Above Photo: 108 Mile Ranch House.
From an earlier post I spoke about a trip my wife and I went on in early November 2015, we were traveling through a number of British Columbia communities and we stopped at the 108 Mile Ranch and Heritage Site. The heritage site I referred it to being one of
British Columbia's gems, and it truly is.
Above Photo: The 108 Mile House Heritage Site welcomes travelers.
When we stopped, it was the off season, so we were not able to tour through the buildings, but just stand looking at the buildings gives you that feeling from the past. The members of the 100 Mile and District Historical Society have out done themselves by putting together such an amazing display for us all. The hard work that has gone into building up of this site is truly remarkable.
Above 2 Photos: In the two photographs it shows the longest log Clydesdale barn in Canada with the 108 Mile lake in the background.
Above Photo: The information sign tells you about what is in the 108 Mile House area.
The 108 Mile House Heritage Site opens on the May Long Weekend from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and runs through to Labour Day in September and I would encourage anyone who is going to be traveling through the area of the 108 Mile Ranch, stop and tour the Heritage Site, it is an amazing look at British Columbia’s past.
The Heritage site also has a great rest site, with lots of parking, clean heated washrooms, picnic tables throughout the site, so bring along a lunch and stretch your legs and enjoy this treasure.
Above Photo: 1962 Mack truck used at the Ainsworth Lumber Co. LTD.
100 Mile House British Columbia.
The below information comes off of the 108 Mile Ranch - The Heritage site sign which is displayed in front of the Heritage site.
108 Mile Ranch - The Heritage.
The 108 began as a post house on the Cariboo Trail in 1867, the year of confederation.
During the next thirty-six years the property changed hands several times as various entrepreneurs provided services, including murder for the gold.
Above Photo: The chapel where folks got married in and where they went to worship.
In 1903 captain Geoffry Watson purchased district lot 76, a 320 acre spread as beautiful as any in the new west, which became home to a championship line of Clydesdale horses until his death, while serving in World War 1.
With the lumber boom in the 50's select fir was harvested. Stumps four and five feet in diameter remain as testimony to the dry belt giants of yesteryear.
Above Photo: These are some of the older buildings that are present on the heritage site.
It was the time of the last frontier, of wide open spaces, dark stands of evergreen and graceful groves of white-trunked aspen, of shinning lakes and the big, empty sky above. The human population was sparse, rugged pioneers scattered over a seemingly endless expanse of wilderness.
The 108 continued to sustain a mixture of cattle ranching and lumbering until 1969, when it was purchased by Henry Block.
Development:
While areas of "the ranch" were developed as residential and others as airport, resort and recreational facilities, care was taken to preserve the integrity of the landscape.
Above Photo: Some of the old equipment used around the ranch.
Fifteen hundred acres of greenbelt were set aside. A legacy of parkland unique in British Columbia, if not in the whole of Canada.
Today:
Over the years increasing numbers of people have been attracted to the lure of living in harmony with nature and to the abundance of recreational opportunities.
Above Photo: Some of the old equipment used around the ranch and the church
where people went to worship.
Today the 108 Mile Ranch continues to grow, and to nurture a deep love for this
land we call the Cariboo.
Above Photo: 108 Mile Ranch House.
Above Photo: Picnic tables throughout the heritage site, so bring a lunch and enjoy the sights. Also in the distance a beautiful covered bridge.
Above Photo: Besides the buildings, there is a nice paved parking area, with lots of room.
Above Photo: Picnic tables throughout the heritage site, so bring a lunch and enjoy the sights.
Above Photo: Picnic tables throughout the heritage site, so bring a lunch and enjoy the sights.
Above Photo: The rest area with heated clean restroom.
108 Mile House Heritage Site website:
Travel British Columbia with Brian Vike blog, please contact me at b_vike@telus.net
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