Summerland

"There no cloud shall dim the sky, in that happy home on high, In that heavenly Summer land, in that heavenly Summer land"

This is an excerpt from a spiritualist hymn that was sung at seances. It inspired town promoter J.M. Robinson to name the community Summerland in his efforts to entice the early settlers. Sir Thomas Shaughnessy, President of the Canadian Pacific Railway, had developed a great love for this area and in 1902 he formed the Summerland Development Company and hired Robinson to promote the new fruit ranching community, as Robinson had done in Peachland and would later do in Naramata.

Some people had already decided that this was a fine place to settle down. In 1887 James Gartrell and his family had travelled all the way from Ontario bringing with them apple tree plantings and started the first commercial orchard near Trout Creek. Eventually a townsite grew on the lakeshore where the sternwheeler boats docked delivering people and supplies to the blossoming community and exporting various fruits to market. Summerland was incorporated in 1906 and it wasn't long before the lakeside town ran out of growing room and homes and businesses began appearing "up on the flat". Developer J. C. Ritchie promoted that area then called West Summerland, the present-day townsite.

The early years were very prosperous as the young trees started to bear fruit. A school district was formed (1903) and there was also a college built in 1907, Okanagan College, a Baptist institution. Electricity for the community and a water system for much needed irrigation was in place early on. There was even a local telephone company operating by 1907! The Dominion Experimental Farm was established in Summerland in 1914 to assist the fledgling fruit industry. By 1915, the CPR lake service would be complimented by the Kettle Valley Railway with a station at West Summerland.

In the mid-1950's the main highway through the Okanagan was re-routed, therefore by-passing the lakeside townsite and through time fires and slides effected much of its business section. In 1964, the main post office was moved to West Summerland and the "West" was dropped.

Many fine homes were built in the early fruit-ranching period and many remain. One prominent architectural style, that of Tudor Revival with its decorative "mock timbering", was popular in those years. As the downtown business centre aged, the buildings' facades were refurbished in the "Tudor theme" and an expansive revitalization took place in the early 1990's creating a unique and attractive town centre.

Visitors to our town will enjoy present-day Summerland's unique setting with orchards and vineyards still very much a part of the community. Summerland's rich history is very evident with its fine heritage buildings, a good Museum, the presence of the beautiful Ornamental Gardens of the Experimental Farm developed in 1916 and the opportunity to experience a steam train ride along a section of the original Kettle Valley Railway line. There are fine restaurants and shops to investigate, agri-food industries (jams, syrups and dried fruit products), award-winning wineries and great fruit stands packed full of local produce to visit. There are beaches, parks and trails to explore and many special festivals held throughout the year. There is always the chance that Ogopogo might be close by as well, because according to many of Summerland's past residents he has been know to frequent our waters! Why, in 1974 the Evans family caught Ogopogo stalking the Summerland Trout Hatchery!

As Nina Stevenson Berg of Summerland put it: (from Summerland in the Beginning, by the Summerland Archivist Group):

I wish, I wish that monster fish they call the Ogopogo would
Present himself and swish about the way an Ogopogo should -
For I believe in Ogo and the legends woven in his wake;
I think he chuckles to himself deep down in Okanagan Lake.
To hear men argue pro and con, and up and own, and back and forth
Whether he favours southern shores, or bears allegiance to the north.
I wish he'd show his horny head so I could nudge someone I know
And add in tones corroded with complacency, "I told you so!"

Submitted by Sherril Foster
Summerland, BC 2001