Texada Island

Texada Island, BC, 301 km², pop 1089 (1991c) lies in the Strait of Georgia near Powell River. Texada Island was named for Felix de Texada, a Spanish rear-admiral, by explorer Jose Maria Narvaez (1791). In 1883 American capital started the first of several iron and copper-gold mines around the community of Van Anda near the island's north end. Mining was a mainstay until the 1920s and from World War II to 1976. A local smelter (1898) concentrated copper by-products; both ore and concentrates were shipped from deep-sea berths. Since about 1895 limestone quarries and lime kilns on the island have furnished material for cement, stucco, Kraft pulp and other off-island manufactures. Texada Island now produces most of British Columbia's limestone. The island's timber has been intensively logged since the 1940s. Most services on Texada Island are at the community of Gillies Bay.