Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia 2276281 222765167 2008-07-01T00:21:37Z KenWalker 1004223 /* External links */ remove resort ads and festival dead link [[Image:Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia Location.png|300px|right|Location of ''Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia'']] The '''Village of Harrison Hot Springs''' is a small community at the southern end of [[Harrison Lake]] in the [[Fraser Valley]] of [[British Columbia]]. It is a member of the [[Fraser Valley Regional District, British Columbia|Fraser Valley Regional District]]; its immediate neighbour is [[Kent, British Columbia|the District of Kent]] and included in it, the town of [[Agassiz, British Columbia|Agassiz]]. The Village of Harrison Hot Springs has been a small resort community since 1886, when the opening of the [[Canadian Pacific Railway]] brought the lakeside springs within a short carriage ride of the transcontinental mainline. In its first promotion as a resort it was known as St. Alice's Well, although it had been discovered decades earlier when a party of goldfield-bound travellers on Harrison Lake capsized into what they thought was their doom, only to discover the lake at that spot was not freezing, but warm. Although the resort flourished in a low-key fashion for years after this discovery was exploited by hoteliers, the Village of Harrison Hot Springs was not incorporated until 1949. It currently has a population of approximately 1,573 people. The village is known for its namesake [[hot springs]], which are a major attraction for tourists who come to stay at the village's spa-resort. Harrison Hot Springs is also known for an international [[sandcastle]] building competition that takes place there annually in September, and for the summertime Harrison Festival of the Arts. The [[hot springs]] themselves were originally used and revered by the [[Sts'Ailes]] ([[Chehalis First Nation|Chehalis]]) First Nations people who live along the [[Harrison River]] nearby. There are two hot springs, the "Potash", with a temperature of 40°C, and the "Sulphur", with a temperature of 65°C. According to Harrison Hot Springs Resort, the waters average 1300 ppm of dissolved mineral solids, one of the highest concentrations of any mineral spring. This hot spring is one of several lining the valley of the [[Lillooet River]] and Harrison Lake, with two others on the lake at Twenty Mile Bay and at [[Port Douglas, British Columbia|Port Douglas]], at the head of the Bay. The northernmost of the Lillooet River hot springs is at [[Meager Creek]], north of [[Whistler, British Columbia|Whistler]], with another well-known one to the east of Whistler at [[Skookumchuck Hot Springs, British Columbia|Skookumchuck Hot Springs]], midway between [[Pemberton, British Columbia|Pemberton]] and Port Douglas. One feature of this chain of hot springs is that the Harrison Hot Springs vent is the most sulfuric, and there is consistently less sulfur content as one goes northwards, with the springs at Meager Creek having almost no scent at all. In June 2006, Harrison Hot Springs was in the news due to the discovery of drug dealers using [[helicopters]] to smuggle drugs past the border and into the [[United States]].<ref>[http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20060629/drug_smuggling_066029/20060629/ CTV.ca | U.S., Canadian police bust drug smuggling ring]. June 19, 2006.</ref> ==Archival Photos== *[http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_70/a_09120.gif St. Alice Hotel as seen from hot spring, 1912] *[http://www.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/cgi-bin/www2i/.visual/img_med/dir_72/b_03961.gif Closeup of St. Alice Hotel, c.1905] ==References== {{reflist}} ==See also== *[[Harrison Mills, British Columbia]] ==External links== *[http://www.harrisonhotsprings.ca Village of Harrison Hot Springs] *[http://www.harrison.ca Harrison Hot Springs and surrounding area] *[http://www.harrisand.org Harrison Sand Sculpture site] *[http://www.fvrd.bc.ca/ Fraser Valley Regional District] *[http://www.harrisonschool.net Harrison Hot Springs Elementary School] {{coord|49|18|00|N|121|46|55|W|display=title|region:CA_type:city(1600)_source:dewiki}} {{Subdivisions of British Columbia|village=yes}} [[Category:Villages in British Columbia]] [[Category:Communities in Fraser Valley Regional District, British Columbia]] [[Category:Hot springs of Canada]] [[de:Harrison Hot Springs]]