The chimney was part of a cabin built sometime in the 1870s. Of that cabin what remains today is most of the chimney and a scattering of log remains on either side of it. On the chimney are several cast iron stove or hearth parts which may or may not be germane to the cabin.
Just 10 metres (~32 feet) west of Highway 97, the back side of the chimney is easily seen from the highway. It is a memorial to the ancestors of Okanagan Falls, of which many descendants live close by today.
The Okanagan Falls Heritage and Museum Society is being awarded $10,000 for a study
of conservation options to preserve, restore or relocate Michael Keogan’s chimney, a
certified heritage site containing all that remains of a local pioneer’s cabin.
From the BC GovernmentMichael Keogan’s Chimney
Description of Historic Place:
This stone and slate chimney, which is all that remains of Michael Keogan’s cabin, is located on a Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure right-of-way between Alba Road and Okanagan Highway (Hwy. 97), approximately two kilometres south of Okanagan Falls, British Columbia, in the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen. The chimney sits on a grassy area along with a few scattered log remains of the original home.
Heritage Value:
The significant value of this site is that it was built for ‘proving-up’ one of Michael Keogan’s pre-emptions. Mr. Keogan was an Irish-born American who came into the area at the time of the Rock Creek gold rush (circa 1859-60), and was the first white man to be Crown-granted land at Okanagan Falls. On March 15, 1876 he received a Crown grant for Lot 10, which extends for over a mile along the east bank of the Okanagan River. Keogan later pre-empted Lots 292 and 511. The old rock-chimneyed log cabin beside the main road half a mile south of the Falls was built for proving-up one of these pre-emptions.
This historic place is a symbol of the tenacity of early settlers who carved from the wilderness a home far from civilized society.
This place also represents a colourful era in the history of the South Okanagan - the gold rush era - and is a memorial to the ancestors of Okanagan Falls residents. Many descendants live close by today.
The chimney is valued as one of the few structures left in the community of Okanagan Falls that dates back over one hundred years. It is notable that the chimney has survived the gold rush as well as the flooding of Shuttleworth Creek in 1936.
Character-Defining Elements:
Key elements that define the heritage character of Keogan’s chimney include:
- The ruins of the crude homestead, as well as the chimney.
- It is one of the few structures left in the community of Okanagan Falls that dates back over one hundred years.
From Historic Places Canada