CAMPS OF FAME
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PHOTOS: PRINCETON MUSEUM AND ARCHIVES AND GRANITE CREEK PRESERVATION SOCIETY
interface. Other innovative procedures,
such as the siphon method, and expensive
water fluming and hydraulic mining were
attempted in hopes of processing larger
volumes of gravel. However, gold recoveries
were rather limited in comparison with the
massive amounts of e†ort. Between 1888
and 1891, gold recoveries on Granite Creek
declined to between 338 and 565 ounces.
The steady decline of gold recoveries
from Granite Creek signalled an
accompanying slowdown for Granite
City. Despite the gloomy outlook, travel
to and from Granite City continued to
improve as the construction of a wagon
road from Spences Bridge, in the Nicola
region, to Granite City was completed in
1893. The road was extended to Princeton
and, by 1898, a stage coach provided
weekly service to these centres. By this
time, only a handful of Chinese miners
and one or two small mining companies
still persisted in the search for gold. Then
disaster struck Granite City on April 4,
1907, when a huge fire reduced the town
to ashes. There were a few halfhearted
attempts to rebuild, but by then coal
was the new buzzword and the town of
Coalmont, established in 1911 across the
Tulameen River from Granite City, was
quickly becoming the centre of activity.
The many seasons of mining the
benches and bars had ultimately exhausted
the creek of its wealth. A final attempt to
squeeze more gold from the gravel was
initiated in 1928 to 1930 when a dredge
was mobilized to the confluence of Granite
Creek and Tulameen River; some gold was
recovered, but the operation was hampered
by the presence of big boulders and
cemented gravel. This was e†ectively the
last hurrah for the Granite Creek gold rush.
Today, a few deteriorating
remains of cabins and buildings are
all that mark the location of the old
boomtown of Granite City.
Prosperous days:
Wallace Hotel and Cook's Store, circa 1888.
