The Blasted Church - Okanagan Falls, BC - Unique Steeples on Waymarking.com

The church was built as a Presbyterian Church in 1898 in the gold mining town of Fairview. Gold was discovered at Fairview in the 1880s, with the staking of the first claim in 1887. By the turn of the century Fairview was one BC's largest towns. The gold ran out soon enough and the town slowly died, with the post office finally closing in 1926. One of the few remaining buildings from the town, the Fairview Jail, has been moved to the Oliver museum site. All that remains to indicate the location of Fairview are some historical markers.

In 1929 the congregation of the United Church in Okanagan Falls, less that 20 kilometres north of Oliver, was in need of a new building and the old Presbyterian Church in Fairview came to mind. A not uncommon practice at the time had been to seal a building and ignite the appropriate amount of dynamite within to loosen the nails holding the exterior boards prior to dismantling. This is what was done with this church, hence the name Blasted Church. The materials were then hauled to Okanagan Falls and reassembled. Rededication of the church took place on January 19, 1930.

As this was the only church in Okanagan Falls at this time, the United Church worshipped on Sunday morning while the Anglican congregation did the same in the afternoon. Today the Anglicans have a church of their own, St Barbara's Anglican, across Willow Street cater-corner from the Blasted Church.

On a cool spring morning in 1929, a small crew from Okanagan Falls set off to a deserted mining camp some 16 miles away from home. Their mission: to dismantle an old wooden church and bring it back to Okanagan Falls.

The plan called for a controlled blast of four dynamite sticks inside the church in order to "loosen the nails". Odd as it may seem, the explosion spared the wood from damage during dismantling.

Save for losing the steeple, the plan succeeded. Now, the 120 year old wooden church stands proudly in its second home of Okanagan Falls.
From Blasted Church Vineyards

United Church (The Blasted Church)

The United Church of Okanagan Falls represents a colorful era in the history of the south Okanagan, the gold rush era, and it is a memorial to many of our community’s ancestors. The church was original built in 1898 in the town of Fairview, BC. Fairview sprung up in 1890 as a result of the discovery of gold and became one of the largest towns in the south Okanagan at the turn of the century with a population of 500. However, as the gold supply diminished so did Fairview and in 1920 Oliver sprang up in its wake. Fairview was located on the benches above and approximately 3 ½ km west of Oliver. All of the buildings at Fairview were either torn down, or moved over time to Oliver, leaving only the cemetery to show that a town existed.

In 1929 Reverend Feir, a Presbyterian minister who was holding church services in a store in Okanagan Falls, spearheaded a movement to acquire the church building in Fairview. Under the direction of an engineer named Harley Hatfield, four sticks of dynamite were hung from the rafters of the church, the windows boarded up on the inside and the fuse ignited. This process loosened the nails so that it could be easily taken apart, transported and reassembled in Okanagan Falls. It was officially reopened as the United Church with a dedication service on January 19, 1930.

The Church was the only place of worship here in Okanagan Falls in 1930 so the United Church congregation held its service on Sunday morning and the Anglican congregation used it in the afternoon. It also served as a meeting place for several youth groups and the Women’s Association, which was formed with members from both congregations.

Today this beautiful 110 year old church sits at the corner of 11th and Willow Street in Okanagan Falls. It has survived through unusual times in the South Okanagan: the gold rush; rise and fall of Fairview; and the flooding of Shuttleworth Creek in 1936 in Okanagan Falls.
From the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen