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Copper Street circa 1900
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Greenwood looking NW from Lind Creek Road - 1903
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Copper Street postcard
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Copper Street postcard
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Greenwood
B.C. Copper Company's smelter
By Perry Mack
When you ask Greenwood locals today what they feel their town is known for, they’ll say “the world’s best-tasting water” (Berkeley Springs Water-Tasting Competition in 2012), its intriguing heritage homes and buildings, its quiet, laid-back lifestyle, and its dry, mild climate. A dramatic change from how the locals felt in the early 1900’s, when Greenwood was the epicentre of a thriving mining community and where “copper was King”. The surrounding hills rang with the prosperous sounds of pick axes, shovels and machinery.
Visiting Greenwood today, you can enjoy everything the locals are currently proud of and with a little exploration you can feel the ghost of the Wild West boomtown that was. Two large copper smelters were situated south of the city - at Anaconda and Boundary Falls and another at Grand Forks, 40 kilometres to the east along the Canadian Pacific Railroad. But the hills were also filled with prospectors’ shouts of “SILVER!” and shouts of “GOLD”! Gold fever brought the first prospectors to the Boundary Creek Valley in the 1860’s and was the primary lure for desperate men looking to “get rich quick”. And although copper employed the majority of workers, and had the most visible infrastructure, it was the siren’s call of gold and silver that fuelled the dreams that drew both men and money.
The most productive of the gold and silver mines in the area was also the closest to the city of Greenwood. The Providence mine was located right at the city limits, along the north side of Providence Creek where it empties into Boundary Creek. Six thousand troy ounces of gold were recovered from the mine between 1893 and 1973 and a whopping 1.368 million troy ounces of silver. Miners will tell you that gold and silver deposits will always be found with copper; but copper will not always be found with gold and silver. The Providence mine is a perfect example of this old adage, drawing only a measly 64 pounds of copper in over 80 years of production.
The most valuable gold mine in the area was the Dentonia located north of the city, and east of Jewel Lake (originally named Long Lake) on the western slope of Mount Pelly. Over 43,000 troy ounces of gold were recovered during its 85-year production history. Silver production amounted to 260,000 troy ounces. And, oh yes, almost 14,000 pounds of copper were recovered also.
The next two most prolific gold and silver operations in the early 1900s are both highly visible and accessible to 21st Century aspiring modern Argonauts in search of their own Golden Fleece. The combined Emma and Oro Denoro properties are found 10 kilometres northeast of Greenwood, on the divide between Eholt and Fisherman creeks, and very close to the Crowsnest Highway #3. Prospecting started in the late 1890’s - but it wasn’t until the Great Northern Railway pushed through from Grand Forks to Phoenix Mountain that the full potential of this property was realized. The rail-bed construction actually uncovered great ore deposits in the winter of 1904-1905. Over 9,500 troy ounces of gold and nearly 109,000 troy ounces of silver were recovered in a 25-year time span. Both mining properties can be easily accessed by car along the old GNR right-of-way and offer an opportunity to use one’s imagination of what it might have been like to live as a prospector digging for his dream.
The other easily accessible gold and silver mine is found 7.5 km south-east of Greenwood, 3 kilometres east of the confluence of McCarren and Gidon creeks. Crown-granted in 1895, the No. 7 mine operated for over 50 years and spawned over 1.5 km of tunnels and shafts. Nearly 3,000 troy ounces of gold and 100,000 troy ounces of silver were recovered. The original No. 7 mine entrance is still visible, as are several ventilation shafts positioned over a wide area. But the most remarkable aspect of visiting the No. 7 property today are the numerous original bunkhouses and cabins still standing after all these years. Breathe deep, close your eyes and you can transport yourself 100 years back in time. Access to the No. 7 is a seven-kilometre drive east on McCarren Creek Road and a 30-minute hike. Don’t forget your camera. Photo-ops are countless.
The BC Geological Survey estimates that mines in the vicinity of Greenwood have produced in excess of 1.3 million troy ounces of gold and 10 million troy ounces of silver in the past 120 years. At today’s prices for gold and silver, that would equate to nearly 1.75 billion dollars. That is a potful of shiny metal. And there must be more of it up in the hills - just waiting to be found by intrepid prospectors of today. If you love the history of the old west, you’ll love Greenwood.