Campbell River (City) / Campbell River / Duncan Bay / Josephine Flat / Menzies Bay / Mitlenatch Island / Myra Falls

Phone : (250) 286-5700
Your Host(s) : Municipal Administration

Campbell River, BC (Nearby: Quinsam, Campbellton, North Campbell River, Quathiaski Cove, Yaculta)

  • Campbell River
  • Duncan Bay
  • Josephine Flat
  • Menzies Bay
  • Mitlenatch Island
  • Myra Falls

301 St. Ann's Road
Campbell River, British Columbia
V9W 4C7


British Columbia Tourism Region : Vancouver Island

Description From Owner:
  • Although certain proof cannot be found, it seems likely that this river, and consequently the town near its mouth, were named after Dr. Samuel Campbell, assistant surgeon on HM survey ship Plumper.
  • Dr. Campbell was on the Plumper during the period 1857-61, when she surveyed Johnstone Strait along with other parts of our coast.
  • Duncan Bay - Named by Captain G.H. Richards, RN, about 1860 after Captain Alexander Duncan, who entered the HBC maritime service in 1838, initially commanding the barque Vancouver and later the famous steamboat Beaver.
  • A contemporary described Duncan as an accomplished seaman, 'an old British tar with a heart full of generosity for his friends and a fist full of bones for his enemies.'
  • Josephine Flat - In 1895 the officers Of HMS Nymphe attended an amateur performance of 'HMS Pinafore' at Nanaimo.
  • Smitten by the charms of the girl who played the part of Josephine, the captain's daughter, they gave this name as they proceeded with their resurvey of the coast to the north.
  • Menzies Bay - Named by 1847, probably after Archibald Menzies (1754-1842), botanist and surgeon with Vancouver on HMS Discovery.
  • Menzies had earlier visited this coast as a surgeon on the trading vessel Prince of Wales. Among his many discoveries while on Vancouver's expedition was the Arbutus menziesii, known in the United States as the madrona,
  • whose orange-red trunk is so commonly seen near our shoreline. Menzies had a tiny greenhouse on the quarterdeck of the Discovery in which he kept specimens he was taking back alive to the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew.
  • Mitlenatch Island - The name of this well known nature reserve comes from the Island Comox Indian language. It means 'calm at the end,' in the sense of affording shelter from the wind.
  • Myra Falls - These falls and the creek on which they occur are named after vivacious young Myra Ellison, who in 1910 took part with her father, the Hon. Price Ellison, in the government exploratory survey that
  • preceded the setting up of Strathcona Provincial Park.
  • With permission from G.P.V and Helen B. Akrigg 1997 British Columbia Place Names. UBC Press.


Address of this page: http://bc.ruralroutes.com/CampbellRiver



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  • Patterson Lake

  • After T. W. Paterson, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia from 1909 to 1914.


  • Quinsam Lake

  • From the Island Comox Indian name meaning 'resting place.' The area was important for the Island Comox people since a special mask, known as xwayxway, was believed to have fallen here from the sky.


  • Seymour Narrows

  • After Rear-Admiral Sir George Francis Seymour, commanding the Pacific Station 1844-8. Until the tremendous underwater blast that removed Ripple Rock in 1958, the navigation of these narrows was hazardous.


  • Wokas Lake

  • From the Kwakwala Indian word meaning 'good water.'


  • Amor de Cosmos Creek , Amor Lake, Mount de Cosmos

  • After Amor De Cosmos, second Premier of British Columbia (1872-4). Born William Alexander Smith in Nova Scotia in 1825, he worked as a photographer in the California goldfields. In 1854, by act of the California legislature, he changed his name to Amor De Cosmos, a bastard mixture of Latin, French, and Greek that he mistranslated as 'Lover of the World.'

    Arriving in Victoria in 1858, he established the British Colonist, now the Times-Colonist. In his first issue, he began his attack on Governor Douglas, charging that under him 'the offices of the Colony are filled with toadyism, consanguinity, and incompetency, compounded with whitewashed Englishmen and renegade Yankees.' Recalling the period of De Cosmos's own participation in politics, Dr. Helmcken observed: 'He always "took a little" before appearing on a public platform. At this time he was a radical and a demagogue, a good speaker, who knew all the captivating sentences for the multitude, well-read, a free-thinker in religion, a sort of socialist, and uncommonly egotistical. '

    De Cosmos worked hard to persuade British Columbia to join Canada. After the defeat of his government in Victoria, he remained active as an MP in Ottawa until 1882. He died in 1897, and with him died his resplendent name.


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Nearby:
Nearby Lakes and Mountains:
  • John Hart Lake, 10km
  • Morte Lake, 14km
  • Lost Lake, 10km
  • September Lake, 16km
  • Quinsam Lake, 13km
  • Nugedzi Lake, 17km
  • Mirror Lake, 12km
  • Mount Lolo, 16km
  • Mount Seymour, 18km
  • Village Bay Lake, 18km
  • Stramberg Lake, 19km
  • Gilson Lake, 15km
  • Echo Lake, 13km
  • Rosen Lake, 17km
  • Hell Diver Lake, 20km
  • Little Main Lake, 21km
  • Little Lost Lake, 21km
  • Saxon Lake, 21km
  • Main Lake, 21km
  • Blue Grouse Lake, 21km
  • Mary Lake, 16km
  • Lukwa Lake, 15km
  • Lost Lake, 22km
  • Clear Lake, 23km
  • Wowo Lake, 21km
  • Regan Lake, 23km
  • Jasper Lake, 20km
  • Northy Lake, 23km
  • Campbell Lake, 16km
  • Darkwater Lake, 24km
  • Kelly Lake, 18km
  • Mount William, 23km
  • Newton Lake, 25km
  • Kalmia Lake, 27km
  • Pyrrhotite Lake, 27km
  • Crane Lake, 21km
  • Morton Lake, 20km
  • Elephant Mountain, 28km
  • Little Lake, 22km
  • Middle Quinsam Lake, 20km
  • Elephant Lake, 28km
  • Gosling Lake, 19km
  • McKay Lake, 29km
  • Ashlar Lake, 29km
  • Anvil Lake, 20km
  • Snakehead Lake, 20km
  • Beavertail Lake, 19km
  • Evening Mountain, 25km
  • Mohun Lake, 21km
  • Higgens Lake, 20km