by Keith and Heather Nicol
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| Plaque 10 is a photo of a store and restaurant that stood here from 1918-1960 |
On Tuesday,
August 11 with some very warm temperatures forecast we decided to head to Comox
Lake for a swim. Comox Lake is just outside of Cumberland and we had Linda
Brown, a friend from Victoria in tow and she had never visited this part of the
Comox Valley. Before our swim we decided to check out a walking trail that
takes you through Cumberland’s historic Chinatown which lasted for 80 years
from 1888 to 1968. Not much remains today but at one time this area was apparently
the second largest Chinatown outside of San Francisco! The Chinese travelled here because of the work associated with the Cumberland
coal mine and nearby railroad.
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| The picnic pavilion adds to the site |
The walking
tour passes by 15 plaques which have a photo of what buildings used to stand in
that area. The trail can easily be walked by a variety of ages and abilities
since it is just a few 100 meters long along smooth gravel trails or roads. The
variety of buildings that once stood here is impressive from a bakery to
general store to a restaurant that once served 10 course meals and was a ticket
outlet for steamship travel to China! There is even a picnic pavilion so that
you can enjoy your lunch here as well. After spending about 45 minutes at the
site we headed on the down the road and had a refreshing dip in Comox Lake at Cumberland Lake Park. For more information on Cumberland’s Chinatown
see: https://cumberland.ca/coal-creek-historic-park/
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| Linda and Heather looking at one of the plaques along what was once Upper Street |
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