COMMENTS: Evelyn is a small farming/ranching community in a lovely grassy valley 8 miles northwest of Smithers, The Town of Smithers is situated in the Bulkley Valley of northern British Columbia along Yellowhead Highway 16 approximately half way between the cities of Prince Rupert and Prince George. Smithers is a member municipality of the Bulkley Nechako Regional District. The Town’s location is positioned with excellent road (the Yellowhead Highway 16), rail (Canadian National) and air (Smithers Airport) connections to the rest of the province of British Columbia, Canada. Smithers is a town of 5,414 people and is considered to be a regional service centre for the entire Bulkley Valley and, as such, offers a greater variety of amenities than other towns similar to its size. The Town was surveyed in 1913 and a street grid pattern was established that is still very much evident today. Historically, intensive development has been oriented towards Main Street as the prime commercial focus with residential development radiating outward from the commercial core. The traditional downtown was punctuated by important civic structures - the (old) Courthouse at the northern end of Main Street or by community focal points - the Canadian National railway station at the southern end of Main Street. This pattern has been sustained by the preservation of the old Courthouse, with establishment of a major civic park in Central Park, and with the on-going restoration of the CN railway station as a community resource centre. HISTORY: In 1913, Smithers was founded as the divisional headquarters of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The community took its name from Sir Alfred Smithers, the chairman of the board of directors of the railway. Alfred Avenue is also named after him. Lake Kathlyn, one of the most familiar spots in the Smithers area, is named after Sir Alfred’s daughter. In 1921, Smithers was designated the first incorporated village in British Columbia. Development of local mineral and agricultural resources were encouraged and a steady economic growth was realized. In 1967, Smithers moved from the status of village to incorporated town. The aboriginal people of this area are the Wet’suwet’en, a Carrier people of the Athapaskan language group, whose oral history recounts a story of their origins in the village of Dizlegh, on the Bulkley River just east of Hazelton. Non-aboriginal fur traders began traveling though the valley in 1860’s and missionaries soon after. The village of Kyah Wiget, meaning old town, later became known as Moricetown named after Father Adrien Gabriel Morice who came to the village in 1892. Father Morice studied the native language and translated prayer books into Carrier. In 1866, the exploration team for the Collins Overland Telegraph line came through, attempting to construct an overland telegraph line connecting North American to Europe and Asia. Through their efforts failed, the trail served as an access route to gold miners heading north. The Bulkley Valley is named for Colonel Charles Bulkley, the Engineer-in-Charge of the survey team. Little exploration was carried out in this area until 1892 when a provincial government surveying team noted the potential resources of the valley. By then, the old telegraph tail was known as the Dominion Telegraph line, and was being extended to the Yukon. Gabriel Lacroix became the first non-aboriginal man in the area, arriving about 1900 to farm on the east side of the Bulkley River. Then, in 1903, the Fred Heal family settled on the east side of Tyhee Lake. In a few years, settlement began in earnest. The now-vanished village of Aldermere was staked in 1904, followed by Telkwa three years later. TAXES: $306.08 (2006) ZONING: Ag PRICE: $1,175,000 CND ($1,048,375 US) | 
