The remarkable history of the Silvery Slocan is embodied in two quite different, but closely related, historical sites – the town of Sandon (near New Denver) and the Nikkei Memorial Internment Centre (in New Denver).
Town of Sandon
Before 1850, the Slocan Valley was a sleepy backwater barely been explored by Europeans. The discovery of silver and lead deposits put an end to this tranquility and began a mining boom in the 1890s that made the Silvery Slocan famous across the continent. To accommodate a huge influx of miners, tradespeople, and migrants, the town of Sandon was hastily constructed on either side of Carpenter Creek. Its population quickly grew to make this boomtown one of the largest in the West. In its heyday, Sandon was home to more than 5000 people. When fire, an ever-present hazard in a town built of wood, destroyed the entire town Sandon was rebuilt in the blink of an eye. However, within a decade, Sandon fell into decline as mineral prices crashed. The worst blow came in the 1950s, in the form of a flood. A few of the buildings survived the deluge, and others have since been restored. Visit the still-working 1897 hydroelectric plant, the Sandon Museum, and the Prospectors Pick.
Nikkei Memorial Internment Centre
When Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941, a wave of fear swept across Canada. Canadians of Japanese descent, who had been fishing and farming on the west coast of British Columbia for decades, were seen as enemies, and relocated to remote camps in the British Columbia interior. Part of the New Denver camp that was known as "The Orchard" is today the Nikkei Memorial Interment Centre. Exhibits at the centre include a typical two-family shack, a vegetable garden, traditional Japanese gardens and the Kyowakai Hall, which is filled with photographic displays and artifacts that illustrate the poignant story of the Nikkei.
For more information on historical and heritage sites in and around New Denver, contact the Visitor Centre.