Athalmer Regional District of East Kootenay, 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. N end of Windermere Lake, Kootenay Land District

Mapped Location

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

 

Information

General information on Athalmer

  • Feature Type: Place

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Athalmer

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

Name Description
Athalmer Official

 

Origin Notes and History of Athalmer

References to Athalmer that document the origin of its place name

Athalmer (village) adopted in the 18th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 31 March 1924; form of name changed to Athalmer (Post Office) in the 1930 BC Gazetteer; form of name changed to Athalmer (Community) 15 December 1982 on 82 K/9.

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

Athalmer Post Office was opened 1 November 1899, J.J. Lake, postmaster.

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

This place was originally known as "Salmon Beds"; here the Indians caught salmon as they came up the river. "Athalmer", the old form of his family name, was suggested by Hon. Frederick Whitworth Aylmer, CE, of Golden, who laid out the townsite in the 1880's. His family roots can be traced to the days when King Alfred's brother, Ethelred, ruled the Saxon's - 200 years before the Norman conquest of 1066. Athelmer or Athalmer, the name of Ethelred's son, means "most noble"; eventually the early-English "the" was replaced by the equivalent Roman "y", transforming the family name to Aylmer.

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

Slight variations about the significance: The Golden politician and civil engineer who laid out the Athalmer townsite in the 1880's, the Honourable Frederick W. Aylmer, aware that his surname derived from the Anglo-Saxon "athol" (noble), and combining that with "mere" (lake), called the settlement after himself and his ancestors....OR....Athalmer was an old form of his family name.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Canadian Geographical Names Database, Ottawa  |  Province of British Columbia

 

Regional District of East Kootenay

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2023-10-21