Barkerville, British Columbia

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Barkerville's main street, taken in June 2004, showing the historic buildings and a small stream of water flowing down its sloped, unpaved, roads.

Barkerville was a gold rush town in British Columbia, Canada which is currently preserved as a historic town. It is located in the Cariboo mountains 80 kilometres east of Quesnel.

When Billy Barker discovered gold in 1862 at Williams Creek, a rush of fortune-seekers flooded the area, travelling the Cariboo Wagon Road. Barkerville was the largest town in the Canadian West as well as the largest town west of Chicago and north of San Francisco at its peak. In 1868 a fire broke out in Barkerville, and almost all of the buildings other than the ones in the upper sections burned. Rebuilding started the next day.

Barkerville had a large Chinese population; its Chinatown was the first in Canada. Among the restored buildings at the town site is the home of the Chinese Association.

After the decline of the gold rush, the town's population withered away until it was almost a "ghost town", although it supported full-time residents until 1979. Barkerville was made a BC Heritage site in 1958 and is currently a major tourist attraction.

Barkerville is the birthplace of former Major League Baseball player Bert Sincock.

Gallery

Image:DSC00360.jpg|Barkerville Cemetery 2006 Image:DSC00328.jpg|Blacksmith hard at work

External links

Source: The Cariboo Trail by E. Pauline Johnson published in Toronto Saturday Night October 13, 1906.

Northwest: Wells, British Columbia		Northeast: Bowron Lake Provincial Park
West: Stanley, British Columbia	Barkerville
	South: Likely, British Columbia

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