Okanagan Centre.

How Okanagan Centre took shape

Okanagan Centre is a small lakeside village on Okanagan Lake's east shore, laid out as an orchard townsite on 25 foot lots around the turn of the 20th century. It was the district's main sternwheeler port until the railway arrived in 1925. Today it mixes heritage cottages and newer view homes around the Lake Country Museum.

Okanagan Centre sits on a shelf of Okanagan Lake's east shore below the Camp Road benches, on land that was part of the syilx / Okanagan seasonal round long before settlement. The Lake Country museum, in the village, keeps syilx artifacts from the area. The townsite began as a land deal. In 1892 brothers Vincent and Homer Maddock bought thousands of acres at a Vernon auction, planning orchard plots and town lots about 25 feet wide. They sold to Toronto's Trusts and Guarantee Company, whose Okanagan Valley Land Company finished an irrigation line from Beaver Lake by 1909 and planted many of the first orchards. Japanese men hired to plant them lived in a company camp on what is now Camp Road, and several, like Denbei Kobayashi, stayed to farm and pack fruit. By 1910 the village had two hotels, a general store, a Chinese laundry, a school in the new church and plans for a packinghouse and cannery.

Apples, pears and even cattle left the wharf by sternwheeler for the railhead at Okanagan Landing. When the Canadian National line opened through Winfield in 1925, trade moved inland and the village quieted. Its two room school, built in 1932, has held the Lake Country Museum and Archives since the school closed in the 1980s. Growth returned on the slopes above. The Okanagan Centre ward grew from 1,960 people in 2001 to 3,140 in 2021, and 45% of its homes date from after 2000, including Lakestone. The area has also had two recent wildfires, in July 2017 and August 2023, and both destroyed homes.

1. 1892Vincent and Homer Maddock buy thousands of acres at the Vernon land auction. Source
2. 1906Northcote Caesar builds the Grandview Hotel, the village's first hotel. Source
3. 1909The irrigation line from Beaver Lake is completed and a Japanese workers' camp opens on Camp Road. Source
4. 1925The Canadian National line opens through Winfield and lake freight begins to decline. Source
5. 1932The first part of the Okanagan Centre school is built; it becomes the Lake Country Museum after the school closes. Source

The homes & their setting

In 2021 the Okanagan Centre ward had 1,230 private dwellings: 79% single detached, 17% duplex and almost no apartments. About 6% were built before 1960, 16% from 1961 to 1980, 33% from 1981 to 2000 and 45% since 2001. The old village keeps many narrow 25 foot lots from the townsite survey, while newer view homes, including Lakestone, climb the slopes.

Building age, tenure, amenities and permitted uses vary by address. Explore the actual property documents with Elaine and the appropriate specialists.

Places with a story

• Lake Country Museum and Archives, 11255 Okanagan Centre Road West — The 1932 schoolhouse, with the 1906 Wentworth Cabin moved to the grounds in 1998. History source
• Okanagan Centre beach and heritage marker — Marks the old wharf that made the village the district's main sternwheeler port. History source
• Camp Road — Named for the camps of Japanese orchard workers hired around 1910 to 1920. History source
• Gray Monk Estate Winery, 1055 Camp Road — Established in 1972; the museum calls it the oldest estate winery in British Columbia. History source