Holmes River

British Columbia. River: Fraser River drainage
Flows SW into Fraser River, SE of McBride
53.25 N 120.0667 W — Map 93H/8 — Google — GeoHack
Earliest known reference to this name is 1912 (Walker)
Name officially adopted in 1925
Official in BC – Topo map from Canadian Geographical Names

This river was known as Beaver River earlier than 1910. Around 1913 British Coumbia Land Surveyor James Alexander Walker [1887–1959] renamed it for Albert W. Holmes [died 1920s], a provincial forest ranger in McBride as early as 1915. Holmes, an American, later farmed in Dunster. He died, unmarried, in the Prince George hospital.[died 1920s].(1, 2)

Wrigley’s British Columbia Directory for 1918 lists “Holmes Albert W farming” under Dunster. (3)

A youth named Allen Holmes appears in a photograph of the McBride Trading Company in the 1920s (Valley Museum & Archives Society 2003.26.19).

References:

  • 1. British Columbia Geographical Names. Holmes River
  • 2. Akrigg, Helen B., and Akrigg, George Philip Vernon [1913–2001]. British Columbia Place Names. Vancouver: UBC Press, 1997, p.114. Internet Archive
  • 3. Wrigley Directories, Limited. Wrigley’s British Columbia Directory. Vancouver: 1918. Internet Archive

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