Mile "0" Redux - Alaska Highway - Dawson Creek, BC
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T0SHEA
N 55° 45.563 W 120° 13.560
10U E 674056 N 6182784
This is where the Alaska Highway officially begins. Given the variety of attractions here, there are enough departments and categories represented to create two Lucky 7s. Tally=14
Waymark Code: WMTHK8
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 11/26/2016
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Fear of a Japanese invasion during WW II is the reason this highway was built when it was. Built from 1942 to 1944, its original length was 1523 miles, but it is now 1,387 miles due to straightening and realigning over the years. Opened to the public in 1948 as a gravel road, the highway is now paved over its entire length.
Nearby is the Dawson Creek Art Gallery, housed in the last remaining grain elevator in the town. Until the 1970s every farming community had its row of grain elevators. With changes in transportation modes, most of these elevators have been obsoleted and subsequently torn down. Only a very few have escaped the wrecking ball and the Dawson Creek Art Gallery is one which has. Through the efforts of local citizens, this elevator has not only survived but thrived. Having been refurbished inside, the elevator's annex is now the city's art gallery and gift shop - a most appropriate repurposing of of a notable local heritage building. It stands directly east of the South Peace Historical Society Railway Station Museum and Visitor Information Centre, which are in the original 1931 Northern Alberta Railway Station, another excellent example of repurposing.
The elevator and art gallery are within Northern Alberta Railway Park (N.A.R. Park). N.A.R. Park encompasses four acres of tourist attractions adjacent to Mile "0" of the Alaska (Alcan) Highway, itself one of the major tourist attractions in Dawson Creek. In the park are:
¶ The last remaining Alberta Wheat Pool elevator in Dawson Creek, refurbished inside and turned into an art gallery and gift shop.
¶ A one time Northern Alberta Railway passenger car.
¶ The South Peace Historical Society Railway Station Museum. The station has been retrofitted to more or less assume the personality it exhibited at its inception in 1931, shortly after it became the western terminus of Northern Alberta Railways in 1930. As well as railway memorabilia, it contains pioneer artefacts, wildlife displays and artefacts connected with the construction of the Alaska Highway.
¶ The Dawson Creek Visitor Centre, replete with very friendly and knowledgeable staff.
¶ A stone cairn commemorating the construction of the Alaska Highway.
¶ Every Saturday through the summer the park hosts a farmer's market.
Downtown Dawson Creek