Barkerville had a tough year last year with a wildfire that shut them down and threatened their very existence. But it’s business as usual.
“Each year, we try to change up what the acts are so that there is something new for repeat customers who come each year. But I think there may be some friendly favourites that people are very aware of. I don’t want to say or not, but I do think that our hobby horses are in rehearsals as we speak,” says Cawood.
Along with Barkerville and Huble Homestead, two other sites have been identified under the banner of Northern Routes. They also include the Fort St. James National Historic Site and the Valemount Museum. And this is just the beginning for all those sites.
“We’re open every day from Victoria Day weekend until Labour Day, and we have public events throughout the summer,” explains Leason. “So we’ve got other events like Dominion Day on July 1, Kids Carnival on July 20, we’ll have Homestead days on the August long weekend and of course Potato Festival at the end of the season when the fall rolls around. We moved to fall hours and so we have a couple more events throughout the fall.”
And the question everyone wants answered is out of Barkerville. Have you every found gold?
“There was one time I was working on the water wheel, and there was a piece of gold in there,” says Cawood. “It was a very, very small thing that I had never seen before. And I had gold fever instantly. And I had to pan that dirt out and find it. And I was right. There was just the tiniest, minuscule fleck of gold that was in the water. So there is still gold and then there hills.”
From this weekend forward, there is no shortage of history for you to take in.
