February 26, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Dawson Creek, Historic & Heritage Sites
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Anyone who lives here in Dawson Creek is used to driving carefully through downtown so as not to run over the frequent tourists jaywalking into the middle of the intersection to have their photo taken on our world famous Mile O Post.
Its quite common to see local residents offering to take the photo so that everyone gets in the picture. I wonder how many photos of our post exist... Do you have one?
The Mile O Post is one of the most recognizable and frequently photographed landmarks in the country. It symbolizes the beginning of the Alaska Highway and lists the distances to major destinations along the highway in miles.
- Fort St. John 48
- Fort Nelson 300
- Whitehorse 918
- Delta Junction 1398
- Fairbanks 1523
The original post sat a couple of blocks away at the traffic circle, but apparently someone ran into it in 1946 so it was replaced and moved to the center of town especially for visitors to our community.
Make sure you touch a piece of history when you come to Dawson Creek and have your picture taken at the Mile "O" Post. Don't hesitate to ask one of us to take the photo, we're always glad to do it.
"Rolling out the red carpet..."
February 25, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Dawson Creek, Historic & Heritage Sites
Find more information about Dawson Creek - Historic & Heritage Sites
View a larger image on flickr.com
I took a tour of our
Alaska Highway House located right beside the World Famous Mile 'O' Post in downtown
Dawson Creek the other day.
I was transfixed and transported back in time to the building of the Alaska Highway. The story of this astounding feat is woven as you walk through the museum of artifacts.
I learned that 30,000 US Army troops and civilians built the highway through ice and mud and mosquitoes in just nine short months in 1942.
I saw an original Willys Army Jeep on a recreation of a "corduroy road". Nothing like the comfort of the vehicles we enjoy today.
No power steering, seat warmers and air conditioning, satellite radio or cushion seats... just steel and mud, inside and out...There is a life size model of a Quonset hut that has been designed as a movie theater where you can watch films and actual footage of the construction.
There is also a large impressive scale model of the famous Kiskatinaw Bridge, the longest curved bridge in North America.
While you are in the Alaska Highway House, you can sit in a customized RV and record a video message for your friends and family.
When you come to Dawson Creek, make sure you take the tour...you'll be impressed... this is a top drawer experience...
"Rolling out the red carpet..."
February 24, 2010 | Tips from Travellers >
Dawson Creek, Historic & Heritage Sites
Find more information about Dawson Creek - Historic & Heritage Sites
View a larger image on flickr.com
We have a remarkable statue sitting atop a tower in the middle of the traffic circle in the center of Dawson Creek.
Known as "The Surveyor" he was created by one of our local artists, Karl Mattson.
Karl used old rusty scraps of metal he found laying around the region to create this monument to the building of the Alaska Highway. The iron clothes and transit are replicas of those from the 1940's.
Powerful and haunting, "The Surveyor" stands outside in all elements, pointing north showing all the way to Alaska just as his real life counterpart did all those years ago.
Dawson Creek is proud of the artistry behind our landmarks.
You'll see for yourself when you get here.