Fernwood Capital Regional District, British Columbia
Community - An unincorporated populated place, generally with a population of 50 or more, and having a recognized central area that might contain a post office, store and/or community hall, etc, intended for the use of the general public in the region. NE end of Saltspring Island, Saltspring Island Land District
Mapped Location
Fernwood: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on Fernwood
- Feature Type: Place
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Fernwood
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Fernwood | Official |
Origin Notes and History of Fernwood
References to Fernwood that document the origin of its place name
Fernwood (Community) adopted 2 January 1987 on 92B/13, as labelled on Geological Survey map 41A, Duncan, 1915.
A Selected Bibliography of Fernwood, Capital Regional District, British Columbia
A compilation of essential readings detailing the history, geography, and culture of the region.
Forgotten Cusheon Cove, Salt Spring Island by Charles Kahn, C. T. Hatfield
Imagine it's 1915 and you're on a small island in the Strait of Georgia with a population of just over 900. Now imagine a large sawmill with what was then state-of-the-art machinery on an isolated cove on the southeast side of the island. The mill employs up to 150 workers, many of them non-resident Norwe-gians, Swedes, Japanese, and Chinese. This is only a fragment of the story Chris Hatfield researched after he acquired the 100-acre site in 1984 and began finding items discarded by the different communities that had once lived there. Chris partly donated and partly sold most of the land to BC Parks in 2006. This little book explores the property's history.
53 p. : ill., maps, ports. ; 26 cm.
Non-circulating [ 1 ]
An historical guide to the landmarks, events, activities, parks, beaches, plants and wildlife, accommodations, restaurants, shops and services available on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. This book features charming stories of the early pioneers and offers over 200 photographs, easy-to-read map, where to stay, shop, eat and explore, points of interest, how to get around, list of major island events and activities, as well as where to see plants and wildlife. This book presents Salt Spring Island in a way no other book has. Meet the postman of the 19th century and explore what Salt Spring has to offer today, while taking a trip back in time.
242 pages : illustrations ; 21 cm.
Non-circulating [ 1 ]
Salt Spring the story of an island by Charles Kahn
The largest of BC's southern Gulf Islands, beautiful Salt Spring Island has long been a favoured holiday destination and a prized real-estate area for those in search of an idyllic rural residence. Now available in trade paper, Salt Spring: The Story of an Island chronicles the island's rich history from the days when Coast Salish people inhabited Salt Spring's shores, through some 150 years of settlement by many diverse groups. Because of the island's rugged geography, the early story of Salt Spring is largely the story of hard-working people in small isolated communities industriously carving farms out of rough terrain. Many of the settlers who followed came to find a place where they could live their lives free of the constraints of most societies. This was as true for the African-Americans, many of whom were among the first non-aboriginal settlers to arrive in 1859, as it was for those fleeing conventional middleclass life and for Americans seeking to avoid the Vietnam War. And it's true of almost every new islander who arrives today with a unique personal dream.
344 pages : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 24 cm
Non-circulating [ 1 ]
The Fernwood files by John J. Ellis, Charles Lillard
The Fernwood Files by John J. Ellis and Charles Lillard is a 1989 local history that traces the evolution of Victoria's vibrant Fernwood neighborhood from the 1840s through the late 20th century. Through a blend of personal recollections and detailed historical records, the book explores the area's original landowners, residential growth, and foundational institutions like its early schools and hospitals. Ultimately, it serves as a rich community archive that preserves the unique character and historical development of one of the oldest urban districts in British Columbia's capital.
125 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm
Desiderata
Sitting on a salt spring by David Conover
Sitting on a Salt Spring chronicles the ongoing challenges and profound isolation of maintaining a remote island resort amidst the rugged Gulf Islands archipelago in the marine waters of British Columbia. Conover details how the small, forested landmass of Wallace Island—surrounded by the treacherous tidal currents and sudden squalls of the Strait of Georgia—demanded relentless physical labor to sustain basic infrastructure and a tenuous maritime lifeline to the mainland. By anchoring his narrative to specific rocky coves, weathered docks, and dense stands of coastal timber, the author illustrates how the island's imposing natural barriers actively dictated the daily rhythms of survival and coastal hospitality. Ultimately, the book serves as a deeply localized environmental memoir, capturing how the beautiful yet unforgiving marine topography of the Pacific Northwest inextricably shaped a fiercely self-reliant, water-bound existence.
160 pages ; 18 cm
Non-circulating [ 1 ]
Salt Spring Island by Bea Hamilton
Salt Spring Island by Bea Hamilton is a 1969 local history that chronicles the early settlement and community development of the prominent British Columbia Gulf Island. Written by a lifelong resident from a pioneering family, the book offers an affectionate, firsthand perspective on the island's diverse founders—including English, American, Hawaiian, and Black settlers—and its enduring tradition of rural self-sufficiency. Ultimately, it serves as both a nostalgic personal account and a valuable historical record of the region's pioneering era before modern development transformed the landscape. Officially spelled Saltspring Island.
xi, 180 pages illustrations, maps, portraits 24 cm
Non-circulating [ 1 ]
Salt Spring Island, British Columbia by Edward F. Wilson
Originally marked on the naval charts of 1858 as "Admiral Island," it has of late years altogether dropped that name, and is now known both popularly, and also in the more recently published maps, as Salt Spring Island^ — the saline springs, of which there are some 14 or 15 on the island, being sufficient reason for its present name
30 pages : illustrations, map
ONLINE Circulation [ 1 ]
Capital Regional District
- Albert Head
- Ardmore
- Bear Mountain
- Beaver Lake
- Beaver Point
- Bedwell Harbour
- Belmont Park
- Braemar Heights
- Brentwood Bay
- Cadboro Bay
- District of Central Saanich
- Colquitz
- City of Colwood
- Cordova Bay
- Deep Cove
- East Sooke
- Township of Esquimalt
- Fairfield
- Fernwood
- Fulford Harbour
- Galiano
- Ganges
- Glen Lake
- Goldstream
- Gordon Head
- Happy Valley
- District of Highlands
- Hope Bay
- James Bay
- Keating
- Lake Hill
- City of Langford
- Leechtown
- Lighthouse Point
- Long Harbour
- Luxton
- Marigold
- Mayne Island
- District of Metchosin
- Millstream
- Milnes Landing
- Montague Harbour
- Musgrave Landing
- North Galiano
- District of North Saanich
- District of Oak Bay
- Otter Bay
- Pender Island
- Port Renfrew
- Port Washington
- Prospect Lake
- River Jordan
- Royal Oak
- District of Saanich
- Saanichton
- Saseenos
- Saturna
- Sevenoaks
- Shirley
- Town of Sidney
- District of Sooke
- Strawberry Vale
- Sturdies Bay
- Swartz Bay
- Tillicum
- Vesuvius
- City of Victoria
- Town of View Royal
- Village Bay
Political Boundaries
Last updated: 2025-09-23