Town of Princeton
—  Town  —
Town of Princeton Location of Princeton in British Columbia
Coordinates: 49°27′32″N 120°30′22″W / 49.45889°N 120.50611°W / 49.45889; -120.50611
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Region	Similkameen Country
Regional district	Okanagan-Similkameen
Incorporated	1951
Government
• Governing body	Princeton Town Council
• Mayor	Randy McLean
Area
• Total	10.24 km2 (3.95 sq mi)
Elevation[1]	700.4 m (2,297.9 ft)
Population (2006)
• Total	2,677
• Density	261.43/km2 (669.25/sq mi)
Time zone	PST (UTC-8)
Area code(s)	250
Highways	3, 5A

Princeton (originally Vermilion Forks^[2]) is a small town in the Similkameen region of southern British Columbia, Canada.^[3] It lies just east of the Cascade Mountains, which continue south into Washington, Oregon and California. The Tulameen and Similkameen Rivers converge here.^[4] As of the 2006 census, the population registered 2,677.^[5]

Princeton centers on seven blocks of businesses along Bridge Street and five blocks on Vermilion Avenue; there are also businesses along British Columbia Highway 3.^[6]

Historically, the area's main industry has been mining^[4]—copper, gold, coal, and some platinum^[2]—but nowadays the town's biggest employer is a sawmill owned by Weyerhaeuser, along with a few smaller timber companies, such as Princeton Wood Preservers and Princeton Post and Rail.^[7]

  History

Before European contact, the land around today's Princeton was known among First Nations people as a source of red ochre. Beginning no later than 1846, fur traders, settlers, and miners established trails connecting what was then known as Vermilion Forks to the Pacific Coast of British Columbia. John Fall Allison became, in 1858, the first permanent settler of European ancestry.^[2] To this day, the site of his home functions locally like a kilometre zero, with creeks east of Princeton having names like "Five Mile" based on their distance from that location.^[6] The town he founded was renamed "Prince Town" (later corrupted to "Princeton") to honor an 1860 visit to eastern Canada by Prince Edward (later King Edward VII).^[2] Allison's wife, Susan Louisa Allison, chronicled the legends of the local First Nations people.^[6]

In the years 1909–1915 the railways arrived, with the Kettle Valley Railway (later Canadian Pacific) connecting Princeton to the Great Northern.^[2]

Until 1961, Princeton was home to a brewery, the Princeton Brewing Company. Until the 1940s, the brewery kept its beer cool in the Vermilion Cave. The cave, which held up to 20 railway cars at a time, was largely demolished to make way for the Hope-Princeton Highway, part of the Crowsnest Highway (British Columbia Highway 3).^[8]

Princeton joined the Canadian Board of Trade (later Chamber of Commerce) in 1913, and was incorporated as a village in 1951, and as a town in 1978.^[6] Beginning in the 1980s, Princeton began to revitalize its downtown, a plan that included red brick sidewalks and new streetlights. In the 1990s, they adopted a "heritage" theme, with many businesses converting their exteriors to match architectural styles from roughly a century earlier.^[4] Further landscaping of the town centre continues as of 2008.^[6]

The historic Princeton Hotel on Bridge Street, having been in operation since 1912, burned to ground on April 8, 2006.

  Princeton Museum

The Princeton Museum on Vermilion Avenue houses the Joe Pollard fossil collection. The collection also includes an early 1900s stagecoach, a 1934 fire engine, local native artifacts, a collection of dolls, a collection of local butterflies, exhibits about pioneer life, a livery stable, and an old firehouse.^[9] The Museum is affiliated with: CMA, CHIN, and Virtual Museum of Canada.

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  Princeton Museum

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  Princeton Museum

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  Princeton Museum

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  Princeton Museum outbuilding

  Climate

  Princeton Castle

  The "Princeton Castle" ruins.

On the eastern outskirts of Princeton are the ruins of East Princeton. Conceived in 1910 as a "Great Cement City", the area is now a resort known as "Princeton Castle".^[11]

Four years, a million dollars, hundreds of thousands of hours of work by engineers, carpenters, and masons (several of whom died in accidents) went into constructing a cement plant. The project came to an abrupt halt in 1914, for reasons not entirely clear: possibly lack of limestone or (due to World War I) coal.^[11]

  Other institutions

Princeton is part of School District #58, and has two elementary schools (John Allison for grades K-3 and Vermilion Forks for grades 4-7), a secondary school (for grades 8-12) and The Bridge, a continuing education school (grades 8-12 and adult learners that have not completed high school).^[4]

Princeton has a hospital and long-term care center (Princeton General Hospital and Ridgewood Lodge), two Seniors' Clubs and several seniors' and handicapped housing facilities, and a variety of drug and alcohol counseling services, an adult mental care drop-in center, a program for women in abusive relationships, and numerous other social service institutions.^[4]

  Princeton on film

  Sunflower Downs, Princeton's fair grounds.

In 1987, Burt Reynolds starred in the film Malone, which was filmed mainly in neighbouring Hedley, British Columbia, but included key scenes in downtown Princeton and the surrounding area. Also partly shot in the area was Sean Penn's 2001 film The Pledge, starring Jack Nicholson, which was also filmed in Lytton and Lillooet.

  References

• Princeton 2008 Visitors Guide, published by the Similkameen Spotlight, Princeton, BC.

  External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Princeton, British Columbia

• Official Municipality Website
• Princeton, British Columbia, Canada 2001 Census Community Profile
• Similkameen News Leader Website
• Similkameen Spotlight Newspaper Website

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Coordinates: 49°27′32.1″N 120°30′21.7″W / 49.458917°N 120.506028°W / 49.458917; -120.506028