Powell River, British Columbia is a large pulp mill town on the south mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, on the shore of the Strait of Georgia. This area is sometimes referred to as the northern Sunshine Coast. It is the seat of the Powell River Regional District.

District Municipality

Powell River is an incorporated district municipality that includes the central populated area. These includes the neighbourhoods of Cranberry, Townsite, Westview and Wildwood.

Transportation

While not on an island, Powell River is accessible to vehicles only by ferry; the extremely long inlets (fjords) and the very rugged terrain make building roads into Powell River unfeasible. BC Ferries serves Powell River from Comox on Vancouver Island to the west, and from the Sunshine Coast to the south, via a route from Earl's Cove near Skookumchuck Narrows to Saltery Bay south of Powell River itself. Since the Sunshine Coast is similarly isolated from the rest of the B.C. mainland, cars and trucks traveling to Powell River from Vancouver must take two ships to reach it (across Howe Sound and the Jervis Inlet if going via Sechelt , and across Georgia Strait twice if going via Nanaimo).

History

The river was named for Israel Wood Powell who was at that time superintendent of Indian Affairs for BC. He was travelling up the coast of BC in the 1880s and the river and lake were named in his honour.

The pulp mill in Powell River was at one time the largest pulp mill in the world. It has significantly cut back on production and now only occassionally runs a couple of the lines.

The population of the Powell River Regional District is (2001 Census) 19,765. Of this 12,983 live in the District Municipality of Powell River. Due to the shrinking of the mill, the population of Powell River has been decreasing over the last 15 years.

External link

• District of Powell River