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Kamloops
Kamloops Schools
Kamloops Neighborhoods
KamloopsDemographics
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Kamloops
Kamloops is situated at 50°43'N 120°25'W, in the Thompson Valley (UTC-8) and
the Mountain Cordillera Ecozone. The central core of the city is located in the
valley near the confluence of the North and South branches of the Thompson
River. Suburbs stretch for more than a dozen kilometers along both North and
South branches, as well as to the steep hillsides along the south portion of the
city. Kamloops Indian Band areas begin just to the northeast of the downtown
core but are not located within the city limits. Kamloops is surrounded by the
smaller communities of Rayleigh, Heffley Creek, Knutsford, Cherry Creek,
Pritchard, Campbell Creek, Savona, Scotch Creek, Adams Lake, Chase, and various
others, many of which are included in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District (TNRD).
History
Kamloops and the Thompson River, 1886
Kamloops and the Thompson River, 1886
The Kamloops area was exclusively inhabited by the Secwepemc (Shuswap) nation
(part of the Interior Salish language group) prior to the arrival of European
settlers. The first European explorers arrived in 1811, and a fur trading post
was established by David Stuart in 1812 for the Pacific Fur Company. This was
bought out by the North West Company shortly after, and by 1821, the Hudson's
Bay Company had control of the fur trade in Kamloops.
The gold rush of the 1860s and the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway
in the 1880s brought further growth, resulting in the City of Kamloops being
incorporated in 1893 with a population of about 500.
"Kamloops" is the anglicized version of the Shuswap word "Tk'emlups", meaning
'meeting of the waters'. Shuswap is still actively spoken in the area by members
of the Kamloops Indian Band.
Industry
Major Kamloops-area industries include primary resource processing such as
Weyerhaeuser Pulp and Sawmill, Tolko-Heffley Creek Plywood and Veneer, LaFarge
Cement, Highland-Valley Copper Mine (in Logan Lake), and various other
industries. There are tertiary services as well, such as the British Columbia
Lottery Corporation and Pollard Banknote (which makes the lottery tickets) and
NRI distribution, among many others. Kamloops is also a transportation hub for
the region due to its location on the Trans-Canada Highway. It is the first
major city east of Vancouver on the highway. Kamloops is home to a smaller
airport that is currently under pressure from constituents to be upgraded to a
larger international type of airport. There are, however, no known plans for
upgrading the airport. There has also been speculation of an inland water port
(also uncertain).
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