Bridesville

Located in the Thompson Okanagan’s Boundary Country, Bridesville sits amid rich agricultural farmlands and rolling hills.  Located just off the Crowsnest Hwy (Hwy 3) the area has plenty of stunning mountain scenery and an abundance of outdoor activities and places to explore including: hiking trails, fishing in the Kettle River for rainbow trout and smallmouth bass, skiing in the winter at Mt. Baldi Ski Resort, golfing in the summer at Bridesville Golf Course. Back country roads also offer interesting drives.

Rock Creek, BC | Allen Jones

Location

The Bridesville Townsite Road is just off Hwy 3 with easy access. It is 15 km (9 mi) west of Rock Creek and 36 km (22 mi) east of Osoyoos on Hwy 3.

A Step Back in Time

The community of Bridesville was born when the Vancouver, Victoria & Eastern Railway (VV&E) arrived in the early 1900s to serve the lumber trade in the area. However the highly competitive Canadian Pacific Railway was its competition and became successful with support from the provincial government of the day and by the end of the 1920s the VV&E line had all but closed.

In 1905, the community was actually called Maud after Maud Edwards, the wife of the first postmaster, Hozie Edwards. Due to pressure from a local businessman who owned considerable land in the area as well as the hotel and saloon, the town was renamed Bridesville in 1910.

A wood mill plus hay farming and cattle ranching prospered. The mill provided railway ties to the VV&E. Railway service stopped in 1931 and the country was plunged into the depression era. Bridesville finally closed down when in 1940 the local customs post and border crossing between Canada and the United States closed its doors.