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| City
of Merritt, BC - Past & Present.... |
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| Merritt is located 271 Kilometres
(168 miles) northeast of Vancouver in the heart of
the Nicola Valley. With a population of approximately
8,000, and a trading area of approximately 15,000,
Merritt is the commercial centre for the area. The Nicola Valley has long been home to a number of First Nations who continue to call the area home. European pioneers searching for a trading route between the Coast and the Interior reached the area in the mid-1800s. Right from the beginning, early settlers were attracted to the area because of its rich grasslands ideally suited for livestock (ranching remains an important part of Merritt's economy!) |
| In 1865, William Henry Voght, the father of Merritt, entered the valley and returned in 1872 to take up land at the forks, where the Nicola and Coldwater Rivers meet. This was the start of the development of Merritt. In 1906, the town was renamed Merritt, in honour of William Hamilton Merritt, a mining engineer and railway promoter. |
| Merritt was incorporated as a City in 1911, by this time the community's economy had diversified to include coal mining, which would continue to be a major industry up until the 1930s. Logging and milling began in early in the valley, and in the 1930s the failure of a local mill precipitated the receivership of the City. |
| Following the end of WWII several mills opened in the city and forestry become the new backbone of the economy. In 1961 the nearby Craigmont copper mine opened, followed by several others in the Highland Valley. Copper mining would continue to be a major player to the present day, although its importance declined following the closure of Craigmont in the 1980s. |
| In 1986, following years of lobbying, the Coquihalla toll highway was completed, providing a freeway link between Merritt and the Lower Mainland and subsequently Kamloops and Kelowna. The completion of this interior highway network placed Merritt at the hub of transportation and communications in the southern interior and precipitated economic changes that continue to the present. |
| As of 1999, more than 8,000
people lived in Merritt with an additional 4,000 living
in the Nicola Valley in surrounding communities. With the completion of the Coquihalla Highway making the Nicola Valley more accessible for people coming from the Okanagan as well as the Lower Mainland, the population continues to grow with an influx of new residents. |
| Situated 271 kilometers northeast of Vancouver, Merritt is located at the hub of the Coquihalla highway system. The Coquihalla is an all weather, divided highway network completed in 1990. The Coquihalla provides Merritt with direct links to the Lower Mainland in under three hours, to Kamloops in 45 minutes, and to Kelowna and the Okanagan Valley in 75 minutes. |
Merritt is a growing community committed to progressive expansion and development. With available land, a superb location, a pro-development Council and a tradition of industry, Merritt is a City of Opportunity. |
Visit Merritt & the Nicola Valley, located at the crossroads of the Coquihalla, where the whisper of the Old West is carried on the breeze through our rolling hills and historical ranches. We are an undiscovered four-season travel destination offering down-home hospitality, limitless outdoor adventure for hikers, mountain bikers, cross country skiers and snowmobilers of all levels. The Nicola Valley is a camping and fishing playground with "a lake a day as long as you stay". We invite you to stay and enjoy all that our community has to offer. |
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City
of Merritt 2185 Voght Street P.O. Box 189 Merritt, BC V1K 1B8 Telephone: (250) 378-4224 Facsimile: (250) 378-2600 E-mail: info@merritt.ca Website: http://www.merritt.ca Mapquest Map: Merritt, BC |