Montrose, British Columbia
Encyclopedia
Montrose is a village located in south-eastern 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...
in the West Kootenay
West Kootenay
West Kootenay was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was formed along with East Kootenay from a redistribution of the old Kootenay riding, which was one of the province's original twelve.- Demographics :...
region.
It is located 7 km east of the city of Trail
Trail, British Columbia
Trail is a city in the West Kootenay region of the Interior of British Columbia, Canada.-Geography:Trail has an area of . The city is located on both banks of the Columbia River, approximately 10 km north of the United States border. This section of the Columbia River valley is located between the...
along Highway 3B.
Geography
The village of Montrose is built on a mountain ledge leading to Beaver Valley. Because of its limited physical area, there is very little fluctuation in population.History
Originally known as "Wood's Flats," Montrose was developed as a retirement village for workers from the nearby Cominco smelter. It was incorporated in 1956 as a village, and named after a popular resort in Scotland.The construction of the "Montrose Cutoff," an extension of Highway 3B from Fruitvale to Trail, reduced travel time to Trail from ~45 minutes to 10 minutes, making the village more attractive to commuters.
Economy
There is a post office, a Chinese restaurant and one combined gasoline station/corner store in the village. Other than home-based businesses, virtually all other employment is based in the nearby city of Trail. Major employers of Montrose residents include Teck ComincoTeck Cominco
Teck Resources Limited known as Teck Cominco until late 2008, is a Canadian mining company. It was formed from the amalgamation of Teck and Cominco in 2001.-History:...
, the Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital, School District 20, Ferraro Foods, and the Trail operations of such large corporations as Fortis BC
Fortis Inc.
Fortis Inc. is a St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador based international diversified electric utility holding company. It primarily operates in Canada and the Caribbean. In 2005, it earned a profit of $137.1 million Canadian from revenue of $1.44 billion....
, Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
, Extra Foods
Extra Foods
Extra Foods is a Canadian supermarket chain, part of Loblaw Companies Limited. It operates 72 stores in Western Canada. Most Extra Foods stores are smaller than its sister chain, The Real Canadian Superstore, and most locations are in smaller, rural communities...
(Weston Corp), Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire
Canadian Tire Corporation, Limited is one of Canada's 60 largest publicly traded companies. The firm operates an inter-related network of businesses engaged in retailing hardgoods, apparel and petroleum as well as financial and automotive services, employing more than 58,000 people across Canada...
and engineering giant AMEC
AMEC
AMEC plc is a global consultancy, engineering and project management company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is focused on the oil and gas, minerals and metals, renewable energy, environment and infrastructure sectors and has offices in 40 countries worldwide...
Plc.
Montrose is known throughout the Kootenay region of BC for its excellent drinking water, a sample of which received silver medals in the 2008 and 2009 Berkeley Springs International Water Tasting Competition.
Features
Montrose is also the location of the "Antenna Trail" a 4 kilometre loop hiking trail that rises 250 metres above the village and affords spectacular views of the Beaver and Columbia Valleys. This trail is part of the Kootenay Columbia Trail system although it is not contiguous with the rest of the trails located near, and accessed from, nearby Rossland. The Antenna Trail is popular because it is snow-free much earlier in the spring than the higher elevation trails, and has little if any mountain bike traffic.The village shares its territory with a variety of native BC wildlife. Elk, Whitetail Deer, Black Bears, and Wild Turkeys are frequently spotted on Montrose Mountain, and occasionally within the village proper. Hummingbirds are attacted by the numerous feeders put out by residents, with at least 7 different species recorded.