The origins of Prince George can be traced to the
North West Company fur trading post of Fort George, which was established in 1807 by
Simon Fraser and named in honour of
King George III. The post was centred in the centuries-old homeland of the
Lheidli T'enneh First Nation, whose name means "people of the confluence of the two rivers." The Lheidli T'enneh name began to see official use around the 1990s and the band is otherwise historically referred to as Fort George Indian Band.
1800s Throughout the 19th century, HBC Fort George trading post remained unchanged, and
Fort St. James reigned as the main trading post and capital of the
New Caledonia area. Even during the
Cariboo Gold Rush, Fort George was isolated from the newfound trade. Then, when the
Collins Overland Telegraph Trail was built in 1865–67, it bypassed Fort George trading post, following the Blackwater Trail from Quesnel and continuing northwest towards
Hazelton. In the late 1800s many
Lheidli T'enneh lived in a village built next to the HBC trading post due to the ease of preparing furs and trading directly, without great distances to travel.
Townsite development and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway In 1903, the area's fortune began to change when reports said that the
Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (later part of
Canadian National Railway) would pass near the fur trading post. In 1906, agricultural settlement began around the HBC post and then in 1909, development of two townsites began as two rival land speculation companies built the communities of
South Fort George and Fort George (sometimes referred to as Central Fort George Lots sold in 1912 for $400, rising to $500-$1,000 by 1913. docking at both South Fort George and Fort George Townsite.
South Fort George South Fort George developed close to the near defunct HBC post, along the Fraser River after being purchased in 1909 by the Northern Development Company, with lots going on sale in 1910. BC Express Company paddle wheelers landed in South Fort George and the area grew with speculation about the railway coming to the area. South Fort George would remain its own community until 1976 when it incorporated into the City of Prince George.
Growth and creation of Prince George Properties were sold in both of the townsites with railway speculation driving up prices. Both communities believed that the Grand Trunk Pacific station would be built in their town, and both were disappointed when the railway purchased the of land in between them from the Lhiedli T'enneh instead, even though
Charles Vance Millar, then the owner of the
BC Express Company, was well into negotiations to purchase that property himself. The Cemetery would become Reserve No.1A.
Etymology There were three rationales given for naming the new city as
Prince George: Businessmen in Fort George petitioned the provincial government to block the new name but they were unsuccessful. The epidemic took at least fifty lives in the area, including First Nations leaders.
1920s and 1930s Prince George persevered through the 1920s and the
Great Depression of the 1930s and did not experience any significant growth until
World War II when an army camp was built at the foot of Cranbrook Hill, bringing new life to the struggling businesses and service industries. The Great Depression saw massive decline in lumber production in the region, falling from 105 million board feet in 1929 to only 15 million board feet by 1932 and a significant increase in unemployment. Unemployed men were often housed in one of several relief camps east of Prince George, where the men worked on construction projects or remained idle; away from the city of Prince George. Population during the war saw 2,027 in 1941 rising to 3,800 in Prince George by 1945. Finally, in 1952, after 40 years of construction, the Pacific Great Eastern was completed and joined with the CN line at Prince George, and with the completion of Highways 16 and 97, Prince George finally fulfilled George Hammond's long ago promise of being the hub of British Columbia.
Modern history Canadian Forces Station Baldy Hughes (ADC ID: C-20) was constructed in 1952 as a General Surveillance Radar station. It was located south-southwest of Prince George, and was closed in 1988. It was operated as part of the
Pinetree Line network controlled by the
North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Today the former station is The Baldy Hughes Addiction Treatment Centre. The original radar system has been removed and the location now operates a weather station and Nav Canada system. In 1953, (Central) Fort George Townsite incorporated into the City of Prince George. On June 25, 1956, at just after 7 p.m., a
Lockheed P-38 Lightning fighter plane built in 1943 (serial number 8300, bearing Canadian registration CF-HSC) flown by Frank Samuel Pynn, out of the
Prince George Airport, was observed flying in an unsafe manner, it went into a half roll, seemed to fall over on its back and nosed into a deep ravine in the cut-banks on the north side of town approximately one kilometre from the city centre. Pilot Frank Pynn, a former
Royal Air Force Transport Command pilot, and his passenger, 15-year-old Jimmy Clarke, died on impact. Alcohol consumption was believed to be a factor in the crash and the Coroner's inquest found that Pynn died "through his own neglect and complete disregard for the Aeronautical Regulations of Canada." The wreckage is still there; however, most pieces are less than in length. In 1964 the first
pulp mill, Prince George Pulp and Paper was built, followed by two more in 1966, Northwood Pulp and Intercontinental Pulp. New schools and more housing were needed and the new subdivisions of Spruceland, Lakewood, Perry and Highglen were built. Then, in 1975, Prince George amalgamated and extended its borders to include the Hart area to the north, Pineview to the south and the old town of South Fort George to the east. Low-lying areas adjacent to the confluence of the rivers, which can freeze, mean that those areas suffer recurring flooding. In late 2007 an
ice jam formed on the Nechako River and soon grew to a length of more than , causing widespread flooding in the city. Faster runoff due to devastation of nearby
lodgepole pine forests by the
mountain pine beetle was identified as a contributing factor. A state of emergency was declared on December 11. On January 14, 2008, with the ice jam still present, the
Provincial Emergency Program approved an unprecedented plan to melt the ice by piping water from a pulp mill steam plant to the jam area where it would be mixed with well water and poured into the river at a temperature of . In the interim an amphibious excavator was used for 10 days to move some of the ice. Costing
C$400,000 to build and
C$3,000 per day to run, the "Warm Water System" was completed on January 29, by which time the ice jam had grown to long. As a result of long-term lobbying from local groups (championed by local advocate Sheldon Clare, and members of 396 Air Cadet Squadron, 2618 Army Cadet Corps, 158 Sea Cadet Corps, 142 Navy League Corps, Branch 43
Royal Canadian Legion, and the Peacekeepers Association) in February 2011,
Canadian Armed Forces 39 Canadian Brigade Group Headquarters announced that a detachment of the
Rocky Mountain Rangers Army Reserve unit was to be formed in Prince George. In 2014, the Rocky Mountain Rangers increased recruiting efforts in the community to reach platoon and then company size. Prince George hosted the
2015 Canada Winter Games. == Geography ==