Return to main Vanishing B.C. page Return to home page

Page last updated October 15, 2006

Beaverdell is a bit of a break on the long run from Kelowna down Highway 33 to Rock Creek, with a couple of cafes and stores and the venerable Beaverdell Hotel, which its owners claim is the oldest continuously operating one in the province--leading, as Rosemary Neering quipped in her Traveller's Guide to Historic B.C., to some very tired bartenders. Everybody's a little vague about the dates and so on--I'm wondering if anyone has any definite information on the hotel and its history. Beaverdell and Carmi both have histories entwined with mining and logging, with the route of the Kettle Valley Railway, now part of the Trans Canada Trail, passing nearby higher up on the hillside.

Note from the Boundary Country website:
"In 1897 rich silver ore was discovered on Wallace Mountain and gold was discovered in Carmi, a few kilometers from what is today known as Beaverdell. As a result, three small towns sprung up: Beaverton, Carmi and Rendell. In 1901, Rendell and Beaverton became one, hence Beaverdell. Of 200 attempts to locate high-grade silver ore on Wallace Mountain, seven were successful. The Highland Mine had produced continuously for over 90 years until recently when the mine was closed and the site sold to the provincial government. At the time of its closure, the mine held the record for being the longest operating in British Columbia and had kept the community alive through many of the province's hard times. Today's residents rely on the forest industry for most of their employment. A small, privately owned dimension lumber mill contributes to the economy."

The hotel does have a real "roadhouse" feel to it--as you arrive in the town and see it up ahead on the roadside, the shape of it says "hotel" and the thirstometer gets cranked up a notch or two. It's a very pretty area to visit, especially in October when the tamarack turn golden and dot the pine-forested hillsides.

Ty Daum is the new owner of the hotel and is upgrading it; the website is www.beaverdellhotel.ca.

Note from Mikhyla Stewart: I was born in Grand Forks BC, my father has been a water well driller in the Okanagan/West Kootenay area for the past 40 years. I know information about the hotel is hard to find. Its current reputation is basically "a sleazy joint" with bad food and worse service. It has rich history though, as I'm sure you have researched. One thing you may not know is it carries the long standing rumor that it is very haunted.

In the mid seventies when I was four, my dad had a job in the area so he took me, my mom and his crew to stay at the hotel until the job finished. We were to stay for a couple of weeks. However, we left after only a few days. Supposedly I couldn't get though any nights without climbing into bed with my parents (my bed being on the other side of the room). The third night they let me stay in their bed and I  fell asleep. Then I awoke with a start, sat straight up and stared out of the room towards the eating area. When my mom leaned over I slapped my hand over her eyes and told her "don't look at the door mommy." My dad got up and checked around, nothing. We went back to sleep. Not much later, again I sat up with a start. My mom reached out to touch me and I bit her thumb. I sat looking out the doorway, I said "the man won't go!" This happened a couple more times that night, freaking my parents out considerably.  No one felt comfortable in that hotel, everyone left soon after- some claiming there was an uneasiness they couldn't explain. This story was told to me by my parents- I don't remember what I saw. Could it have been a child's nightmare? But there are other accounts, other stories, thus the hotel's haunted reputation. I know you're not a ghost story writer but I thought you might enjoy that tid-bit of information!

 

Photograph by Lythgoe, c. 1948--Note the addition since of the "cosmetic" second-story verandah, which darkens the upstairs rooms considerably.

Not far north from Beaverdell, the town of Carmi has even more of a backwoods feel. I vaguely recall its hotel from trips through the area in the early 1970s. The hotel burned down in 2000, I think it was, catching me by surprise, but Dan Langford, author of Cycling the Kettle Valley Railway, kindly provided me with one.