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| Townsite and Beach
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Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Canada on Vancouver Island
lies on the southern tip of Vancouver Island and is a part
of the Capital Regional District. The community is located
on the south side of Port San Juan Harbour, near the confluence
of Port San Juan Harbour and San Juan River. Port Renfrew,
British Columbia, Canada on Vancouver Island is located approximately
(2.5) two and one-half hours west of Victoria along Highway
14. Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Canada on Vancouver Island
can also be reached by travelling through Lake Cowichan over
logging road via Harris Creek and the San Juan River Valley.
To the northeast, situated on the broad low floodplain of
the San Juan River, lies the Pacheedaht First Nations community,
as well as a small cluster of properties next to the reserve
known as "Elliottville".
The world-renowned West Coast Trail, which extends north
through Pacific Rim Park to Bamfield on the Alberni Inlet,
is accessed through Port Renfrew. Also of regional significance
is the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail, which runs through the new
linear provincial park stretching along the shore from Botanical
Beach towards Jordan River.
Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Canada on Vancouver Island
is an association of neighbourhoods spread out along the seashore,
river estuary and Highway 14. Most of Port Renfrew's residents
live in the Beach Camp area, which was once a one-time logging
rail yard and log dump. This site was converted into a timber
company town site after the logging railroad was rendered
obsolete by truck logging.
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| Snuggery Cove
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Prior to this and for hundreds of years, the Pacheedaht First
Nations members lived and travelled up and down the west coas
t and throughout the San Juan Valley. Evidence of their use
of this area and possibly other First Nation's use, is confirmed
by the presence of archaeological sites which occur within
the plan area. The first residents of this area used the various
water ways as a method for travelling to other First Nation
territories. One of the first contacts between the local First
Nations people and Europeans occurred on July 13, 1798 when
the crew from the British ship, HMS Iphigenia engaged the
local residents in a dispute.
Pioneering European settlers began to move into the Port Renfrew,
British Columbia, Canada on Vancouver Island area after the
founding of Fort Victoria in 1859. References to Port San
Juan began to show up in the 1850`s and more so in the 1860`s
and 70`s as some gold was found in the local rivers and creeks.
This promoted the construction of a road from Sooke to Port
Renfrew, which was finally constructed in the 1950's. Prior
to 1950,a series of waterway routes, logging roads and trails
connecting Port Renfrew , British Columbia, Canada on Vancouver
Island to Cowichan Lake, was the only land base route out
from Port Renfrew
Direct access to Port Renfrew, British Columbia, Canada on
Vancouver Island by water started on a regular basis around
the 1890`s and continued through to the 1950`s. The water
route was considered dangerous, which is evident through the
large number of shipwrecks being recorded in the vicinity
of San Juan Harbour. Within San Juan Harbour itself, it is
home to one or two shipwrecks.
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| Road to Botanical
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As time passed, other economic activities such as logging
and fishing, and to a lesser extent farming, were recognized
and became prominent in the San Juan Valley. Logging eventually
became the mainstay of economic activity throughout the San
Juan Valley. This is evident as the main residential area
known as "Beach Camp" can be attributed to the logging
industry around "Port Renfrew" .
It is not known exactly where the name Port Renfrew , British
Columbia, Canada on Vancouver Island came from, although it
is thought locally that it comes from the Prince of Wales,
Baron of Renfrew, who visited Canada in 1860. Many of the
familiar names for street names and land formations originate
from the early pioneers. For example, Parkinson Road, which
is the main road through the village, is named after an earlier
homesteader who built a three and one -half (3.5) mile boardwalk
from the main wharf in the harbour to his farm homes tead.
Other significant activities in the area include the establishment,
at the turn of the century, of the Botanical Beach research
station by the University of Minnesota, as a place to study
rare and not so rare sea plant and animal life.
Information Courtesy of the Port
Renfrew Official Community Website
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