Village of Clinton Thompson-Nicola Regional District, British Columbia

Village (1) - A populated place with legally defined boundaries, incorporated as a village municipality under the provincial Municipal Act. W side Bonaparte River, between Cache Creek and 70 Mile House, Lillooet Land District

Mapped Location

Village of Clinton: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

 

Information

General information on Village of Clinton

  • Feature Type: Incorporated

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Village of Clinton

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name Description
Village of Clinton Official

 

Origin Notes and History of Village of Clinton

References to Village of Clinton that document the origin of its place name

Clinton (Post Office & Station) adopted 3 March 1955 on 92 P as labelled on BC map 1G, 1916. Incorporated as a Village Municipality 16 July 1963.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

George Dawson's 1895 map, Kamloops (Geological Survey of Canada map 557) identifies the Indian Village, Pil-te-'uk (meaning "white earth"), just above Clinton on Junction Creek.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

In the early gold rush days the locality was known as 47 Mile House because of its distance from Lillooet, and also possibly known as simply "The Junction" [the original route to the Cariboo gold fields via Harrison Lake & Lillooet joined the second road, from Yale, at this place]. In 1863, upon completion of the Cariboo Wagon Road, it was renamed in honour of Henry Pelham Clinton (1811-1864), 5th Duke of Newcastle, who served as Colonial Secretary from 1852 to 1854, and again from 1859 until his death in 1964. Some sources indicate that the place had been known previously as Cut Off Valley, but BC records suggest that that name only came into use after Clinton had been named, and "Cut Off Valley" referred to the valley only. Clinton Post Office was opened 10 September 1884.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

The first 47 Mile House opened on New Year's Day, 1861, at the junction of the old River Trail and the new Cariboo Wagon Road, "....a fine two-storey hewn-log building of seven rooms (and not a nail in it !) ....with a well-stoked bar, good food and kindly generous hosts." (excerpt from Beautiful British Columbia magazine, Spring 1983)

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

"Henry Fiennes Pelham Clinton

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Provincial Archives of BC "Place Names File" compiled 1945-1950 by A.G. Harvey from various sources, with subsequent additions  |  Province of British Columbia

 

Thompson-Nicola Regional District

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2023-10-02