City of Penticton Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, British Columbia


City - A populated place with legally defined boundaries, incorporated as a city municipality under the provincial Municipal Act. S end of Okanagan Lake, Similkameen Division Yale Land District

Mapped Location

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

 

Information

General information on City of Penticton

  • Feature Type: Incorporated

 

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

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

Name Description
City of Penticton Official

 

Origin Notes and History of City of Penticton

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

Penticton incorporated as a District Municipality 1 January 1909. "Penticton (Municipal District)" adopted in the 18th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1924, p.357. Form of name incorrectly changed to Penticton (Town) 6 October 1936 on Geological Survey sheet 420A, Kelowna. Re-incorporated as a City municipality 10 May 1948, called The Corporation of the City of Penticton; Penticton (City) confirmed 7 October 1954 on 82E/SW.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia

"Mr. Ellis has a fine farm known as Penticton..." (G.M. Dawson, Geological Survey Progress Report 1877-78, p.54B). Penticton Post Office was opened 1 December 1889, Thomas Ellis postmaster.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia

"Place where water passes beyond." (information from Isaac Harris, published in Vernon News, 18 July 1918). Compare with: "Derived from the Okanagan dialect of the Salish tribe, the word Pen-tak-tin meaning 'a place of permanent abode where waters pass by'." (50th Anniversary booklet of Penticton, 1958). See also the municipality's own website.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia

From the Indigenous name Pente-hik-ton, "ever" or "forever" referring to the constant steady flow of the Okanagan River out of the lake.... applied by the Indigenous people to the locality at the outlet of the lake, meaning that the stream ran on ever, or forever, in contrast to other streams which dried up during the summer (6th Report of the Okanagan Historical Society); compare with: "Derives from the Okanagan word Sin-peen-tick-tin, loosely translatable as 'permanent place'." (c1980 advice from Randy Bouchard, BC Indian Language Project).

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia

 

Related Catalog Titles

A Bibliography for City of Penticton, Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen, British Columbia

Popular Day Hikes: South-Central Okanagan Kelowna, Penticton, Oliver by Gerry Shea

Gerry Shea’s Popular Day Hikes: South-Central Okanagan serves as an accessible, comprehensive trail guide for exploring the diverse landscapes stretching from Kelowna and Penticton down to Oliver. The book details 35 distinct routes through the region, providing practical maps, elevation profiles, and trailhead directions across a striking cross-section of semi-arid bunchgrass, ponderosa pine forests, and dramatic canyon country. A keen insight drawn from the text is how outdoor recreation guidebooks in the interior Pacific Northwest function as quiet instruments of ecological management; by systematically channeling foot traffic onto designated paths, the guide helps protect fragile desert-ecosystem flora and sensitive wildlife habitats from the pressures of a booming regional tourism economy.

143 pages : colour illustrations, maps ; 22 cm.

CIRC [ 0 ]

 


Penticton 75 years to remember, 1908-1983 by A. David MacDonald

146 pages : illustrations ; 26 cm

CIRC [ 0 ]

 


 

Last updated: 2023-10-01