Barkerville Historic Town

Barkerville Historic Town has an interesting history.

When the news spread in the 1858 that gold had been found in the fluvial sand of the Fraser River there were soon thousands of men panning for gold all along the river and its tributaries. When in the summer of 1862 Billy Barker made his sensational find here at Williams Creek a typical gold-digging town of simple wooden huts, tents, saloons and shops sprang up almost overnight.

Until it burned down in 1868 Barkerville was the "largest town west of Chicago and north of San Francisco". Although it was immediately rebuilt to a high standard the end of the gold boom was already apparent. The introduction of machinery meant there was a need for fewer men but more capital. Chinese coolies worked longer hours for less pay and Chinese dealers began to monopolize the market. A marked social regrouping took place in the new Barkerville. Following the end of the gold-rush Barkerville continued to fulfill the function of the center of a region which was now inhabited by settlers and lumberjacks. So that the old gold-digging metropolis was saved from becoming just a ghost town.

Today the tourist will find a restored gold-digging town with about 75 historic buildings at Barkerville Historic Town. When employees dressed in the fashions of the period act out "living history" in summer it is possible to visit a printing-works or smithy, a typical general store, the "Wellington Moses Barbershop" or the "Barkerville Hotel" and feel completely transported back to the times of the gold-rush. The music-hall tradition is continued in the "Theatre Royal", and in the "Eldorado Mine" visitors can try their luck at panning for gold.