History

Area History
Care is taken to preserve the natural setting and the historic relevance of the area. The Crazy Creek Waterfalls Trust lands (both sides of the highway) are a 165 acre site that once was Taft Village; about ten families, a church/school, several large rooming houses, a supply store, C.P.R. station, a hotel and a large sawmill. The remains of this community are being preserved. New trails and interpretive signs are being developed to enable public access and viewing of the historic remnants of days gone by.

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A sawmill thrived on the Crazy Creek property from the late 1800’s until 1918. Lumber was hauled from the valley by logging train (pictured is the Class B Climax Locomotive). To power the sawmill water was piped from above Crazy Creek Waterfalls - through the gorge to the mill - via a fourteen inch wood stave pipeline. Large volumes of water (at up to 150 pounds pressure) turned the waterwheel which drove the large band saw. The sawmill site and parts of the original wooden stave pipeline are still visible today.

We can only be filled with admiration at the endurance and spirit of the people who experienced some of the world's harshest landscapes to build the railway, and settle the area. In 1882, the railway route through the steep and rugged Columbia/Selkirk Mountains was found and the Last Spike was driven near Crazy Creek Waterfalls (3 kms west in Craigellachie) in 1885. In 1902 the CPR built a railway station at Taft Village.