City of Greenwood Regional District of Kootenay-Boundary, British Columbia

City - A populated place with legally defined boundaries, incorporated as a city municipality under the provincial Municipal Act. NW of Grand Forks, Similkameen Division Yale Land District

Mapped Location

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

 

Information

General information on City of Greenwood

  • Feature Type: Incorporated

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for City of Greenwood

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

Name Description
City of Greenwood Official

 

Origin Notes and History of City of Greenwood

References to City of Greenwood that document the origin of its place name

Incorporated as the City of Greenwood 12 July 1897. Greenwood (City) confirmed 6 October 1955 82/SW.

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 settler was Robert Wood in 1895. Origin indefinite, but general opinion is that as the townsite was covered with green timber and as Wood owned the townsite, Greenwood was considered an appropriate name. Post Office opened 1 March 1896. (Information provided by A.N. Mowat, postmaster; published in the 17th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1921.) See also the municipality's own internet site. See also the municipality's own website.

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

C. Scott Galloway, one of the owners of the townsite, turned to his partner Robert Wood as they stood on a forested hillside. "It is a nice green wood," he said. Wood replied,"That is what we will call it"

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Akrigg, Helen B. and Akrigg, G.P.V; British Columbia Place Names; Sono Nis Press, Victoria 1986 /or University of British Columbia Press 1997  |  Province of British Columbia

Named after a mining camp in the American Cordillera - most of the miners and companies operating in the boundary country were from the USA. (Rupert W. Haggen, BCLS, Origin of Place Names in Boundary District, 1945 manuscript, file H.1.45.)

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

During the Rock Creek gold rush a prospector, Charlie Wood, located gold on his claim in the hills above town. When his claim was almost played out, he injured his leg with an axe, but before seeking medical attention in Greenwood he buried his treasure between two fir trees, on a flat above his cabin. Upon his return he found the cabin and all the trees had been burnt down by a forest fire - the land was unrecognizable and he was never able to relocate his cache of gold. (condensed from "Lost Treasure in British Columbia" by L. Lazeo; Victoria 1973; presented at BC Folklore Society's website http://collections.ic.gc.ca/folklore/ )

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
included with note  |  Province of British Columbia

 

Regional District of Kootenay-Boundary

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2023-10-01