Bordered on the west by the Fraser River and the south by the Quesnel River, this park was named in honor of Ceal Tingley, a pioneer of Quesnel and area who went on to become commissioner, alderman and mayor of Quesnel. At the confluence of the Fraser and Quesnel rivers, the site of the park is significant to the Lhtako Dené indigenous people as the site of a major settlement. As such the City of Quesnel, which for many years owned the property, is returning ownership of the park to the Lhtako Dené. The site is also historically significant as the site of first contact with European explorers when Alexander Mackenzie first travelled through the area, and later, with Simon Fraser as he journeyed down the Fraser River. The Lhtako Dené plan to build an Indigenous Cultural Centre in the park once they achieve ownership and receive an
Invest in Canada Infrastructure grant.
At present the 1.5445 hectare park is the site of over 40 trees planted in memory of pioneers of the Quesnel area, including the Tingley family. Also in the park are large historic artefacts and a cairn with a Collins Overland International Telegraph CNHS plaque. The artefacts include a replica of a Cornish water wheel that was originally located at Williams Creek in Barkerville, the boiler of ‘The Enterprise’, the first steamship to arrive in Quesnel in 1863 from Alexandria, a centrifugal pump and boiler used around 1900 in a hydraulic mine, and a steam shovel used by the Cariboo Hydraulic Mining Company for their Bullion Mine in the early 1900s. This shovel was used to dig a trench from Spanish Lake to the Bullion Mine which closed in 1912.
Beside the parking lot on the Johnston Bridge Loop, south of the end of Front Street, in Ceal Tingley Memorial Park, is this big, black painted steam shovel. Pretty easy to spot as one gets near, it has stood in the park for a couple of decades now, a least. This is one of two identical steam shovels on display in British Columbia, the other being at Likely, 149 km. southeast by road or 75 km. by "crow".
Probably quite expensive to operate, the shovel required that wide steel 'railroad' track be laid for it to run on. As well, it is large enough that it would have to be broken down into many pieces to get it to a worksite in the backcountry on wooden horse drawn wagons over non existent roads and trails.
STEAM SHOVEL
MANUFACTURED BY VULCAN IRON WORKS CO. TOLEDO OHIO.
CO. FOUNDED IN 1870.
STEAM EXCAVATOR LISTED AS 1¼ YARD 26 TON 'LITTLE GIANT'. EXACT DATE OF MANUFACTURE IS UNKNOWN BUT RESEMBLES OTHER MAKES OF 1882. TWO OF THESE MACHINES WERE BROUGHT IN BY THE CARIBOO HYDRAULIC MINING COMPANY FOR ITS BULLION MINE OPERATION THEY WERE RECORDED IN THE B.C. MINING ANNUAL IN 1907. THESE MACHINES WERE USED TO DIG A TRENCH FROM SPANISH LAKE TO THE BULLION MINE. THE MINE CLOSED DOWN IN 1912 AND HAS BEEN RE-ACTIVATED A FEW TIMES. THE COMPANION SHOVEL IS LOCATED AT CEDAR POINT PARK AT LIKELY B.C.
THE CITY OF QUESNEL THANKS THE LIKELY CHAMBER Of COMMERCE, JACK IVES, JOHN McKELVIE, RILL RICHTER, & OTHERS WHO ASSISTED IN THE RECOVERY AND THE RESTORATION OF THIS ARTIFACT.
City of Quesnel