Oliver, British Columbia
Encyclopedia
Oliver is a community at the south end of the Okanagan Valley in the Southern Interior of British Columbia
, Canada
, with a population of 4370. The community of Oliver is made up of land governed by three different bodies: the Town of Oliver, the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and the Osoyoos Indian Band
. Industries include grape
and fruit
production, agri-tourism, wine production, ranching, golfing & recreation, retail & service trades. Oliver is north of Osoyoos and south of Okanagan Falls. Tourism BC labels the community as the Wine Capital of Canada.
. 'Honest John' and his government
brought irrigation
water
and settlement lots to the area with the South Okanagan
Lands Project.
of the South Okanagan
settled near the river
, creeks
and valley
lakes. The first encroachment from the outside world came circa 1811, when fur traders came to the area with the establishment of Fort Okanagan (now in the US) and first penetrated the area for trade. In the 1880s, free gold-bearing quartz was found at Camp McKinney (east of Oliver) becoming a busy gold mine, attracting miners, con men, and outlaws. Fairview
(just west of and above Oliver) miners found gold and fueled the growth of a boomtown but it lasted just a few years and no remnants of the town survive today, other than a heritage marker.
British Columbia Interior
The British Columbia Interior or BC Interior or Interior of British Columbia, usually referred to only as the Interior, is one of the three main regions of the Canadian province of British Columbia, the other two being the Lower Mainland, which comprises the overlapping areas of Greater Vancouver...
, 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...
, with a population of 4370. The community of Oliver is made up of land governed by three different bodies: the Town of Oliver, the Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen and the Osoyoos Indian Band
Osoyoos Indian Band
The Osoyoos Indian Band is a First Nations government in the Canadian province of British Columbia, located in the town of Osoyoos in the Okanagan valley, about four kilometres north of the International Border. They are a member of the Okanagan Nation Alliance...
. Industries include grape
Grape
A grape is a non-climacteric fruit, specifically a berry, that grows on the perennial and deciduous woody vines of the genus Vitis. Grapes can be eaten raw or they can be used for making jam, juice, jelly, vinegar, wine, grape seed extracts, raisins, molasses and grape seed oil. Grapes are also...
and fruit
Fruit
In broad terms, a fruit is a structure of a plant that contains its seeds.The term has different meanings dependent on context. In non-technical usage, such as food preparation, fruit normally means the fleshy seed-associated structures of certain plants that are sweet and edible in the raw state,...
production, agri-tourism, wine production, ranching, golfing & recreation, retail & service trades. Oliver is north of Osoyoos and south of Okanagan Falls. Tourism BC labels the community as the Wine Capital of Canada.
Origin of Name
Named after John Oliver (1856–1927), Premier of British ColumbiaPremier of British Columbia
The Premier of British Columbia is the first minister, head of government, and de facto chief executive for the Canadian province of British Columbia. Until the early 1970s the title Prime Minister of British Columbia was often used...
. 'Honest John' and his government
Government
Government refers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized...
brought irrigation
Irrigation
Irrigation may be defined as the science of artificial application of water to the land or soil. It is used to assist in the growing of agricultural crops, maintenance of landscapes, and revegetation of disturbed soils in dry areas and during periods of inadequate rainfall...
water
Water
Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...
and settlement lots to the area with the South Okanagan
South Okanagan
South Okanagan was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia beginning with the election of 1916. Following the 1975 election boundary revisions accompanied the riding's renaming to Okanagan South...
Lands Project.
Early history
The First NationsFirst Nations
First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...
of the South Okanagan
Okanagan
The Okanagan , also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as Okanagan Country is a region located in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. As of 2009, the region's population is approximately 350,927. The...
settled near the river
River
A river is a natural watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, a lake, a sea, or another river. In a few cases, a river simply flows into the ground or dries up completely before reaching another body of water. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including...
, creeks
Stream
A stream is a body of water with a current, confined within a bed and stream banks. Depending on its locale or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to as a branch, brook, beck, burn, creek, "crick", gill , kill, lick, rill, river, syke, bayou, rivulet, streamage, wash, run or...
and valley
Valley
In geology, a valley or dale is a depression with predominant extent in one direction. A very deep river valley may be called a canyon or gorge.The terms U-shaped and V-shaped are descriptive terms of geography to characterize the form of valleys...
lakes. The first encroachment from the outside world came circa 1811, when fur traders came to the area with the establishment of Fort Okanagan (now in the US) and first penetrated the area for trade. In the 1880s, free gold-bearing quartz was found at Camp McKinney (east of Oliver) becoming a busy gold mine, attracting miners, con men, and outlaws. Fairview
Fairview, British Columbia
Fairview is a ghost town in British Columbia near the Town of Oliver. It is famous for the Fairview Hotel that burnt down in the 1900s.There are many things that can still be visited at Fairview such as the Fairview Cemetery on Fairview Road, the stampmill on Tinhorn Creek Road, and the many mines...
(just west of and above Oliver) miners found gold and fueled the growth of a boomtown but it lasted just a few years and no remnants of the town survive today, other than a heritage marker.
- Established in 1918 Oliver was a settlement for unemployed veterans of the First World War, a gravity-fed canal was constructed to provide irrigation to the semi-arid area.
- On January 30, 1919, the SOLP (South Okanagan Lands Project) began work on the Intake Dam at the base of McIntyre Bluff. Over the next eight years the 23 concrete lined miles of the Main Canal was dug southward to the Boundary. Eighteen and a half feet across the top, five feet deep and delivering 230 cubic feet per second, SOLP designed it to enable farmers to put nearly a foot of water per month on every acre of bottom land in the southern Valley. To get the Canal from the east side of the Valley to the benches on the west, the “big siphon”—now concrete, but originally a 1940 feet (591.3 m)-long wood-stave pipe of six and a half-foot-diameter—was constructed. It runs directly beneath the centre of Oliver. The offices of the land project and the building that housed the BC PoliceBritish Columbia Provincial PoliceThe British Columbia Provincial Police was the policing body for the Canadian province of British Columbia until 1950. The force is usually dated from the appointment of Chartres Brew in 1858 with the formation of the Colony of British Columbia and associated appointments...
built circa 1924 stand today in Oliver as preserved heritage sites. - A post officePost officeA post office is a facility forming part of a postal system for the posting, receipt, sorting, handling, transmission or delivery of mail.Post offices offer mail-related services such as post office boxes, postage and packaging supplies...
was established in 1921 and the BC government administered the area until 1945 when a villageVillageA village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
was incorporated and a council elected. In 1991, the community's municipal incorporation was upgraded to Town, its current status. - In 1922 electrical power was brought to Oliver by the West Kootenay Power and Light Co.
- In 1923 the Kettle Valley RailwayKettle Valley RailwayThe Kettle Valley Railroad was a subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway that operated in the Thompson-Okanagan region of southern British Columbia....
(CPR) constructed Oliver station and rails to transport fruit north to Penticton.
Administration of Water
- SOLP (1919–1964) South Okanagan Lands Project - established by the Province of BC 1921 and run by provincial government employees for over forty years. In the spring of 1964 the Oliver/Osoyoos Fruit Growers’ Association was informed that the province was getting out of the irrigation business.
- SOLID (1964–1989) South Okanagan Lands and Irrigation District - On June 25, 1964 the Fruit Growers' Association volunteered itself to be the cornerstone of the locally constituted South Okanagan Lands Irrigation District which operated the system until 1989.
- Oliver Water (1989 to present) Town of Oliver - The water district was divided into two parts to be run by municipal governments. The Towns of Oliver and Osoyoos now deliver nineteen billion imperial gallons—nearly one hundred billion litres—to the Valley’s parched soils annually. 1990 saw the election of Water Councillors in both communities - a first in BC
Population
Based on 2006 census:- Town of Oliver 4370
- Regional District Area 'C' 3899
- Osoyoos Indian Band 900
Notable people from Oliver
- John AndersonJohn Rogers AndersonJohn Rogers Anderson, is a Canadian retired Admiral and civil servant.-Military career:Anderson was born in British Columbia and attended University of British Columbia; he graduated with a BSc and attended a Long Operations Officers course. He joined the Navy in 1963 and worked his way up the...
, Admiral (Ret) Former Chief of Defense Staff, graduate of SOHS - Bill BarisoffBill BarisoffBill Barisoff is a BC Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly in the Province of British Columbia, Canada. Born in Oliver, he represents the riding of Penticton, which he has held since 1996, when he defeated former MLA Bill Barlee by a narrow margin....
, current Speaker of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, graduate of SOSS - George BoweringGeorge BoweringGeorge Harry Bowering, OC, OBC is a prolific Canadian novelist, poet, historian, and biographer. He has served as Canada's Parliamentary Poet Laureate....
, First Canadian Poet Laureate, graduate of SOHS - Patricia ChurchlandPatricia ChurchlandPatricia Smith Churchland is a Canadian-American philosopher noted for her contributions to neurophilosophy and the philosophy of mind. She has been a Professor at the University of California, San Diego since 1984...
, philosopher and neuroscientistNeuroscientistA neuroscientist is an individual who studies the scientific field of neuroscience or any of its related sub-fields...
, born in Oliver - Ross FitzpatrickRoss FitzpatrickD. Ross Fitzpatrick was a Canadian Senator representing the Senatorial district of Okanagan-Similkameen, British Columbia....
, Canadian Senator (Okanagan-Similkameen), graduate of SOHS - Clarence Louie, Chief of Osoyoos Indian Band - Order of BC
- John Shannon, former NHL Executive Vice President - Broadcasting, graduate of SOSS
- Julie SkinnerJulie SkinnerJulie Skinner is a Canadian curler and Olympic medalist. She received a bronze medal at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City....
, 2002 Bronze Medal at Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah (Kelly Law team) - Alison SmithAlison SmithAlison Smith is a Canadian television and radio journalist and anchor. She graduated in 1972 from Southern Okanagan Secondary School in nearby Oliver, where her father Bruce Smith was a guidance counsellor...
, CBC TV anchor, graduate of SOSS