Oyama.

How Oyama took shape

Oyama is Lake Country's northern community, on the narrow isthmus between Wood and Kalamalka lakes. Its post office opened in 1906 under a name honouring Japanese Field Marshal Oyama Iwao, and a 1908 canal let steamers reach Wood Lake. Orchards, packinghouses and the railway shaped it; today it mixes lakefront, acreage and hillside homes.

The isthmus at Oyama was a crossing long before it had a name. syilx / Okanagan people portaged here between Wood and Kalamalka lakes, laying willows and saplings over the wet ground. The museum records the place as Axts-luchus, a narrow crossing with thickly entwined willows, which settlers translated as The Railroad. The gazetteer also keeps a traditional name for the joined lakes, Chelootsoos, a long lake cut in the middle. Cattle ranches spread along both shores from the 1870s, and the Vernon to Okanagan Mission stage road passed through from 1875, with a Halfway House stop. Orchard settlers arrived after 1904 as Commonage land and Thomas Wood's range were sold. When a post office opened in Dr. W.

H. Irvine's home on May 1, 1906, the Irvine family suggested Oyama, after the Japanese field marshal then in the news from the war between Russia and Japan. A canal finished in 1908 lowered Wood Lake about four feet, and irrigation from Oyama Lake arrived by flume and pipeline in 1908 and 1909. By 1914 Oyama had two packinghouses, a store and a community hall. The Canadian National line came in 1925, laid on the shelf exposed when Wood Lake dropped. After rail service ended, the District and partners bought the corridor in 2015, and the Okanagan Rail Trail officially opened at the Oyama boat launch in September 2018. Today about 2,100 people live in the Oyama ward, mostly in detached homes, with orchards on the benches, Kaloya Regional Park on Kalamalka Lake and a long term District plan for a larger public park on the isthmus waterfront.

1. 1906Oyama Post Office opens on May 1 in Dr. W. H. Irvine's home. Source
2. 1908The navigation canal linking Wood and Kalamalka lakes is completed on September 5, lowering Wood Lake about four feet. Source
3. 1914The first Oyama community hall is officially opened on January 23 by Price Ellison. Source
4. 1925The Canadian National line is completed, built along Wood Lake's newly exposed eastern shelf. Source
5. 2015The District of Lake Country and partners buy the CN rail corridor on June 1. Source

The homes & their setting

In the 2021 census the Oyama ward had 800 private dwellings, 80% single detached and 12% duplex. It has the highest share of older homes of the four wards: 13% built before 1960, 19% from 1961 to 1980, 30% from 1981 to 2000 and 38% since 2001. Expect orchard farmhouses and cottages alongside newer lakefront and hillside builds.

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

• Oyama Community Hall and heritage marker, 15710 Oyama Road — Successor to the 1914 hall; the upstairs Memorial Hall holds photo displays and local history exhibits. History source
• Oyama canal — The 1908 cut between Wood and Kalamalka lakes that lowered Wood Lake and opened it to steamers. History source
• Oyama Cemetery, 14800 Oyama Road — On land donated by Reverend Arthur Vandeleur Despard and cared for by the Oyama Community Club since 1955. History source
• Oyama Fire Hall — Occupies the former Oyama United Church, built in 1918. History source