1 1/2 miles west of Dawson Creek on Hwy 97
Once called the “Beaver Plains”, this townsite was named in honour of Dr. G.M. Dawson, outstanding Canadian geologist and scientist whose expeditions in BC covered almost every field of natural history. His geodetic surveys of 1879 reported the fertility of this prairie, aided its settlement, and prompted later exploration of its gas and oil fields.
Dawson Creek is famous as Mile “0” of the Alaska Highway, considered one of the world’s civil engineering landmarks. In 1958, as the rest of British Columbia was preparing to celebrate the centennial of the founding of the Colony of British Columbia, the people of Dawson Creek gathered to usher in their community’s new status as an incorporated municipality, officially dubbed “BC’s Centennial City.” But the history of Dawson Creek really had its origins long ago.
For thousands of years Athapaskan-speaking and Cree First Nations called the area home. In the 1790s and early 1800s North West Company fur traders such as Alexander Mackenzie and Simon Fraser passed along the nearby Peace River. In 1798 Rocky Mountain House was built on the Peace River, the first trading post in what is now British Columbia. Geologist George Mercer Dawson passed this way in 1879 and noted the creek which soon was given his name, but little changed in the area until 1907.
That was the year that the federal government opened up for homesteaders what was called the Peace River Block. Farmers soon took up the fertile lands and a small settlement began to take shape at Dawson Creek. The Northern Alberta Railway built a line into the region and chose Dawson Creek as its terminus. The first passenger train steamed in in 1931 and the little town began to grow. Grain elevators became part of the skyline.
By March 9, 1942 Dawson Creek had grown, but still had only 600 people, but that day it changed forever as the first train carrying US troops arrived to start building the Alaska Highway. The town’s population swelled to 10,000 in weeks. The job was finished in 9 months and the 1,523 mile long highway opened for wartime service. It is now a lifeline to the north, serving residents, industry and tourists alike.
In the early 1950s an oil and gas boom created even more growth in Dawson Creek. It was time to become an incorporated municipality with a mayor and council. In 1958, just fifty years ago, Dawson Creek became BC’s Centennial City. And it hasn’t looked back since then.
