Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shawnigan Lake, British Columbia, is a small community (just a crossroad and a lake)on Vancouver Island with a population of approximately 4000. The population typically doubles during the summer, as the lake and village are popular summer vacation spots for residents of Victoria, British Columbia, who commute between the city and Shawnigan Lake while staying in their summer cabins. Several new residential developments have been built, both in the Shawnigan Lake area as well as in surrounding areas. Shawnigan Lake Village itself contains two small general stores, three restaurants, several beaches and various small businesses including a barber, clothing store, video store, and a museum. Residents of Shawnigan Lake also have access to nearby communities such as Mill Bay and Duncan that offer more shopping, employment, and educational opportunities. With the exception of Shawnigan Lake School and Maxwell International Bahá'í School (both private boarding schools), and two small grade schools (one of which has been closed down as of mid-2006), all students from Shawnigan above grade six must travel by bus to either Duncan or Mill Bay.

Shawnigan Lake is located approximately 48 km miles north of Victoria, and borders the communities of Cobble Hill and Mill Bay. The only railway on Vancouver Island, the E and N Railway serves the community with a twice daily train service, the VIA "Malahat", although as of 2006, the train rarely stops at the Village, and the Village has no rail facilities to speak of. On the old rail line (now torn up) nearby Shawnigan's west arm resides the historic Kinsol Trestle. The Trestle, which stands as one of the world's largest wooden trestles, is in danger of being torn down by the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD).

Originally a logging operation, that chapter of Shawnigan Lake history was closed in the early twentieth century due to both the loss of the mill, which was destroyed by fire, and the logging methods of the time, which used oxen to pull the felled trees. Since the loads of raw timber were very heavy, the oxen could only pull for a short distance, which quickly depleted the area surrounding the mill of any 'active' timber. Portions of the mill can still be seen in Shawnigan's Old Mill Park, mostly overgrown.

Shawnigan Lake Village is located on the eastern shore of the lake, containing the bulk of the area's shops and stores. The north-east end of the lake consists of a residential development (The Shawnigan Beach Estates), the area's only remaining elementary school, Discovery Elementary School, (Elsie Miles Elementary, located within the Village proper, was closed in mid-2006 due to age and enrollment issues), and a great number of summer cabins, as well as a large lakeside park. The south end of the lake is largely undeveloped, discounting the lakeshore itself, with scattered farmland and many miles of hiking trails.

Shawnigan Lake has no significant parkland outside of the park noted above and one small regional park in the Village itself. Several beaches and small day-use areas are scattered around the lake, and a large island in the south end of the lake, dubbed 'Memory Island' in honor of two lake residents that were lost in World War II, is one such area.

One unfortunate side-effect of the Lake's immense popularity as a summer vacation spot is the slow degradation of the the local watershed, due primarily to runoff and urban pollution. Adding to the impact is the popularity of water-skiing on the lake, especially during the summer months. The high speed of boat traffic on the lake causes strong waves to impact the shore, damaging both natural lakeside flora and artificial retaining walls by eroding the shoreline that supports them.

The origin and meaning of the name 'Shawnigan' is the subject of much debate among lake residents, with local legend holding that it was named after two early settlers, Shaw and Finnegan. However, it seems much more likely that 'Shawnigan' as a name bears a mutual linguistic heritage with 'Shawinigan' (note the extra 'I'), derived from an Algonquin word meaning 'portage on the crest'. Residents of the local boarding schools are fond of claiming the word mean 'lake of the dead' in an unspecified native language, but this is almost certainly a tall tale.

Portions of the film Lake Placid were filmed in Shawnigan Lake, and several local businesses were permitted to keep the prop signboards that were used in the film.

---