The site of the park was the traditional home of the Lheidli T'enneh First Nations People, a village and cemetery of theirs standing where the park is now. In 2015 Fort George Park was renamed to recognise the fact the park had once been a village for the Lheidli T'enneh.
Lheidli T'enneh's
Village of Lheidli
Starting in 1823 the new Village of Lheidli grew just north of the Fort George Fur Trading Post, on a traditional summer camping site of the Lheidli T'enneh Nation. By 1839 the population of the Village of Lheidli had grown to 187 band members: 75 men, 50 women and 62 children. The village ran along the Fraser River, from the present day museum to the north tip of present day Lheidli T'enneh Memorial Park.
On the far left of the 1891 photograph of the village of Lheidli, you can see the spirit houses in the cemetery. There are paths going down to the river with dugout canoes along the bank and about three quarters across the photo to your right, there is St. Joseph's Church with a small steeple which was replaced with a taller steeple in later pictures. The church would have been located halfway between the present day bandshell and 11th Avenue.
In 1908, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway began actions to purchase Fort George Indian Reserve #1 from the Lheidli T'enneh. This included the village of Lheidli and all of present day downtown Prince George. The pressure on the Band was enormous, as they did not want to sell their Reserve. A deal was reached in 1911 and the Lheidli T'enneh were moved to other reserve lands during the third week of September 1913. The village of Lheidli was burned shortly after.
From a Historical Marker in the Park
The major attractions in the park are the Fort George Railway and The Exploration Place Museum and Science Centre. The engine which pulls the train around the park is a narrow gauge wood burning steam engine built in 1912 to construct the Grand Trunk Pacific. It is the only one remaining of the dozens of narrow gauge engines which built the railway. The place one goes to purchase that ticket is also a miniature - a scaled down version of a small town railway station of the type which dotted the landscape from coast to coast a century ago. Not only is it a railway station, it is also an ice cream shop, the
Hard Ice Cream Scoop Shop, where one can enjoy local, handmade, craft ice cream made right there in Prince George, BC. The ice cream is the handiwork of the
Frozen Paddle Ice Creamery. Beside the station is the first schoolhouse built in the district, the South Fort George School, built in 1910.
With large expanses of grass and beautifully landscaped areas shaded by many mature trees, this is an excellent place to spend a Sunday afternoon/evening. Benches and picnic tables are placed here and there throughout the park and, in case of rain, there is a large pavilion in which to picnic. Pets are not permitted in this park, except along the Heritage River Trail System when pets are on-leash.
Park Features and Amenities
- Rotary Playground
- Rotaract Spray Park
- Kiwanis Bandshell Bowl
- Lheidli T'enneh Cemetery and historic interpretive signage.
- The Exploration Place Museum & Science Centre.
- The Little Prince mini-steam train railroad.
- Sand volleyball courts.
- Flower beds and large shade trees.
- Multi-use trails, connected to the Hudson's Bay Wetland and the Heritage River Trail System.
- Picnic sites and park benches
- Full washrooms