100th Anniversary of the City of Trail - Trail, BC - Community Commemoration on Waymarking.com

The plaque reads: "THE FAMILY" This statue is presented to the City of Trail from the citizens of Trail on the occasion of the City's 100th anniversary. It proudly represents the strength of our community, both past and present, looking confidently to the future.

From The Trail Historical Society's webpage on the history of Trail:

In 1890 the discovery of gold/copper ore on the face of Red Mountain by Joe Moris and Joe Bourgeois was the single most important event in the history of Trail and the Trail/Rossland area. The five claims staked by Moris and Bourgeois on Red Mountain in July of that year led to the rise of Rossland as the premier mining center in North America and the birth of the settlement we now call the City of Trail.

Under British Columbia law only four of the five claims could be recorded at the Nelson Mine Recorder's Office. The deputy mining recorder, Eugene Sayre Topping, agreed to pay the recording fees for the claims in return for ownership of the fifth claim. Topping and his friend, Frank Hanna, then purchased 343 acres at the mouth of Trail Creek on the Columbia River, hoping the claims on the neighbouring Red Mountain would be developed into paying mines, and make them wealthy through the sale of town lots. Their hopes became a reality in 1895. The Rossland mines proved to be very rich in gold/copper ore and the lots in the Trail Creek townsite sold briskly.

In 1895 Topping provided land to F.A. Heinze of Butte, Montana to build a smelter to treat the Rossland ores. The smelter was purchased by the C.P.R. in 1898 and expanded its production to include lead ores. Despite the difficult economic times, the smelter succeeded.

With the success of the smelter, the small town of Trail grew. On June 14th, 1901 the City of Trail was incorporated. The townspeople celebrated the historic event and what seemed to be a promising future on July 1st. In 1906 the smelter, the War Eagle, Centre Star, and St. Eugene mines, along with the Rossland Power Company were amalgamated to form the Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada Limited (CM&S). Under the direction of Walter H. Aldridge, the CM&S solidified the smelter operations.

The Smelter had a prominent role in both world wars with increased production of lead and zinc along with the production of 'heavy water' for the Manhattan Project. The smelter has grown to become the largest lead - zinc operation in the world and the City of Trail is now the fourth largest in the Province of BC.

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