Kelowna

[edit] The exact dates of the first settlement in the Okanagan Valley are unknown, but a northern migration led to the habitation of this area some 9,000 years ago. The Indigenous Syilx people are the first known inhabitants of the region where they continue to live today. In 1811, David Stuart travelled to the Okanagan Valley, becoming the first European to do so. Despite this, it was not until 1859 that Father Pandosy, a French Roman Catholic Oblate missionary, became the first European to settle there. Pandosy's settlement was located at l'Anse au Sable (Bay of Sand), which he named in reference to its sandy shoreline. Although the population remained small for the rest of the 19th century, sustenance fruit growing expanded in Kelowna during the 1870s, and by the 1890s, commercial agriculture had become firmly established. Kelowna was officially incorporated on May 4, 1905, with a population of 600. The town's first mayor was Henry Raymer. Although agriculture had become an important mark of Kelowna in the surrounding region, the town relied entirely on transportation over Okanagan Lake until 1925. In 1893, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) constructed the steamer SS Aberdeen on the lake, which served as the first significant transportation link between Kelowna and Penticton, greatly increasing the speed of Kelowna's growth. On September 11, 1925, CP was extended to Kelowna, ending the town's reliance on Okanagan Lake for transportation and trade. In 1911, Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen visited Kelowna for fundraising. At that time, approximately 15% of the population was ethnically Chinese. On August 6, 1969, a sonic boom from a nearby air show broke a quarter million dollars worth of glass, injuring six people. The destruction was caused by a member of the United States Blue Angels during a practice routine for the Kelowna Regatta festival when the pilot accidentally broke the sound barrier while flying too low. On November 25, 2005, the First Ministers and National Aboriginal Leaders signed the Kelowna Accord, which sought to improve the lives of Indigenous peoples. Kelowna celebrated its centennial in May 2005. The same year, construction began on the five-lane William R. Bennett Bridge to replace the three-lane Okanagan Lake Bridge as part of a plan to alleviate traffic problems during the summer tourist season. The new bridge was completed in 2008. On July 12, 2021, a crane suffered a catastrophic failure while being dismantled at a construction site located at St. Paul Street near Bernard Avenue in downtown Kelowna. Part of the crane struck a nearby office building and a seniors home. The city declared a local state of emergency, and the area's residents were evacuated. Five people were killed in the collapse: four construction workers and one person in the office building. Henry Raymer, the first mayor of Kelowna The SS Aberdeen (back) and a smaller steamship (the Kelowna, front) in the dock at Kelowna in 1906 Kelowna in 1909 as viewed from across Okanagan Lake The centre of Kelowna during the 1920s Wildfires[edit] This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources. In Kelowna, many seasonal wildfires have occurred over the years. Some significant fires warranting evacuations and/or causing damage are listed below: In August 2003, a nearby wildfire destroyed 239 homes and forced the temporary evacuation of about 30,000 residents. Many trestles of the historic Kettle Valley Railway were destroyed. The trestles have been rebuilt to look like the originals but using smaller dimension beams. This fire consumed 25,000 hectares (62,000 acres) of land. In July 2009, wildfires destroyed hundreds of hectares of forest and several buildings in West Kelowna; 17,000 residents were evacuated. In July 2009, a 100 ha (250 acres) fire near Rose Valley caused the evacuation of 7,000 people. No structures were lost. In July 2009, a 9,200 ha (23,000 acres) fire behind Fintry caused the evacuation of 2,500 people. No structures were lost. In September 2012, a late-season, 200 ha (490 acres) fire destroyed seven buildings and caused the evacuation of 1,500 people in the community of Peachland. In July 2014, a 340 ha (840 acres) fire behind the West Kelowna subdivision of Smith Creek caused the evacuation of 3,000 people. In July 2015, a 560 ha (1,400 acres) fire near Shelter Cove caused the evacuation of 70 properties. In August 2015, a 130 ha (320 acres) fire burned near Little White Mountain, just south of Kelowna. In August 2017, a 400 ha (990 acres) fire in the Joe Rich area caused the evacuation of over 474 properties. In August 2023, a 6,800 ha (17,000 acres) fire was burning in the McDougall Creek area on the west side of Okanagan Lake, causing the evacuation order of over 2,400 properties; winds carried embers across the lake to Kelowna, spawning fires and the loss of city structures.