Princeton's Pioneer Past: Episodes in Princeton History

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For a town of its size, Princeton has a rich, fascinating, and surprisingly turbulent history. The region's mineral wealth, from ochre to copper, coal and even gold, has played an important role in making Princeton's history so interesting. The ebb and flow of mining has led to frantic gold rushes, shocking economic collapses, overnight rags-to-riches stories, and bitterly fought labour struggles.

Princeton's history has also been marked by its geographical isolation, since the town is flanked on both sides by mountain ranges. The sagas of the Dewdney Trail, Kettle Valley Railway, and Hope-Princeton Highways furnish enough tales to fill volumes. This geographic isolation has left a lasting legacy on Princeton and led to the intense importance of horses to the local culture.

The scope of Princeton's history is too vast to comprehensively cover in a single tour. In this tour, we will look at some of the most exciting episodes from that history: stories like the ancient Vermilion Cave, the groundbreaking pioneer John Fall Allison and his wives, the 'Gentleman Bandit' Bill Miner, the gold rush at Granite Creek, and many more.

The tour route is fairly short. It begins on Vermilion Avenue and turns up onto Bridge Street, exploring the area where many of the town's most prominent buildings once stood.

Links

• Website onthisspot.ca
• Download App apps.apple.com

Organizer

On This Spot

The On This Spot app takes people on guided walking tours through the history that surrounds them.

At each stop on their journey users will find themselves standing on the spot a historic photo was taken. They can view a then and now photo comparison, use the built in camera to create their own, and read about local history and how it ties into the broader human experience.

Based in Vancouver, On This Spot is working with heritage, tourism, and business organizations across Canada to expand the app's coverage.