Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/170490
eChOeS rule Britannia Mine CITY oF VANCoUVEr ArCHIVES-CVA374-184 An isolated area above howe Sound once hosted a booming copper mine and a tight-knit residential community, which flourished for decades despite adversity. "They recall the dances, the baseball games, and the self-made pleasures which were the products of their isolation from the bright lights and the sophistication of city life, not to say that life in the two communities at Britannia lacked any sophistication. Opening night at the theatre, for instance, was a formal occasion, and all the dances were longdress affairs." —Bruce ramsey, in Britannia: The Story of a Mine. P by SuSAn RyBAR erched over the vast expanse of Howe Sound, cut off from major city centres, Britannia Mine gave rise to a company town like no other. The community suffered floods, fire, rockslides, snowslides, and other sundry calamities—yet the people endured. When "Spanish flu" overcame Britannia in 1918, the doctor recommended soup. A local boy named Yip Bing delivered, literally. Day after day, house after ill-infested house, young Bing became a hero as he made pots of soup and transported them with his little wagon. While this is just one detail of the many endearing hard-luck stories from the community, it typifies the Britannia spirit of surviving tragedy together. The saga begins in 1888, when physician Alexander Forbes hired a local prospector to accompany him to the area 55 kilometres north of Howe Sound. If the two found mineralized rock, the prospector would earn $400. The search was successful, and Forbes's claim would eventually join with others in the area to become the largest copper mine in the British Empire. At its peak, it employed nearly 1,100, and was home to 60,000 people of many races, languages, and religions from more than 50 countries around the world during its lifespan. But Britannia was more than just a mine. Accessible only by ferry from Vancouver until 1956, its residents were bound by isolation and the nature of their company-owned town. The mine opened in 1904 under the ownership of the Britannia Mining and Smelting Company. As production increased, the mining camps strewn around the mountainside grew • An aerial view of the Britannia Mining and Smelting Company's vast operations in 1927. B r IT ISH C o lU M B IA M AgA Z IN E • FA l l 2 0 1 3 57