Dawson Creek Historical Site - Dawson Creek Mile 0 Alaska Highway - British Columbia Heritage Markers on Waymarking.com

Waymark Code: WM14JCH

Location: British Columbia, Canada

Date Posted: 07/15/2021

Published By: bcrockcrawler, xstitcher, & BMXer

Views: 1

Until the 1970s every farming community had its row of grain elevators. With changes in transportation modes, most of these elevators have been obsoleted and subsequently torn down. Only a very few have escaped the wrecking ball and the Dawson Creek Art Gallery is one which has.

Through the efforts of local citizens, this elevator has not only survived but thrived. Having been refurbished inside, the elevator's annex is now the city's art gallery and gift shop - a most appropriate repurposing of of a notable local heritage building. It stands directly east of the South Peace Historical Society Railway Station Museum and Visitor Information Centre, which are in the original 1931 Northern Alberta Railway Station, another excellent example of repurposing.

The small grain buyer's office building also still stands to the south of the elevator. At its southwest corner has been erected a two part historical marker which outlines the significant moments in the history of Dawson Creek and of the Alaska Highway, Mile "0" of which is mere metres from this marker.

DAWSON CREEK HISTORICAL SITE
1879	DURING THE SEARCH FOR A SUITABLE RAIL ROUTE THROUGH THE ROCKIES, DR. GEORGE MERCER DAWSON LED A SURVEY PARTY THROUGH THIS VALLEY.
1890 1914	FUR TRADERS, PROSPECTORS, POLICE, SURVEY PARTIES, AND SETTLERS, CAME ON FOOT, BY OX TEAM, OR HORSE DRAWN VEHICLES, OVER THE OLD TRAILS TO THIS AREA.
1929 1931	THE RAILROAD PRESSED THROUGH TO ITS PRESENT SITE AND THE TOWN BUILDINGS WERE MOVED TO WHAT IS NOW THE CITY OF DAWSON CREEK.
	THE FAMOUS MILE "0" POST STANDS 1/2 BLOCK WEST AND ONE BLOCK SOUTH.
DAWSON CREEK MILE "0" ALASKA (ALCAN) HIGHWAY
AT THIS SPOT IN THE SPRING OF 1942 AT THE HEIGHT OF WORLD WAR 2 THE US ARMY ENGINEERS BEGAN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE OVERLAND ROUTE TO ALASKA. NINE MONTHS LATER AT A COST OF OVER $140,000,000 THE ROAD WAS COMPLETED. THIS IS A ROAD CONSTRUCTION FEAT UNSURPASSED IN MODERN TIMES. 11,000 TROOPS & 16,000 CIVILIANS WERE EMPLOYED IN THIS PROJECT. THERE ARE 133 BRIDGES & 8,000 CULVERTS EMBODIED IN THE 1523 MILES OF GRAVEL HIGHWAY. THE RATTLE AND ROAR OF THE MIGHTY BULLDOZERS WAS A SOURCE OF AMAZEMENT TO BOTH THE LOCAL WHITE MAN AND THE NORTHERN INDIAN. OVER THIS LIFELINE TO THE NORTHWEST, THOUSANDS OF TROOPS, FOOD & WAR SUPPLIES HAVE BEEN TRANSPORTED. IN MORE RECENT TIMES THE MIGHTY H BOMB WAS KNOWN TO TRAVEL THIS ROUTE. IT WAS MAINTAINED BY THE CANADIAN ARMY UNTIL APRIL 1964. MAINTENANCE WAS THEN TAKEN OVER BY THE DEPT. OF PUBLIC WORKS, OTTAWA.