Self Guided Historic Walking Tour of Nanaimo - Robert Dunsmuir

Digital

History & heritage Photography Self-guided

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Date and time

This activity runs the duration of Culture Days.

Location

Nanaimo, BC

Access

Free.

Offered in English.

About

This tour tells the story of Robert Dunsmuir, one of the most remarkable rags to riches stories in Canadian history. Dunsmuir came to British Columbia from Scotland as a lowly indentured miner for the Hudson's Bay Company in 1851. He soon proved himself a tireless and loyal worker and rose rapidly to manage the company's Nanaimo coal mining operations. In 1870 he set out to build his own mining company and before long had quashed the well-established competition. Through shrewd business tactics and ruthless cost cutting, often at the expense of the well-being of his miners, he quickly became the richest man in the province. By the 1880s when he oversaw the building of the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway, he was envied by the rich as a captain of industry beyond peer.

On the other hand many of the working classes despised him as a robber baron. Yet even his harshest critics admitted a grudging respect for the man who had come to represent the virtues of initiative and hard work. After his sudden death his family bickered over his vast empire, and under their stewardship it was soon frittered away. A fascinating individual, Robert Dunsmuir remains perhaps the most controversial figure in this province's history, and one who left an indelible mark on Nanaimo.

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Organizer

On This Spot

On This Spot guides people on a tour back in time, showing & telling the history that surrounds them. On each spot, users will find themselves standing in the footsteps of a photographer who took a historic photo. On site tourists/users can use the built-in camera feature to create their own then-and-photos, which can be shared on social media and saved as a digital souvenir. Selections of these photos are chained together into walking tours that take a deep dive into local history.

On This Spot strives to make history engaging, educational, and accessible to all with a focus on easy to use features and a succinct writing style. The aim is to create an intuitive user experience that provides historical unparalleled depth without overwhelming or confusing users.