improvemnent District was incorporated in 1962 and the District Municipality of Hudson's Hope was incorporated 2 years later. The two incorporated areas merged in 1967 when construction was completed. The thousands of workers left as the reservoir was filled and the dam went online in 1968. Soon afterwards a second dam, the Peace Canyon Dam, was planned and constructed, only several kilometers downstream from the first. The second dam went online in 1980 and the town continued to lose population to a low 1,005 people in 1990.BC Stats. [http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/pop/pop/mun/Mun8696a.asp British Columbia Municipal Census Populations, 1986–1996.] British Columbia. Retrieved on May 30 2007.] Since then the town has remained geographically isolated and economically dependent on BC Hydro as its single major employer, though it has marketed its isolation and extensive outdoor recreational opportunities as a benefit to living in the area. [District of Hudson's Hope. [http://dist.hudsons-hope.bc.ca/economic.html Economic Development.] Retrieved on May 30 2007.]

Geography and climate

The convert|927|km2|sqmi|0|abbr=on municipality covers a main townsite on a convert|3|km|mi|0|abbr=on wide, convert|8|km|mi|0|abbr=on long flat along the north bank of the Peace River, and the rural communities of Beryl Prairie, Lynx Creek, and Farrell Creek. The Peace River originates at the W.A.C. Bennett Dam from the Peace Reach Arm of Williston Lake and flows around the convert|1427|m|ft|0|abbr=on tall Portage Mountain [Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia. [http://bivouac.com/MtnPg.asp?MtnId=13213 Portage Mountain.] Retrieved on May 30 2007.] and through Dinosaur Lake. The water has a three day retention time hereBlackman, B.G. and D.M. Cowie (January 2005), [http://www.bchydro.com/pwcp/pdfs/reports/pwfwcp_report_no_299.pdf Introduction] 2004 Assessment of Habitat Improvements in Dinosaur Reservoir,] BC Hydro. pg 1.] before going through the Peace Canyon Dam and flowing northeastward under the Hudson's Hope Suspension Bridge, past the townsite, and the rural communities of Lynx Creek and Farrell Creek, and eventually into the Arctic Ocean. The forested foothills of the Rocky Mountains including Mount Johnson and the convert|1230|m|ft|0|abbr=on Two Ridge Mountain dominate the area south of the Peace River. [Canadian Mountain Encyclopedia. [http://bivouac.com/MtnPg.asp?MtnId=12074 Two Ridge Mountain.] Retrieved on May 30 2007.] The foothills continue north of the river passing into prairie land at Beryl Prairie.

Dinosaur Lake is the deeply entrenched reservoir of the Peace Canyon Dam with a surface area of convert|805|ha|sqmi|0|abbr=on and a volume of 0.216 km³ (0.05 mi³).Pattenden, R. and G. Ash (April 1993) [http://www.bchydro.com/pwcp/pdfs/reports/pwfwcp_report_no_072.pdf Fisheries Enhancement Options for Dinosaur Lake, A Review,] p4.] The oligotrophic lake is fed by Williston Lake and 5 tributaries (Gething, Johnson, Moosebar, Starfish and Mogul Creeks). Most of the municipality is forested by aspen and poplar trees. Animals common to the area include moose, bear, deer, sheep, goats and elk. A hatchery annually releases sportsfish, mainly rainbow trout, into the lakes. Dinosaur tracks and fossils have been discovered in the municipality, including deposits at the bottom of Dinosaur Lake. The ichthyosaur Hudsonelpidia was named after the community when it was first discovered there in the 1960s.

Traditionally, winter had brought very cold winters with lots of snow. However, since the filling of Williston Lake, the largest man-made lake in North America, the winters have been milder with an average January temperature of convert|-15|°C|°F|0|abbr=on and annual snowfall of convert|194|cm|in|0|abbr=on. The municipality experiences an average growing season of 135 days, the longest in northern BC, with an average July temperature of convert|15|°C|°F|0|abbr=on. With the dams, both the lakes and the river have remained ice-free and isothermal at about 2 to 10 °C (35 to 50 °F).

Demographics

While the community is one of the province's oldest, the first census that included it as a defined subdivision was the 1966 census which recorded 3,068 people. [BC Stats. [http://www.bcstats.gov.bc.ca/data/pop/pop/mun/Mun1921_2006.asp British Columbia Municipal Census Populations, 1921-2006] British Columbia. Retrieved on 30 May 2007.] An earlier report put the population at less than 100 in 1954. [District of Hudson's Hope. [http://dist.hudsons-hope.bc.ca/history.html Hudson's Hope History] . Retrieved May 26 2007.] That 1960s growth was the result of the planning and construction the hydroelectric dam. After the work camps closed and people left the 1971 census counted only 1,741 people remaining. A small rise in the population came in the mid-1970s as the second hydroelectric dam was constructed. Since then, with no new major industries or projects, the population has remainded between 1,000 and 1,300 people. In 2006, the Statistics Canada census estimated 1,012 people living in the municipality while BC Stats estimated 1,159 people.Statistics Canada. [http://www12.statcan.ca/english/census06/data/profiles/community/Details/Page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=5955025&Geo2=PR&Code2=59&Data=Count&SearchText=Hudson's%20Hope&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&GeoLevel=&GeoCode=5955025 Community Highlights for Hudson's Hope] , "2006 Community Profiles". Canada. Retrieved on May 26 2007.]
style="width: 150px"|Conservative
style="width: 85px"|Jay Hill
align="right"|304
style="width: 65px" align="right"|66%
style="width: 65px" align="right"|60%
NDP
Malcolm Crockett
align="right"|57
align="right"|12%
align="right"|17%
Liberal
Nathan Bauder
align="right"|50
align="right"|11%
align="right"|16%
Green
Hilary Crowley
align="right"|40
align="right"|8.7%
align="right"|6.4%
Independent
Donna Young
align="right"|5
align="right"|1.1%
align="right"|0.9%Election city polls FPTP end
votes=458
locale%=60%
riding%=53%
style="width: 85px" |BC Liberal
style="width: 120px"|Richard Neufeld
align="right"|196
style="width: 65px" align="right"|41%
style="width: 65px" align="right"|59%
NDP
Brian Churchill
align="right"|192
align="right"|40%
align="right"|27%
Green
Clarence Apsassin
align="right"|55
align="right"|12%
align="right"|6.9%
Independent
Leonard Seigo
align="right"|32
align="right"|6.7%
align="right"|6.6%Election city polls FPTP end
votes=475
locale%=65%
riding%=47%

References

External links

* [http://www.theweathernetwork.com/features/wxhome/pages/CABC0141.htm Weather forecast]
* [http://www.hudson.prn.bc.ca/ Hudson's Hope Elementary-Secondary School]
* [http://hp.bccna.bc.ca/Library/HudsonsHope/ Hudson's Hope Public Library]
* [http://www.discoverthepeacecountry.com/htmlpages/hudsonshopebc.html Discover the Peace Country - Hudson's Hope]
* [http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/pm.php?id=exhibit_home&fl=0&lg=English&ex=00000147 Hudson's Hope Pioneers in Pictures]

Canadian City Geographic Location (8-way)
Centre = Hudson's Hope
Northwest = Graham-Laurier Provincial Park
North = Fort Nelson
Northeast = Fort St. John
East = Taylor
Southeast = Dawson Creek
South = Chetwynd
Southwest = Prince George
West = Williston Lake