Fort George Townsite, Looking South

DD UCH development has taken place in Fort George since

the photograph from which this illustration was made
was taken a year ago. ‘The open space on the further side
of the road is today occupied by buildings as substantial as
those shown in the illustration. Proof of this is afforded by
the large picture in the centre of this Album, which more
fully represents the progress made by the town up to the time
this booklet was sent to press.

The picture shown herewith is inserted partly be-
cause of its historical value in showing the various stages of
the growth of Fort George, but more particularly for the
comprehensive and convincing proof it affords of the ideal
site possessed by Fort George for the building of a great
city. Its absolute freedom from ravines and gullies, involv-
ing municipal works of great expense, is clearly shown by the
picture. In this respect Fort George has every natural ad-
vantage over Prince Rupert, Victoria, Vancouver and Seattle
—indeed over every city on the Pacific Coast—in all of
which much public money had to be expended in filling,
cutting and grading, before they were adapted for permanent
civic development. ‘The gentle slope to the Nechaco, and its
elevation of seventy feet above that stream, affords the very

best of drainage, and this advantage is still further em-
phasized by the gravelly character of the soil. A water supply
of the purest quality is easily obtainable, and, altogether,
nature could not have done more than here to give to enter-
prising mankind the physical basis for a great city.

The changes that have taken place within the past two
years on the land embraced in the picture on the opposite
page are only the beginnings of greater changes taking place
in the near future. Two years ago this stretch of country
was virgin forest, its leafy recesses threaded but seldom, and
then only by the Indian or the trapper. Today it is a flourish-
ing town, fairly athrill with faith, with courage, and with
optimism. With the impending advent of the railways, its
character will still further change. Where today are
temporary lumber buildings, there will then be substantial
business blocks extending far beyond the limits of present
construction. Prices for business property, already in some
instances four or five times what was paid a year ago, will
have advanced still more rapidly, and Fort George will then
be well on its way towards the realization of its citizens’
ambitions, and its manifest destiny, as the third city of British
Columbia.

Page Eleven