Campbell River City Map Poster

About Campbell River

Campbell River is named for John Campbell, who was the second governor of Vancouver Island. The city is surrounded by water and mountains, making it a popular destination for boaters, campers and tourists. It has been ranked one of the top ten most scenic communities in Canada on several occasions. The area that would become known as Campbell River began to be populated by settlers in 1871 when George Cautley constructed a sawmill at what would later be called "Old Town", near present-day downtown (the site was originally part of an Indian reserve). In 1873 James Dunsmuir arrived with his family from Victoria to construct their new home at Dunsmuir Point (now Downtown), which they named after him; he also built two wharves on nearby Dean Channel where he loaded coal mined from his mines in Union Bay onto ships bound for San Francisco via Port Alberni or Nanaimo Harbour.