Dease Lake, British Columbia

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Dease Lake is a small community located in the northwestern corner of British Columbia, Canada. Located only a few hours south of the Yukon border, it is on Highway 37.

Dease Lake is a the last major centre before the Alaska Highway, and also the junction to Telegraph Creek and the magnificent Grand Canyon of the Stikine.

Partly due to the closing of the asbestos mine in Cassiar, Dease Lake's population continues to grow. The town has a school, various stores, hotels, restaurants, a community college campus, and local pub. It is a destination for travelers who want to experience a wilderness area.

[edit] History

In 1837 a Hudson's Bay Company post was created by Robert Campbell on the shore of Dease Lake about 50 km North of the Stikine River and 150 km south of where the present day Alaska Highway passes. The Lake had been named in 1834 for Chief Factor Peter Warren Dease, and would become a major junction for miners traveling to the gold rush in Cassiar (later an asbestos mine). Although the fort was abandoned soon after, the town lived on, and continued to grow.

During the 1960s and 1970s, BC Rail started to build an extension of their line towards Dease Lake, but construction was halted (though grading was completed all the way, and can still be seen from the air via Google Earth to this day).