An enormous heap of what looks like industrial waste sits practically on the doorstep of the Sandon Historical Society Museum, courtesy of its neighbour, a shop called The Prospector's Pick. Dozens of derelict city buses litter the yard. The disintegrating skeleton of some half-finished behemoth, possibly a restoration, stands attached to the museum. Ironically, while tourists expect "wrack and ruin" in a ghost town, and even seek it out for the excitement of historical curiosity, this is the sort which scares them off and destroys communities.
Sandon museum itself displays a rare selection of period photographs, newspaper clippings archive, and artifacts. It focuses on the area's history. The Pick is a storefront operation which offers tourist amenities, souvenirs and products focusing on the whimsycal and entertaining side of prospecting strikes, fin de siècle novelties, and ghost towns. Both enterprises invest considerable time, energy and dollars into the community. They both offer valuable experiences for travelers, and of a nature so different that they should not be seen as competitors for the same tourist dollars. Whether they like it or not, they both depend on those differences to satisfy their visitors, but there's all this crap lying around to sift through and either fix up, or get rid of first.
Sandon's potential as an ideal destination for travelers
As a tourist attraction, this tiny village should have so many things going for it:
- Rollicking history from the Klondike period in Canada's west. In 1891, Sandon was ground zero for one of the biggest silver strikes in British Columbia. Almost overnight, 5000 people arrived, both conventional settlers and the lively characters typical of most frontier towns: entrepreneurs, gamblers, brothel madams and preachers.
- Western heritage buildings and artifacts, all within an easy walk of each other. What fire didn't destroy in 1900, floods carried off later. The few which remain are quintessential examples of frontier design.The narrow gauge rails are gone, but there's a derelict steam locomotive.
- Beautiful, natural scenery which attracts recreational and ecotourists alike. It sits on Carpenter Creek at the base of the Mount Idaho hiking trail---so named because, one clear day, someone (erroneously) fancied they could see straight into Idaho State, 100 miles south---provides a glorious view over the Slocan Lake and much of the Valley. Forests and mountains surround Sandon.
- Close placement just off the road between the two destination villages of Kaslo and New Denver, BC, which could make it a perfect diversion.
In June/July of 2005, the individuals concerned chose to duke out their issues in the letters section of the local paper, The Valley Voice. The conflict is available to read in their archives, but the situation remains unchanged.
Sandon is located about 3 miles off of Highway 31A, 15 minutes east of New Denver and 45 minutes west of Kaslo, in the West Kootenay region of BC, Canada.
Simone Keiran - Simone Keiran’s book A Brief History of Western Sculpture, Quantum Books, was released at the 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair. Her articles ...
Join the Conversation