Nicola Thompson-Nicola 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. W end of Nicola Lake, NE of Merritt, Kamloops Division Yale Land District

Mapped Location

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

 

Information

General information on Nicola

  • Feature Type: Place

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Nicola

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

Name Description
Nicola Official

 

Origin Notes and History of Nicola

References to Nicola that document the origin of its place name

Nicola (town) adopted in the 12th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 30 June 1913. Form of name changed to Nicola (Post Office & Railway Station) 7 April 1949; further changed to Nicola (community) 17 October 1979.

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

Named in association with Nicola River and Nicola Lake, in turn adaptions of the nickname of a famous Indian chief, grand uncle of the present chief at Douglas Lake (1915). His name was Nwistes-meekin, "walking grizzly bear", but the French-speaking fur traders nicknamed him "Nicolas" and spoke of the district and river as Nicolas' country. Lac de Nicolas and R. Nicholas [sic] are labelled on A.C. Anderson's 1849 manuscript map. The Indians pronounced the nickname N'kuala or Nkwala, and those spellings made their way into the records, eventually anglicized to "Nicola".

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

Nicola Lake Post Office was opened 1 August 1872 in the home of John Clapperton; apparently closed sometime thereafter, and was re-established 1 April 1885. Name changed to Nicola Post Office 1 September 1905 and remained open until 28 August 1960. Nicola was the main centre of the valley until coal development at "the Forks" (confluence of Nicola and Coldwater Rivers) gave rise to Merritt in 1907.

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

 

Thompson-Nicola Regional District

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2023-10-02