Description of Historic Place

Kaslo Bay is a small sheltered bay located in the northwest corner of downtown Kaslo, British Columbia. The beach and Kaslo Bay Park are at the end of Center Street which runs along the southeast side of the bay from downtown Kaslo. The northeast corner of the bay has a noticeable small bluff that can be accessed from Highway 31 by travelling down Rainbow Drive. To the east of Kaslo Bay lies the open water of Kootenay Lake.

Heritage Value

Kaslo Bay is valued for the integral role it has played in the industrial, economic, and social development of Kaslo and the surrounding area because of its ideal geographic features. It is significant that from the 1890s up until the 1950s, sternwheelers and the railway met at Kaslo Bay, serving the shipping and transportation needs of people and industries all along Kootenay Lake and in the Slocan mining division.

Value lies in the fact that the first staked claim of the Kaslo area occurred at Kaslo Bay. George Owen Buchanan staked here in 1889 because of the prime boat landing site. There is also significance in the fact that this bay was recognized by numerous early settlers as being one of the best on Kootenay Lake.

Kaslo Bay holds notable cultural and spiritual value because First Nations visited this place before European settlement began. Prior to contact, Ktunaxa and Sinixt people utilized this historic site for processing argillite, a slate-like rock, and for gathering and processing fish and game.

Kaslo Bay is a valuable area to this community because it has continuously served as a natural gathering place for swimming, boating, and other leisure activities. Kaslo Bay is also valued for being the location of a long-standing annual international music festival, first held in 1991.

Source: Village of Kaslo

Character-Defining Elements

Key elements that define the heritage character of Kaslo Bay include:
- its orientation and setting, naturally sheltered on three sides
- unobscured scenic view of the Purcell Mountains
- Kaslo Bay Park, including several picnic tables, benches, a public dock, sandy beach and swimming area
- Kaslo Boat Club
- docks, boathouses, and moored boats
- grassy area located on the west side of the bay
- noticeable small bluff on the north corner of the bay
- entrance to the Kaslo Shipyard