Granite City, British Columbia
Encyclopedia
Granite City is a ghost town
in the Similkameen region of British Columbia
, Canada
.
Granite was regarded as one of the largest cities in British Columbia. The town never contained a school or church. The jail did not have bars on the windows. The windows were one foot square.
On April 4,1907 most of the town was destroyed by a fire.
reports the story of a Scandinavian by the name of Johanssen. Johanssen recovered a reported 300 ounces of platinum from Granite Creek, British Columbia. Johanssen is reported to have buried his cache of platinum in a bucket south of his cabin and visible from the cabin door. Granite City was destroyed by a fire in 1907. Johanssen's cabin was levelled by the fire. With the cabin lost so was the location as to where the cache was. The platinum cache is reported to still be there, close to $50,000 in platinum buried somewhere in Granite City.
Ghost town
A ghost town is an abandoned town or city. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economic activity that supported it has failed, or due to natural or human-caused disasters such as floods, government actions, uncontrolled lawlessness, war, or nuclear disasters...
in the Similkameen region of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Early years
A prospector named Johnny Chance discovered gold in Granite Creek in 1885. The discovery of gold led to the creation of a mining camp called Granite in 1885. As the number of miners grew the camp became known as Granite City. Granite City lay deep in the remote Tulameen country of southern British Columbia. By 1886 Granite City contained 300 European prospectors and 100 Chinese. On April 21,1886 the newspaper called the Victoria Colonist reported Granite City had "9 general stores,14 hotels and restaurants,2 jewelers,3 bakers,3 blacksmiths,2 livery stables,a shoemaker, butcher, chemist, attorney, doctor and 8 pack trains owned in the city. 200 buildings occupy the two main streets - Government and Granite."Granite was regarded as one of the largest cities in British Columbia. The town never contained a school or church. The jail did not have bars on the windows. The windows were one foot square.
On April 4,1907 most of the town was destroyed by a fire.
The 1930s
By 1915 the gold rush was over and Granite City lay deserted. The depression of the 1930s brought drifters to Granite City hoping to eek out a living on the placer gold creeks of the past. By the time the depression came to an end only a handful of miners lived at Granite City. By the 1960s the last of these miners in Granite City had passed on and Granite City became a ghost town of British Columbia. Some log buildings stand on the original site.Lost platinum cache
British Columbia Historian Bill BarleeBill Barlee
Neville Langrell Barlee is a Canadian politician who was first elected to the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia as a New Democrat in 1988...
reports the story of a Scandinavian by the name of Johanssen. Johanssen recovered a reported 300 ounces of platinum from Granite Creek, British Columbia. Johanssen is reported to have buried his cache of platinum in a bucket south of his cabin and visible from the cabin door. Granite City was destroyed by a fire in 1907. Johanssen's cabin was levelled by the fire. With the cabin lost so was the location as to where the cache was. The platinum cache is reported to still be there, close to $50,000 in platinum buried somewhere in Granite City.