Powell River Historical Museum & Archives
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Cranberry

Tla'amin people used Cranberry Lake as a spiritual place before the lake was changed to what it is today. This refers to a story about the Ihos (Double Headed Serpent) who had underground caves that came out near Cranberry. The Ihos ended up creating a dam on a small creek that led towards Mowat Bay and created the lake. Since the Ihos was so spiritual to the Tla'amin people,  they used this lake to do spirit baths. Cranberry was also an important resource site for the harvesting of cranberries, for food, dyes and medicine.

Tla'min people had traplines all around Powell Lake. Mowat Bay was said to be a village site before the lake was dammed. Not only for the Tla'amin people, it is said that the Homalco and Klahoose people used to come and stay with the Tla'amin. 

Early settlers to the region also found the cranberries a welcome addition to their diet as they waited on deliveries of food and other supplies brought by boat from Seattle and Vancouver. What is now known as the community of Cranberry Lake is located in an area approximately 200 acres in size located a mile south east of Powell River. In 1910 virgin forest still dominated the landscape, but wth the arrival George Smarge, Magnus P. Olson and George McFall who filed a 52 acre mineral claim on the western side of the lake, Cranberry was on its way to becoming one of the early Districts in Powell River.


Cranberry was the first suburb of Powell River (now known as Townsite) as it was within easy walking distance of the mill. In 1915, Mowat and Wasser built a shingle mill with Edwin Profit serving as supervisor until it closed in 1919.
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Tues - Sat  10 am - 3 pm
604-485-2222
info@powellrivermuseum.ca
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​Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of material on this website. Dates and times are subject to change. 

  • Home
    • Visit >
      • Location & Hours
      • Tours & School Programming
      • Workshops
    • Other Heritage Stops
    • Contact Us
  • Looking Back
    • Place Names
    • Historic Photos
    • People of Interest
    • Powell River Firsts
    • Good Citizen
    • Historic Films
    • Local History Books
    • Virtual Exhibits
  • Archives
    • About Archives
    • A Record of Military Service
    • Phone Books & Directories
    • Powell River Digester
    • Archival Descriptions
    • Indexes & Finding Aids
    • Research Requests
    • Donating to the Archives
  • Collections
    • Exhibits & Displays
    • artiFACTS
    • Artifact Donation
  • About
    • Get Involved >
      • Membership
      • Volunteer
      • Careers
      • Donate
    • Mission, Vision, Mandate
    • Our Story
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors