Description of Historic Place

The Granite Creek Town Site consists of a cleared, grassy bench overlooking Granite Creek with a few scattered remains of log buildings, dirt roads and a commemorative cairn. The Granite Creek Cemetery, with numerous fenced plots and headstones, is located on a higher, mostly treed bench, overlooking the Granite Creek Town Site. This historic place includes the Town Site with log building remains and a Chinese section, the west bank of Granite Creek in front of the Town Site, the Cemetery, and wagon roads.

Heritage Value

The Granite Creek Town Site is valued for being the oldest town in the area as well as being the location of a major placer gold rush in 1885. The discovery of gold at Granite Creek redirected interest from fur trading to mining. Built by miners searching for gold, the town is a testament to early British Columbia mining history. Two thousand people participated in the gold rush at Granite Creek and it was the third largest centre of population in the province at that time. The banks of Granite Creek below the Town Site would have been a hive of activity as miners searched for gold.

This historic place is representative of an important moment in the continuum of the mining industry of the area. Gold mining in the area brought with it the discovery of platinum and later coal. Subsequently, the discovery of coal precipitated the development of the towns of Blakeburn (now a ghost town), Coalmont and Tulameen.

This historic place is a symbol of the tenacity of early placer miners who carved the town from the wilderness. The Granite Creek Town Site remains as a monument to the pioneer prospectors who discovered and opened up the area. The outstanding determination of the early prospectors is evident in the fact that the Granite Creek Town Site remained active until approximately 1918 even after a fire gutted the town in 1907. The ruins of reconstructed buildings are scattered throughout the Town Site. It is interesting to note that these ruins include those of Foxcrowle Percival Cook's second store which he rebuilt after a faulty stove pipe in his first store accidentally started the 1907 fire.

The Granite Creek Cemetery is valued as the final resting place for many of the pioneers. It evokes a sense of peace and exemplifies their desire to remain, and forever watch over, the town they built. The massive headstone of Foxcrowle Percival Cook epitomizes the shopkeeper's wealth and standing in the community.

The Granite Creek Town Site is notable for having had a significant Chinese population located in the northeastern portion of the town. The Chinese section in the cemetery, which lies to the south of the main portion, reflects the segregation of the Chinese from the white miners even in death. It is notable that depressions in the ground are evidence of the practice of exhuming graves and returning the remains to China.

The roads of the Granite Creek Town Site are also valued because they are the original wagon roads built in 1885. Narrow, and barely wide enough to fit a loaded packhorse, these roads were the lifeline for prospectors needing food and supplies from the outside world.

Source: Regional District of Okanagan Similkameen

Character-Defining Elements

CDE:
Key elements that define the heritage character of Granite Creek Town Site and Cemetery include its:
- unique location on a distinctive bench overlooking Granite Creek
- ruins of six crude log buildings rebuilt after the fire of 1907
- wagon roads built and used by prospectors and pack teams
- banks of Granite Creek below the Town Site which was the location of frantic mining activity
- Cemetery's unique location on a higher bench overlooking the Town Site
- fenced plots and headstones in the Cemetery, particularly, the headstone of Foxcrowle Percival Cook
- depressions in the Chinese section of the Cemetery from exhumed graves