Monthly Archives: March 2014

The Cube Ridge

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British Columbia. Ridge
Headwaters of Fraser River
52.54 N 118.3464 W — Map 083D09 — Google — GeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1924
Official in BC – Canada
This ridge appears on:
Boundary Commission Sheet 28 (surveyed in 1921)

The ridge was named by the Alberta-British Columbia Boundary Commission in 1921.

Our cubehouse still rocks as earwitness to the thunder of his arafatas but we hear also through successive ages that shebby choruysh of unkalified muzzlenmiissilehims that would blackguardise the whitestone ever hurtleturtled out of heaven.

— Finnigans Wake
References:

  • Cautley, Richard William [1873–1953], and Wheeler, Arthur Oliver [1860–1945]. Report of the Commission appointed to delimit the boundary between the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Part II. 1917 to 1921. From Kicking Horse Pass to Yellowhead Pass.. Ottawa: Office of the Surveyor General, 1924. Whyte Museum
  • Cautley, Richard William [1873–1953], and Wheeler, Arthur Oliver [1860–1945]. Report of the Commission Appointed to Delimit the Boundary between the Provinces of Alberta and British Columbia. Parts IIIA & IIIB, 1918 to 1924. From Yellowhead Pass Northerly. Ottawa: Office of the Surveyor General, 1925. Whyte Museum

Croydon

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British Columbia. Locality
On Canadian National Railway between Dunster and Shere
53.0667 N 119.7167 W — Map 83E/4 — Google — GeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1911 (GTP map)
Name officially adopted in 1983
Official in BC – Canada
63 miles west of the Yellowhead Pass on the Canadian National Railway
Mile 37 in Tete Jaune Subdivision (Red Pass to McBride as of 1977)
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway station built in 1913. Rebuilt in 1954 by Canadian National Railways.
This locality appears on:
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway map [ca. 1912]
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway timetable 1914
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway map ca. 1918
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway map 1919
Pre-emptor’s map Tête Jaune 3H 1919
Canadian National Railway map 1925
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stations

Croydon (flag station) adopted 23 May 1963, as labelled on BC map 3H, 1919, and as identified in the 1930 BC Gazetteer. Form of name changed to Croydon (locality) 31 May 1983 on 83E/4.

The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway station at Croydon (Mile 63) was named after the town of Croydon, England.

The name appears on the 1915 land pre-emptor’s map of the McBride area. Etter and McDougal Lumber operated an 80-man sawmill at Croydon until 1919, when a brush fire spread to the yard. Sandy McDougal allowed the Croydon school board to use an old bunk house for the school. Contributions from Croydon, England, made possible the construction of an Anglican Church and burial grounds in 1935.

The Croydon post office was open from 1917 to 1968.

References:

  • Wheeler, Marilyn. The Robson Valley Story. McBride, B.C.: Robson Valley Story Group, 1979
  • Haralson, Doris Neely. Northland Echoes. Yarrow, B.C.: Published by the author, Box 31, 1981
  • Topping, William. A checklist of British Columbia post offices. Vancouver: published by the author, 7430 Angus Drive, 1983

Crescent Spur

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British Columbia. Railway point and locality
Canadian National Railway, S side Fraser River between Morkill River and Goat River
53.5833 N 120.6833 W — Map 093H10 — Google — GeoHack
Name officially adopted in 1982
Official in BC – Canada
124 miles west of the Yellowhead Pass on the Canadian National Railway
This railway point and locality appears on:
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway stations

Raymond Olson writes: Around the beginning of World War II, Bert and Wilfred Leboe started a small mill two miles east of Loos at what became Crescent Spur. They had seen an opportunity in using the back channel of the Fraser River to transport and store their logs and thus minimize transportation, loading and unloading costs. They were still logging for Thrasher and they set about getting materials to Crescent Spur to construct their mill. There wasn’t a road between Loos and Crescent Spur so everything had to be transported by speeder. The money made from working for Thrasher was used to pay for a Spur line put in by the C.N.R. at a cost of $700. A side track with a switch at one end connecting to the main line is quite often referred to as a “Spur”; this coupled with the “Crescent” shape of the back channel may have been the origin of the name of the community. This is only speculation on my part as no one has been able to give me a clear indication of as to why it was called Crescent Spur; however Bert Leboe is credited with coming up with the name Crescent Spur.

References:

  • Olson, Raymond W. From Liaboe to Loos and Beyond. Prince George, B.C.: Raymond W. Olson, 2011
  • British Columbia Geographical Names. Crescent Spur
Also see:

Crescent Island, British Columbia

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British Columbia. Railway point: Fraser River drainage
Former name of Loos
53.6 N 120.7 W Google — GeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1914 (GTP Timetable)
Not currently an official name.
126 miles west of the Yellowhead Pass on the Canadian National Railway
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway station built in 1914
This railway point appears on:
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway timetable 1914

The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway station at Mile 126 west of the Yellowhead Pass appears as “Crescent Island” on a 1914 timetable, but by 1918 it was known as “Loos” after the site of a battle in the First World War.

References:

  • Bohi, Charles W., and Kozma, Leslie S. Canadian National’s Western Stations. Don Mills, Ontario: Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2002
Also see:

Crate Road

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British Columbia. Road
Forks off Blackman Road
Roads are not in the official geographical names databases

Lloyd Crate (born 1920) was maintenance foreman for the department of highways for most of the twenty-five years he worked in the McBride-Tête Jaune Cache area. Crate was born in Prince Rupert, and came to Lucerne , in Mount Robson Park, around 1945. Ice from Lucerne Lake supplied Canadian National Railroad passenger trains, and Crate worked in the icehouses one summer. Starting in 1936, the Crate family operated a fishing and hunting camp on Yellowhead Lake. In 1961 they moved to Tête Jaune Cache. At a farewell dance in the Red Pass community hall, “best wishes were extended from all the district with the hope that Lloyd will frequently be seen in the district operating the highways grader.” He retired in 1980.

References:

  • Topping, William. A checklist of British Columbia post offices. Vancouver: published by the author, 7430 Angus Drive, 1983