Hope Yesterday

Hope was founded in 1848 as a Hudson's Bay Co. fort for use as a fur brigade outpost. During the gold rush of 1858, fur trading became a sideline. In June of that year, the first steamboat, the "Suprise" landed at Hope. On order of B.C. Governor Douglas the town site was laid out in 1858 now that access to Hope had been made easier. The Canadian Pacific Railway, built in 1886, proved to be beneficial to Fort Hope and mining of gold and silver continued.

In 1914 the C.P.R. built the Kettle Valley Railway over the Fraser River into Hope, connecting to the southern interior of B.C. About the same time the Canadian National Railway came through the canyon into Hope. In 1929 Hope was incorporated as a village, and logging was fast becoming the prime local industry. The Hope-Princeton Highway was constructed between 1945 and 1949 and was a catalyst that increased economic activity around Hope.

The town takes its name from the Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Hope. (Akrigg). Credit: Hope Chamber of Commerce, see their Hope history page. Map of the original route of the Kettle Vally Railway.