Near Greenwood in Kootenay Boundary, British Columbia — Canada’s West Coast (North America)

Copper Street

B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure via Flickr (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0), November 15, 2016

1. Copper Street Marker

Inscription. During the prosperous years of the late 1890s, this street was one of the busiest thoroughfares in the province. Little wonder, for in those years copper was king, and Greenwood — incorporated as a city in 1897 — was the capital of the copper-rich Boundary Country. More than 100 businesses in a townsite of less than three square kilometres catered to the needs of Greenwood's 2,00 residents. At its height, the town had 14 hotels, two newspapers, two banks, and a thousand-seat opera house. Though the boom years of the copper mining era have passed, historic Copper Street lives on, as does the City of Greenwood.

Caption: Greenwood's Copper Street in its heyday. Greenwood Museum photo

Erected by Province of British Columbia • Greenwood Museum.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Industry & Commerce • Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers. A significant historical year for this entry is 1897.

Location. 49° 4.74′ N, 118° 41.082′ W. Marker is near Greenwood, British Columbia, in Kootenay Boundary. It is at the intersection of Smelter Viewpoint and Butte Avenue, on the right when traveling south on Smelter Viewpoint. Copper St, Greenwood. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Greenwood BC V0H 1J0, Canada. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in the BC Interior

and in the Kootenay Rockies.

Globally, it is in North America,

in the Rocky Mountains,

on the Ring of Fire,

in the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once a British colony.

Other nearby markers.

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At least 6 other markers are within 23 kilometers of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Greenwood Smelter (a few steps from this marker); Boundary Falls Smelter (approx. 4.6 kilometers away); Kettle Valley Railroad (approx. 10.5 kilometers away); Midway (approx. 10.6 kilometers away); Eholt (approx. 13.2 kilometers away); Chief Joseph Tonasket (approx. 21.8 kilometers away in the U.S.).

Copper Street image. Click for full size.

Unknown via British Columbia Archives B-00523_141 (Public domain), 1900

2. Copper Street

Greenwood's history dates to 1891, when gold, silver and copper were discovered in the area. Fortune seekers swarmed into the city, but the boom was short-lived: Copper prices sank after World War I and the city's population dwindled to just a few hundred. The ghost town briefly came back to life during World War II, when it was turned into an internment camp that held 1,200 Japanese-Canadians. The city now has about 650 residents.

Credits. This page was last revised on February 11, 2022. It was originally submitted on December 10, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This page has been viewed 305 times since then and 28 times this year. Photos: 1. submitted on December 10, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. 2. submitted on December 12, 2021, by Duane and Tracy Marsteller of Murfreesboro, Tennessee.

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