Cranbrook, British Columbia

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Cranbrook, British Columbia
Motto: Heart and Soul of the Kootenay Rockies
Coordinates: 49°30′49″N, 115°46′7″W
Country	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Regional District	Regional District of East Kootenay
Established	1898
Incorporation	1905
Government
- City Mayor	Ross Priest
- Governing body	Cranbrook City Council
- MP	Jim Abbott
- MLA	Bill Bennett
Area
- City	25.14 km²  (9.71 sq mi)
Elevation	921 m (3,021 ft)
Population (2001)
- City	18,267 Ranked 209th
- Density	726.5/km² (1,881.6/sq mi)
- Metro	24,138 Ranked 99th
Time zone	Mountain Standard (MST) (UTC-7)
- Summer (DST)	Mountain Daylight (MDT) (UTC-6)
Postal code span	V1C
Area code(s)	250
Website: City of Cranbrook

Cranbrook, British Columbia (49°30′40″N, 115°46′2″W) is a city in southeast British Columbia, seat of the Regional District of East Kootenay. As of the 2006 census the population is 18,267, spread over an area of 25.14 square kilometres for a population density of 726.5 persons per square kilometre.

Cranbrook is home to the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel which presents static exhibits of passenger rail cars built in the 1920s for the CPR and in the 1900s for the Spokane International Railway. It is also the home of the Kootenay Ice, a WHL hockey team.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Climate 4 Education 5 Transportation 6 Notable people 7 Local Media 7.1 Newspapers 7.2 Radio Stations 7.3 Television Stations 8 Trivia 9 Sister Cities 10 External links

[edit] History

Originally inhabited by the Ktunaxa natives the land that Cranbrook now occupies was bought by European settlers, notably Colonel James Baker who named his newly acquired land Cranbrook after his home in Cranbrook, Kent, England

In 1898 Baker had successfully convinced Canadian Pacific Railway to establish their Crowsnest Pass line through Cranbrook rather than nearby Fort Steele. With that accomplishment Cranbrook became the major centre of the region, while Fort Steele declined; however, the latter is today a preserved heritage site.

On November 1, 1905, Cranbrook was incorporated as a city

[edit] Geography

While much of the city is relatively flat, Cranbrook is surrounded by many rising hills where many residential homes are located[1]. In addition Cranbrook faces the Purcell Mountains to the west and the Rocky Mountains to the north and east.

[edit] Climate

Environment Canada reports Cranbrook as having the most sunshine hours of any BC city at approximately 2228.6 hours annually. Because of that it is a fairly dry city throughout the year, and when precipitation does fall a good percentage of it will be in the form of snow. Environment Canada also states that the city experiences some of the lightest wind speeds year-round, has few foggy days, and has among the highest average barometric pressure of any Canadian city. (See link)

Frost-free days average 110 days, typically occurring between May 26 to September 14.

Mean daily temperatures range from -8.3°C to 18.2°C.

[edit] Education

The East Kootenay city is home to the main campus of the College of the Rockies, which has over 2500 full and part-time students from over 21 countries[2].

Public schools are run by School District 5 Southeast Kootenay, consisting of seven elementary schools and two middle schools that feed into the city's only high school: Mount Baker Secondary School, home to approximately 1000 students. Prior to 2004 the middle schools were referred to as junior high schools housing grades 8-10 rather than the current 7-9. However, due to declining enrollment the school district adopted the new system.

[edit] Transportation

Cranbrook is at the junction of major highways 3 and 93/95, and due to its close proximity to the borders of Alberta and the United States it is an important transportation hub.

Approximately 9 km north is the Cranbrook/Canadian Rockies International Airport, which is currently undergoing an expansion including the lengthening of its runway from 6000 to 8000 feet in order to accommodate a limited number of international flights[3].

Cranbrook also has a public transit system, operating buses on seven different routes.

[edit] Notable people

The following notable people came from or were born in Cranbrook:

• Brent Carver, actor
• Most of the members of the rock group Lillix: Louise Burns, Lacey-Lee Evin, and Tasha-Ray Evin
• Brad Lukowich, NHL player
• Jason Marshall, professional hockey player
• Steve Yzerman, retired NHL player and future Hockey Hall of Famer
• Rob Niedermayer and Scott Niedermayer, professional hockey players

[edit] Local Media

[edit] Newspapers

• Cranbrook Daily Townsman - Daily paper
• Kootenay Advertiser - Weekly paper

[edit] Radio Stations

• 101.3 FM - CBC Radio One
• 102.9 FM - CHDR, rock
• 104.7 FM - CHBZ, country

[edit] Television Stations

• Channel 5: CFCN, CTV
• Channel 10: CBUT, CBC

[edit] Trivia

• From 1995 to 2004 every Stanley Cup winning team had a player who was either born or raised in Cranbrook[4]

[edit] Sister Cities

Cranbrook is twinned with

• - Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (United States)

[edit] External links

• Official City of Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada Website
• Cranbrook Community Nutshell
• Cranbrook, British Columbia, Canada 2001 Census Community Profile