Greenwood, the
Smallest City in Canada, boasts some of the best preserved heritage buildings in British Columbia. It also has bragging rights to the
Best Tasting Water in the World. The city was incorporated on July 12th, 1897 and this cairn and plaque were unveiled on July 12th, 1972 to commemorate Greenwood's 75th birthday.
The city was born and quickly boomed on the discovery of huge copper/gold/silver discoveries nearby, most notably those of the Phoenix, later the Granby, mines up the mountain immediately east of Greenwood. A smelter was soon built in Anaconda, a town adjoining Greenwood's southern boundary. The first furnace of the smelter was "blown in" on February 18th, 1901. The two towns vied for supremacy for several years, with Greenwood eventually winning the battle and swelling to a population of 3,000 by 1899.
The copper industry suffered ups and downs through the first part of the twentieth century, with its biggest boom coming about with the start of World War I and the overwhelming need for metals of all kinds, in particular the copper that was being produced in prodigious amounts at the Anaconda Smelter. With the end of the war, however, came the end of the demand for copper. The smelter closed almost immediately after the war and by 1919 had all but disappeared. So to, did most of the people, and the population dropped to as little as 200 by the start of the second world war.
This war, too, proved to be a boon to the town, as its empty buildings were turned into internment buildings for the forced internment of thousands of Canadians of Japanese descent, a black period in Canada's history. At the end of the war, when the camps were dismantled, many of the internees chose to remain and became the nucleus of a sizeable Japanese Canadian population.
The many empty hotels and businesses became one-room compartments for families. Communal kitchens, shared bathing and toilet facilities and the bitter cold winters were the harsh realities unheard of on the Pacific West Coast.
With the same undaunted spirit of the miners before them, Greenwood's new citizens transformed the town into a once-again bustling community, where culture, education, and sports became an important part of everyday life. Thus, when the war ended in 1945 and many city councils endorsed the deportation of Japanese Canadians, Greenwood stood fast in supporting its much appreciated community members.
From Greenwood History
Today Greenwood remains a small town straddling the Crowsnest Highway, relying on forestry and tourism for its bread and butter. Many of its old buildings remain and have been refurbished and repurposed, making it a very attractive stop for travellers and tourists passing through.