Leechtown, Wellington, Bevan, Kildonan, Fort Rupert, Cape Scott . . .Vancouver Island's ghost towns dot the Island from its southern end to its northern tip, and their stories chart the boom and bust of the resource economy that still characterizes the region. Well illustrated with maps and an abundance of photos, archival and modern, Ghost Towns & Mining Camps of Vancouver Islandis filled with tales of the famous and the not-so-famous. The Dunsmuirs appear throughout the book, but so do the First Nations who lived here first and the many European and Asian settlers who were drawn by the promise of wealth and land.

Many of BC's old mining towns are now abandoned ruins, disappearing into the wilderness. These once-thriving towns and the pioneers who built them are remembered in 10 fascinating stories of hard work and heroism. A mine rescue worker sadly recounts a tale of death underground at Coal Creek. Three eccentric old bachelors become the final residents of Phoenix. Legends of Spanish treasure near a Vancouver Island gold-rush town persist to this day. Experience BC's colourful past in these entertaining stories from the province's vanished communities.

A compelling investigation into supernatural events and local lore on Vancouver Island. Vancouver Island is known worldwide for its arresting natural beauty, but those who live here know that it is also imbued with a palpable supernatural energy. Researcher Shanon Sinn found his curiosity piqued by stories of mysterious sightings on the island—ghosts, sasquatches, sea serpents—but he was disappointed in the sensational and sometimes disrespectful way they were being retold or revised. Acting on his desire to transform these stories from unsubstantiated gossip to thoroughly researched accounts, Sinn uncovered fascinating details, identified historical inconsistencies, and now retells these encounters as accurately as possible. Investigating 25 spellbinding tales that wind their way from the south end of the island to the north, Sinn explored hauntings in cities, in the forest, and on isolated logging roads. In addition to visiting castles, inns, and cemeteries, he followed the trail of spirits glimpsed on mountaintops, beaches, and water, and visited Heriot Bay Inn on Quadra Island and the Schooner Restaurant in Tofino to personally scrutinize reports of hauntings. Featuring First Nations stories from each of the three Indigenous groups who call Vancouver Island home—the Coast Salish, the Nuu-chah-nulth, and the Kwakwaka’wakw—the book includes an interview with Hereditary Chief James Swan of Ahousaht.

The old buildings and historic places of British Columbia form a kind of "roadside memory," a tangible link with stories of settlement, change, and abandonment that reflect the great themes of BC's history. Michael Kluckner began painting his personal map of the province in a watercolour sketchbook. In 1999, after he put a few of the sketches on his website, a network of correspondents emerged that eventually led him to the family letters, photo albums, and memories from a disappearing era of the province. Vanishing British Columbia is a record of these places and the stories they tell, presenting a compelling argument for stewardship of regional history in the face of urbanization and globalization.

Award-winning popular historians Fred Thirkell and Bob Scullion have assembled an all-new collection of postcard views capturing different communities around British Columbia as they appeared at the turn of the 20th century. Collectively defining the state of affairs in BC a century ago, each one of these images has a story to tell. Once a thriving cannery town, Port Essington is now long gone, abandoned and then destroyed by forest fires. They may have mined millions of dollars in gold at Stout's Gulch, but you'll have trouble finding it on any maps today. Even Kelowna's main street is unrecognizable. With each passing year, it becomes more difficult to find rare and unusual black-and-white printed postcards from this period. Many of the ones Thirkell and Scullion have included in "Greetings from British Columbia" are themselves rare, borrowed from the collection of a pre-eminent postcard dealer without whose cooperation this new collection would not have been possible.

Buying Saffron, a 24-foot racing sailboat, was an act of desperation meant to help single parent June Cameron and her youngest son validate themselves. It did that and more. A friend persuaded June to race the boat, and over the next decade June, either solo or with her all-female crew, competed in BC's major sailing races, taking home a lot of the hardware for their class. Shelter from the Storm is a fascinating memoir about finding one's place, even if that place is at sea.

Built in 1913, the Canadian Pacific Railway's ship Princess Maquinna steamed up and down the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island in summer and winter, calm weather and storms, for over forty years, and has become one of the most beloved boats in BC’s maritime history. Princess Maquinna, sometimes referred to as the “Ugly Princess” but most often “Old Faithful,” transported Indigenous people, settlers, missionaries, loggers, cannery workers, prospectors and travellers of all kinds up and down Vancouver Island’s rugged and dangerous west coast, stopping at up to forty ports of call on her seven-day run. The Princess Maquinna faithfully served as the lifeline for all those who lived on the west coast of Vancouver Island before it became accessible by roads. Because of this strong connection she became the “Best Loved Boat” in BC’s maritime history. Kennedy recounts battles through eighty-knot gales along the exposed coastline sailors called “The Graveyard of the Pacific,” and reveals the bigotry that forced Indigenous and Chinese passengers to remain on the foredeck of the ship while other passengers sheltered from the elements inside. He brings the history of this beloved ship to life with rich detail, recalling a time when this remote part of British Columbia was alive with mines, canneries and now-forgotten settlements.