Boundary Falls Smelter - Boundary Falls, BC
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T0SHEA
N 49° 02.360 W 118° 42.284
11U E 375412 N 5433228
This Heritage Marker and another relating the Dewdney Trail story are at a roadside parking area on the south side of Highway 3 about 5 km. south of Greenwood.
Waymark Code: WMGN28
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 03/22/2013
Views: 4
The story of the Boundary Falls Smelter is a disheartening one, as it was one of the shortest lived projects of its kind in the west. It was an ill conceived, ill timed and under financed project that had no chance of success.
When it was built, there were already two smelters, in Greenwood and Trail, to serve the area's mines. Completed in 1901 and "Blown in" in 1902, by this time low copper prices and lack of financing ensured that it would operate only sporadically and for only a few years.
By 1907 the owners finally threw in the towel and closed the smelter permanently. The machinery and equipment were sold and moved to other operations and the buildings either abandoned or torn down. The smelter and the hopeful town of Boundary Falls that had grown around it disappeared quickly and completely.
Its demise was followed in 1918 by the Greenwood smelter, but the Trail smelter today remains one of, if not the largest copper/zinc smelter in the world.
Type of Marker: Cultural
Type of Sign: Historic Site or Building Marker
Describe the parking that is available nearby: Small access road and parking loop
What Agency placed the marker?: Province of British Columbia
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