Wallace Island Marine Park Feature
This island, originally charted as “Narrow Island”, was named after Capt. Wallace Houstoun, who first surveyed the area in the 1850s. Twisted fruit trees mark the remnants of the garden and orchard planted by Jeremiah Chivers, a Scotsman who retired here after unsuccessful adventures in the interior gold rushes. Chivers lived alone on the island, never marrying, and died here in 1927 at the age of 92. After the Second World War, David Conover purchased the island and moved here with his wife Jeanne. The couple developed a very successful holiday resort on Wallace Island, and Conover became a successful author, writing four books – “Once Upon An Island”, “One Man’s Island”, “Sitting On A Saltspring” and “Finding Marilyn, A Resource”. In the first two books he described the couple’s struggles and joys after their purchase of the land in 1946. Their resort, the Royal Cedar Cottages, was advertised as having “a modern well-stocked store, cabins, recreation hall and boat rentals.” In the mid to late 1960s, Conover sold the majority of the island to a group of teachers from Seattle. Disagreements among the owners led to court proceedings and the property was again put up for sale. Wallace Island was purchased through the court ordered sale and became a marine park in 1990 through the cooperative efforts of the provincial government and BC Marine Parks Forever. -- B.C. Parks 9/2025
Mapped Location
Wallace Island Marine Park: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.
Information
General information on Wallace Island Marine Park
- Feature Type: Feature
Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Wallace Island Marine Park
A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named
| Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Wallace Island Marine Park | Official |
Related Catalog Titles
A Bibliography for Wallace Island Marine Park, Feature
Sitting on a salt spring by David Conover
From dream island back to civilization ... with all of the joys and hazards of community living.
160 pages ; 18 cm
CIRC [ 1 ]
Last updated: 2025-09-23