Halcyon Hot Springs Cemetery

The following is a transcription of the Halcyon Hot Springs Cemetery located in Halcyon Hot Springs, British Columbia, Canada.

Historical Background

The Halcyon Hot Springs Hotel was developed by Captain Robert Sanderson in the 1880s. He erected a small building and built a wooden pipe to bring hot water down the hillside. In 1898, the site was purchased by the British American Corporation. The original building was added onto, cottages were built and a bottling works was set up. The White Cross acquired the site in the mid-1920’s. The management of the site was under a doctor, Brigadier-General F.W.E. Burnham.

Old Hotel

The hotel burned in 1955 taking with it General Burnham. The site was later covered when the lake was flooded by the High Arrow Dam in the mid 1960’s.

The graveyard was placed well above the Hotel and required a climb of several hundred feet from the lakeshore. It is still well above the flood level.

Layout

The cemetery contains eight gravesites four of which have monuments. There is one other site which has sunken down about two feet and is either a grave that has collapsed or been exhumed. All the gravesites are outlined with round stones.

Located on a small flat area lying between two ravines it is a difficult cemetery to find without the help of someone who is familiar with it.

Driving Directions

Halcyon Hot Springs is located on Highway 23, 68 km south of Revelstoke and 32 km north of Nakusp.

Stop at the sign on the east side of the highway saying "Waterfront. Fishing Camping and RV Site".

Walk back south about 20 feet.

Climb down the bank and about 25 feet in you will see an ATV trail.

Take the left fork of this trail and follow down about 200 feet and the cemetery will come into view.

Burials

The interments for the Halcyon Hot Springs Cemetery can be viewed as a pdf file here » interments.pdf

Additional sources of information:

  1. Ghost Towns and Drowned Towns of West Kootenay by Elsie G. Turnbull

Last updated 2009