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From 1918 until the 1930s, the present townsite hosted a trading post on a grassy pasture known to the Sekani and Saulteaux as Little Prairie. In the 1920s, settlers from the Peace River Country began migrating westwards across the frozen Kiskatinaw and Pine Rivers to homestead. Little Prairie was homesteaded in 1930 by Alexander and Lillan Windrem who cleared the land by 1935 for hay, oats and gardens. Oil and coal discoveries, west of Little Prairie, near Commotion Creek, led to the construction of area roads. As the area's natural resource potential became more apparent, a highway was planned in the late 1940s from the British Columbia Interior to the northern side of the Rocky and Omineca Mountains. The John Hart Highway, named after former B.C. Premier John Hart, was completed in 1952; designated Highway 97S it stretches from Prince George to Dawson Creek, with an intersection at Little Prairie. This was northeastern BC's first connection with the rest of the province; previously a trip through the neighboring province of Alberta was required. Following the opening of the highway, businesses such as restaurants and service stations were opened in Little Prairie to accommodate incoming workers and settlers. The first school was built in 1951.[1] Little Prairie was incorporated as a waterworks district on 8 October 1957; within the span of a few years a rail line, natural gas pipeline, and telephone line were built along the highway from Prince George. Provincial Minister of Railways Ralph L.T. Chetwynd (who also directed the Pacific Great Eastern Railway) headed the rail line project. The rail line continued eastward to Dawson Creek which was the westernmost terminus of Northern Alberta Railways. In early 1958, the first train ceremonially arrived in Little Prairie from Vancouver. Its load included pipe to symbolize natural gas development, steel railway track for the extension of the rail line, box cars for grain and lumber, and a truck representing freight hauling along the Alaska Highway. The railway station in Little Prairie was completed in 1959 and named after Chetwynd, who had died two years earlier. Soon afterwards the post office adopted this name. Chetwynd became the community's official name on 1 July 1959. In 1960, the Chetwynd Waterworks District expanded its mandate to include garbage disposal, fire protection, and street lighting. Led by its Chamber of Commerce, the community incorporated as a municipality on 25 September 1962. The application for incorporation estimated Chetwynd's population as 750—inclusive of nearby work camps.[1] The 1966 Canadian census, the first to recognize Chetwynd as a census subdivision, counted 1,368 residents.
Further growth was stoked in the late 1970s and early 1980s by the construction of the Peace Canyon Dam near the Bennett Dam, the opening of the natural gas and sulfur plant, and the construction of a mining town Tumbler Ridge. Chetwynd thus was re-incorporated as a district in 1983 with a population of 2,957. With no more megaprojects, Chetwynd's population remained relatively stable at about 3,000, with a peak population in 1996 at 3,113. On 4 December 1996, Chetwynd's boundaries were expanded to include of forested land and industrial properties. Most of this came from moving the northern border up over Ol' Baldy Ridge to create a community forest, a concept which originated from a Chetwynd Secondary School proposal in 1980 for a fitness trail. The trail became the backbone of a system of interconnected trails and greenspaces that went up the ridge. Four industrial properties—a gas plant, sulfur processing plant, coal mine, and pulp mill—became exclaves of the district as they incorporated to receive municipal services. The coal mine, with an expected lifespan of 15 years, was approved by the province for development in 1998. It was not constructed until 2004, making it the province's first new coal mine in 20 years. It only operated for 2 years before closing due to poor yields, equipment failure, and lack of financial backing. |