New Denver, British Columbia, is a charming village nestled in the Central Kootenay region of Canada. Located at the mouth of Carpenter Creek on the east shore of Slocan Lake, this village is a hidden gem in the West Kootenay region of southeastern British Columbia.
The village, established in 1892, was initially known as Slocan City or Eldorado City. The names were used interchangeably for several months, and the village was also referred to as the Carpenter Creek townsite after its founding in 1891. The name New Denver was adopted to reflect the famed silver mines of Denver, Colorado, after discovering the local mines were silver deposits.
New Denver served as an early service center for mines and nearby mining towns. Accessible by boat, a stagecoach ran every two days to Nakusp and every four days to Nelson. In 1895, Denver Canyon became a stop on the former Nakusp and Slocan Railway. The settlement was incorporated as a village in 1929. After the decline in mining, forestry became the economic base, and tourism has been a significant contributor in more recent times.
During World War II, New Denver was one of nine West Kootenay internment centres for Japanese Canadians. By 1942, the camp held 1,505 Japanese Canadians, who built 275 shacks in a fruit grove known as the "Orchard." Today, New Denver's Nikkei Internment Memorial Centre, a National Historic Site, is dedicated to the history of the 27,000 interned Japanese Canadians.
In May 2020, a proposal was made by New Denver resident David Harley to build a 55-acre "world-class, all-season, backcountry-oriented" resort called Zincton. The proposed site is in a critical wildlife corridor connecting Goat Range and Kokanee Provincial Parks and is also prime grizzly bear habitat. The proposal has sparked controversy due to potential ecological impacts.
According to the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, New Denver had a population of 487 living in 248 of its 304 total private dwellings, a change of 3% from its 2016 population of 473.
New Denver experienced a drastic increase in its native roof rat population in 2019. The Norwegian rat was introduced to the area the same year, believed to have arrived by transport truck from other regions. Local gardening and composting practices have been blamed for the infestation.
