Chemainus- A Hamlet, Village or Town? You be the judge

 

In the dying days of March we headed for Vancouver Island and our annual spring horticultural expedition.  After several days of weeding and pruning, it has become our practice to plan a few extra days on the Island to explore someplace we have not yet visited.  We have been traveling to the Island for over 50 years to visit family but for many of those years we never left the confines of the greater Victoria area.  

Yes that is a palm and they can be grown on Vancouver Island. No coconuts though. 

A trip to Haida Gwaii 10 years ago had us taking a ferry across the Queen Charlotte Sound from Prince Rupert on the mainland to Port Hardy located on the very north end of Vancouver Island. We took a couple of days to travel to Victoria and came to realize that the Island had a lot more to offer then just the GVA. 

Enjoying dinner, wine and fire on a beach near Campbell River. 

This adventure revolved around the small hamlet, village, town of Chemainus.  This got me thinking (something I do on occasion) about what  pronoun, whoops sorry common noun I should be using for Chemainus. My English teacher kicking in.

 

Definitions 

Hamlet- A small, informal settlement, often with just a small collection of homes. Generally lacks a church or has significant local services. 

Village- A residential community that is larger than a hamlet. Features include a church, school, shop or pub. Quite often it served as a once-farming community. 

Town- An urbanized area, larger than a village and acts as the commercial or administrative centre for the area. It will have a dense population, fixed administrative boundaries, town halls, parks, diverse shops and specialized services.

Chemainus is located just off the TransCanada Highway, 80 kilometres north of Victoria with a population of 4,000 souls.  We have probably driven by it dozens of times over the years without stopping. What drew me there was a stroke of luck. While looking at some hiking trails on Thetis Island I discovered Chemainus as it is the terminus for the ferry that services Thetis Island.

 

A little more research on Chemainus and I discovered the Chemainus Theatre Festival and they were producing the musical Godspell and it was playing during the time we were planning to be on the Island. Kismet, what 70 year old doesn’t like a 70’s musical about Jesus. The history of the Festival is quite interesting so I have attached a link below with more information it and the beautiful theatre that was built to house it. 

https://chemainustheatrefestival.ca/about/history/       

Godspell was the cake but the icing was the discovery of the Hand of Man museum in the small village of Maple Bay. We would be driving by it on our way to Chemainus and it was recommended that we really should drop in. Now, over the years we have wandered into a few private roadside museums and found them mostly underwhelming so the bar was set low. 

Our half hour visit became and an overwhelming 90 minutes and we did not see everything as we had to be in Chemainus for the Godspell matinee. See link below.

https://handofmanmuseum.com/

 

 Nonie was more buffaloed then overwhelmed by all the displays but managed to keep it together 

These were the activities that filled our adventure’s first day. We were booked for two nights into a very nice VRBO, a few blocks from the Theatre and will spend tomorrow exploring the area. 

Day two was planned to be more active with three hikes and some wandering around Chemainus. Stocking Creek Park was to be our first adventure and the main attraction was the waterfall. Vancouver Island is littered with waterfalls that come in all sizes from small to humongous. Stocking Creek Falls would probably fall into the small and cute category. Luckily there had been some rain in the last few days and the falls were flush with water.   

A lovely walk around Chemainus Lake loop trail was next on the agenda.  The lake is stocked annually  with rainbow trout. A fishing dock has been built that will get the fishermen out beyond the reeds that surround the edge of the lake. We enjoyed lunch while watching two young teens casting their lines out in to the lake.  I provided some sage advice on what they should be using from their tackle boxes but despite trout leaping out of the water everywhere, my recommendations for lures were ignored by the hungry trout.  

 

The last hike of the day was the one I was most looking forward to. The Hermits Trail is located in Askew Park which is located in the middle of Chemainus. The Hermits trail is just a small part of the Parks eight kilometres of mixed condition trials. In addition the West Coast trail skirts the edge of the park where you will find the start of the Hermits Trail. The trail head is not well marked but is roughly located on Google Maps. It was well worth the effort to find it.

 

Hermit’s Trail-   

Charlie Abbot came to Chemainus sometime in the 1970’s and wandered into the forest surrounding the town where he lived until the time of his death in 1989 aged 87 years. Under the the maples and firs of the forest Charlie made a garden covering many acres. 

Although old and  bent with years, he moved rocks and slabs of stone of all sizes, planted wild flowers,

 made pathways and steps, 

creating a little paradise of tranquility for all to share. 

In 1988,  year before his death, Charlie whom all knew as the Hermit was honoured by the Pacific Rim Artisans Village who guaranteed him official sanctuary and made him the first resident of the Artisan Village. 

Chemainus. Com

The idea for the  Artisan Village came about in 1990 with a plan to create a 50 acre live/work commune for artists in Chemainus. Sadly the commune failed to materialize due to lack of funding, complex permitting issues and lack of local buy-in due to its large scale and unconventional, tourist driven ideals. Can you say hippy haven. The grand entrance, 38 feet high and 60 feet wide is all that is left of this out of the box scheme. Thinking about it, I am feeling very confident that if it came up today, there would be a definite buy-in from the citizens of Chemainus.

We ended the day with a wander through the Chemainus’s old downtown and port area. My camera battery died so I have borrowed a picture. The town was incorporated in 1858 and built to service the lumber mills that spouted up in the area. The port was one of the first ports in the Pacific Northwest, shipping lumber to the world and later paper from nearby pulp mills. Sadly the pulp mills have permanently closed down and the lumber mill was temporarily shut down in 2025 due to low demand and tariffs. There is a fear that it may never reopen. 

 Photo: Chemainus.com

Based on all of the above I believe we have answered the question of what common noun can be used for Chemainus. It is definitely a town. Will we revisit Chemainus? I think so but it will probably depend on what is showing at the Chemainus Theatre Festival. I  will also be bringing my fishing pole and different fishing lures.