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(Top) 1 Fort St. James National Historic Site 2 History 3 Climate 4 Demographics 5 Notable people 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 9 External links

Fort St. James

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Fort St. James

District municipality

District of Fort St. James^[1]

Location of Fort St. James in British Columbia

Fort St. James

Coordinates: 54°26′35″N 124°15′15″W / 54.44306°N 124.25417°W / 54.44306; -124.25417

Country

Canada

Regional District of Bulkley Nechako

Founded

1806

Incorporated

1952

Government

• Governing body

Municipal Council

• Mayor

Martin Elphee

Area

• Total

23.47 km² (9.06 sq mi)

Elevation

700 m (2,300 ft)

Population

(2016)

• Total

1,598

• Density

72.0/km² (186/sq mi)

Time zone

UTC−8 (PST)

• Summer (DST)

UTC−7 (PDT)

Postal code span

V0J 1P0

Area code(s)

+250, +778

Highways

Waterways

Stuart Lake, Stuart River, Necoslie River, Nahounli Creek

Website

www.fortstjames.ca

National Historic Site of Canada

Official name

Fort St. James National Historic Site of Canada

Designated

1948

Fort St. James is a district municipality and former fur trading post in northern central British Columbia, Canada. It is located on the south-eastern shore of Stuart Lake in the Omineca Country, at the northern terminus of Highway 27, which connects to Highway 16atVanderhoof.

It is home to the John Prince Research Forest which features abundant wildlife.^[2] This community celebrated its bicentennial in 2016 and is incorporated as a district municipality.

Fort St. James National Historic Site[edit]

Founded by the North West Company explorer and fur trader Simon Fraser in 1806, it came under the management of the Hudson's Bay Company in 1821 with the forced merger of the two battling fur companies. Also known historically as Stuart Lake Post, it is one of British Columbia's oldest permanent European settlements and was the administrative centre for the Hudson's Bay Company's New Caledonia fur district.^[3] The fort, rebuilt four times, continued as an important trading post well into the twentieth century. Now the fort is a National Historic Site of Canada^[4]^[5] with some buildings dating to the 1880s.

History[edit]

Fort St. James National Historic Site

As part of his commission from the North West Company, Fraser and his assistants John Stuart and James McDougall explored potential river routes to the Pacific Ocean from 1805 through 1808. Explorations in the Winter of 1805-06 by McDougall resulted in the discovery of Carrier's Lake, now known as Stuart Lake. In the heart of territory inhabited by the Carrier or Dakelh First Nation, this proved to be a lucrative locale for fur trading and so a post – Fort St. James – was built on its shore in 1806. In 1821, the fort came under the control of the Hudson's Bay Company, when the North West Company merged with it. It subsequently became the administrative headquarters of the company's vast New Caledonia District.

The fur trade was slow to take root in the area, since the economy of the Dakelh people had been based on the fishery, rather than on trapping. In addition, there were customary and ceremonial restrictions which placed obstacles in the way of an efficient fur economy. Nonetheless, eventually the post became profitable, and continued to function until its closure in 1952.

The community is located on the south-eastern shore of Stuart Lake, at the head of the Stuart River. Both the lake and the river are named for Fraser's assistant John Stuart, who would later become head of the New Caledonia District of the North West Company.

Climate[edit]

Fort St. James is located in the sub-boreal spruce zone of British Columbia, a sub-division of the hemiboreal climatic zone. It is characterised by severe, snowy winters and short, warm summers. The region is rich in wildlife. Under the Köppen climate classification Fort St. James is classified as a humid continental climate (Dfb).

Climate data for Fort St. James, 1981–2010 normals, extremes 1895–present

Month

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Year

Record high °C (°F)

12.0
(53.6)

13.0
(55.4)

17.1
(62.8)

24.4
(75.9)

35.0
(95.0)

33.9
(93.0)

36.7
(98.1)

35.6
(96.1)

29.5
(85.1)

26.5
(79.7)

16.1
(61.0)

11.0
(51.8)

36.7
(98.1)

Mean daily maximum °C (°F)

−5.3
(22.5)

−1.7
(28.9)

4.0
(39.2)

9.9
(49.8)

15.6
(60.1)

19.6
(67.3)

21.8
(71.2)

21.7
(71.1)

16.4
(61.5)

9.0
(48.2)

0.6
(33.1)

−3.8
(25.2)

9.0
(48.2)

Daily mean °C (°F)

−9.5
(14.9)

−6.8
(19.8)

−1.8
(28.8)

3.9
(39.0)

9.2
(48.6)

13.4
(56.1)

15.4
(59.7)

14.8
(58.6)

10.2
(50.4)

4.3
(39.7)

−3.0
(26.6)

−7.8
(18.0)

3.5
(38.3)

Mean daily minimum °C (°F)

−13.7
(7.3)

−11.8
(10.8)

−7.7
(18.1)

−2.2
(28.0)

2.8
(37.0)

7.2
(45.0)

8.9
(48.0)

7.9
(46.2)

3.9
(39.0)

−0.5
(31.1)

−6.5
(20.3)

−11.7
(10.9)

−2.0
(28.4)

Record low °C (°F)

−49.4
(−56.9)

−39.4
(−38.9)

−29.4
(−20.9)

−11.7
(10.9)

−6.1
(21.0)

−5.6
(21.9)

−7.8
(18.0)

−13.3
(8.1)

−23.0
(−9.4)

−37.8
(−36.0)

−47.2
(−53.0)

−49.4
(−56.9)

Average precipitation mm (inches)

48.1
(1.89)

30.0
(1.18)

25.7
(1.01)

23.7
(0.93)

38.9
(1.53)

50.6
(1.99)

45.0
(1.77)

39.3
(1.55)

48.1
(1.89)

44.5
(1.75)

42.6
(1.68)

487.2
(19.18)

Average rainfall mm (inches)

4.9
(0.19)

3.6
(0.14)

5.9
(0.23)

18.0
(0.71)

38.2
(1.50)

50.6
(1.99)

45.0
(1.77)

39.1
(1.54)

38.7
(1.52)

15.7
(0.62)

4.2
(0.17)

314.5
(12.38)

Average snowfall cm (inches)

43.3
(17.0)

26.4
(10.4)

19.8
(7.8)

5.7
(2.2)

0.7
(0.3)

0
(0)

0.2
(0.1)

9.5
(3.7)

28.8
(11.3)

38.4
(15.1)

172.7
(68.0)

Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm)

12.7

8.9

8.6

8.3

12.4

12.7

13.7

11.3

12.1

14.0

13.1

11.3

139.1

Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm)

2.0

1.8

3.2

6.8

12.2

12.7

13.7

11.3

12.1

12.4

5.3

1.8

95.2

Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm)

11.4

7.4

6.0

2.2

0.4

0.08

2.4

9.0

10.0

48.8

Average relative humidity (%)

81.6

72.6

57.0

45.0

44.1

48.0

47.3

47.7

52.7

62.9

79.8

84.2

60.2

Mean monthly sunshine hours

51.3

85.5

151.3

207.6

245.7

260.2

275.3

256.8

177.7

116.0

60.2

41.0

1,928.6

Percent possible sunshine

20.8

31.3

41.3

49.3

49.5

50.6

53.4

55.6

46.4

35.4

23.5

17.9

39.6

Source: Environment Canada,^[6]^[7]^[8] (Sunshine and humidity data from Fort St. James Airport)

Demographics[edit]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Fort St. James had a population of 1,386 living in 586 of its 671 total private dwellings, a change of -13.3% from its 2016 population of 1,598. With a land area of 23.45 km² (9.05 sq mi), it had a population density of 59.1/km² (153.1/sq mi) in 2021.^[9]

About one quarter of the population of the greater Fort St. James area identify as being of First Nations origin^[10] The town is surrounded by numerous, small First Nations communities and Indian reserves, including Pinchie, Tachie, and Nak'azdli.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Fort St. James had the highest proportion of South Asians of any municipality in Canada, forming approximately 22% of the total population as per the 1991 census.^[11] The South Asian community of Fort St. James was composed mostly of Punjabis of the Sikh faith. Gursikh Temple, the local gurdwara, was built in 1981. The Sikh population of Fort St. James declined from 435 in 1991 (21.6% of the municipality's 2,015 residents)^[12] to 20 in 2021 (1.5% of the municipality's 1,330 residents),^[13] as many Sikhs moved to Greater Vancouver.^[14] The Gursikh Temple was donated to the Victory Christian Church in 2013.^[15]^[14]

Panethnic groups in the Municipality of Fort St. James (1981−2021)

Panethnic
group

2021^[16]

2016^[17]

2011^[18]

2006^[19]

2001^[20]

1996^[21]

1991^[22]^[23]

1986^[24]^[25]^[26]^: 98

1981^[27]

Pop.

European^[a]

925

69.55%

890

56.33%

1,055

64.53%

990

73.06%

1,195

62.08%

1,320

64.55%

1,225

60.79%

1,185

59.85%

1,390

62.19%

Indigenous

300

22.56%

555

35.13%

445

27.22%

160

11.81%

500

25.97%

295

14.43%

265

13.15%

425

21.46%

455

20.36%

South Asian

1.88%

3.8%

4.59%

165

12.18%

200

10.39%

405

19.8%

435

21.59%

335

16.92%

345

15.44%

Other^[b]

2.63%

5.38%

3.06%

2.95%

1.56%

1.22%

4.47%

1.77%

2.01%

Total responses

1,330

95.96%

1,580

98.87%

1,635

96.69%

1,355

100%

1,925

99.9%

2,045

99.95%

2,015

97.91%

1,980

99.85%

2,235

97.85%

Total population

1,386

100%

1,598

100%

1,691

100%

1,355

100%

1,927

100%

2,046

100%

2,058

100%

1,983

100%

2,284

100%

Note: Totals greater than 100% due to multiple origin responses.

Religious groups in Fort St. James (1991−2021)

Religious group

395

29.7%

775

47.55%

970

50.39%

1,065

52.85%

Sikh

1.5%

3.07%

200

10.39%

435

21.59%

Muslim

1.5%

Buddhist

0.75%

0.52%

Hindu

Jewish

Other religion

1.5%

3.37%

Irreligious

855

64.29%

755

46.32%

760

39.48%

510

25.31%

Total responses

1,330

95.96%

1,630

96.39%

1,925

99.9%

2,015

97.91%

Notable people[edit]

Jim Playfair, Associate Coach of the Edmonton Oilers, NHL
Larry Playfair, Former NHL player with the Buffalo Sabres and the Los Angeles Kings
Dylan Playfair, Actor, most notable role is "Reilly" on TV show Letterkenny.^[28]
Brian Spencer "Spinner", former player in the National Hockey League and the subject of the film, 'Gross Misconduct'.
Chief Kwah (aka Chief Kw'eh), (ca. 1755–1840), leading Dakelh chief of the Stuart Lake area.
Cody Legebokoff, Convicted serial killer
Johan Pitka, Estonian military commander

Notes[edit]

^ Statistic includes all persons that did not make up part of a visible minority or an indigenous identity.

^ Statistic includes total responses of "Chinese", "Black", "Filipino", "Latin American", "Southeast Asian", "Arab", "West Asian", "Korean", "Japanese", "Visible minority, n.i.e.", and "Multiple visible minorities" under visible minority section on census.

References[edit]

^ "British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address" (XLS). British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development. Archived from the original on 13 July 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.

^ "John Prince Research Forest".

^ "Fort St. James (District Municipality)". BC Geographical Names.

^ Fort St. James. Canadian Register of Historic Places. Retrieved 8 January 2012.

^ "Fort Saint James National Historic Site". BC Geographical Names.

^ "Fort St James". Environment Canada. 25 September 2013. Retrieved 5 March 2017.

^ "Daily Data Report for March 2016". Environment Canada. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 5 March 2017.

^ "Fort St James A". Environment Canada. Retrieved 5 March 2017.^{[permanent dead link]}

^ "Population and dwelling counts: Canada, provinces and territories, and census subdivisions (municipalities), British Columbia". Statistics Canada. 9 February 2022. Retrieved 20 February 2022.

^ Community Profile, Statistics Canada, 2001 Canadian census^{[permanent dead link]}

^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (29 March 2019). "1991 Census Area Profiles Profile of Census Divisions and Subdivisions - Part B". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 11 January 2023.

^ "Data tables, 1991 Census". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 10 January 2023.

^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population Fort St. James, District municipality (DM) British Columbia". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 10 January 2023.

^ ^a ^b "Gursikh Temple- Fort St. James". World Gurudwaras. Retrieved 10 January 2023.

^ "Sikh Temple sale in limbo". Caledonia Courier. 13 October 2012. Retrieved 11 August 2020.

^ ^a ^b Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (26 October 2022). "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 22 February 2023.

^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (27 October 2021). "Census Profile, 2016 Census". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 22 February 2023.