The rose garden was first established for the City of Nelson's Diamond Jubilee (1897-1972). Creation of the garden was spearheaded by resident and avid gardener, Elsie Corbett.
This is a well-established rose garden and from local information it was first established with the native "Wild Rose" common in this region of the Kootenays and Alberta.
Over the years, through the continued efforts of the local garden clubs and the City of Nelson, the rose garden has become an outstanding display of colour for all to enjoy.
We were there in the middle of July and found the rose garden in all its glory. The fragrance of the roses permeated throughout the garden. It was a pleasure to behold.
Incorporated as a town in 1897,
Nelson's birth was caused by silver, and most notably, a Silver Mine, the
Silverking. In the late 1880s rich copper and silver deposits were discovered by Winslow and Osner Hall on Toad Mountain above Nelson. As was the norm, a town sprung up at the foot of the mountain and was named for British Columbia’s then Lieutenant-Governor, Hugh Nelson.
By 1891 the first railroad, the CPR, arrived in town from the east, and in 1893 the second, the Nelson & Fort Sheppard, arrived from the south. Soon paddle-wheelers were running up and down Kootenay Lake and Nelson, due to its location on the West Arm of Kootenay Lake, was becoming a trade and distribution centre for the area.
Early on, entrepreneurs saw Nelson as a going concern and began to build substantial commercial, financial, warehouse and residential buildings in the town. A great many of the buildings from Nelson's early years, built of brick and stone instead of the wood and tarpaper of so many of Nelson's peers, have survived to this day. As a result Nelson lays claim to 350 Heritage Buildings and the title of
Heritage Capital of BC.