Robson is an unincorporated community in the

West Kootenay The Kootenays or Kootenay ( ) is a region of southeastern British Columbia. It takes its name from the Kootenay River, which in turn was named for the Kutenai First Nations people. Boundaries The Kootenays are more or less defined by the Kootena ...

region of southeastern

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. The former

steamboat A steamboat is a boat that is marine propulsion, propelled primarily by marine steam engine, steam power, typically driving propellers or Paddle steamer, paddlewheels. The term ''steamboat'' is used to refer to small steam-powered vessels worki ...

landing and railway terminal is on the northeast side of the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

. The residential area is off Broadwater Road, within the northwest part of Greater Castlegar.

Established

In 1888, civil servant Gilbert Malcolm Sproat set aside a half-section of land for a government reserve. The water deeper, and high banks protecting the shore from flooding, the location was about upstream from the Norns (formerly Pass) Creek delta. Bordering in 1890, the

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

(CP) acquired around 70 acres about from the creek. The location was named after Premier John Robson for his support of CP endeavours. In 1891, the CP's Columbia and Kootenay Railway (C&K) reached its new western terminal. C&K opened a depot, installed a

turntable A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding phys ...

, and ran tracks along the new steamboat dock.

Flourished

Sproat's Landing diminished and Robson flourished. For overnight stays and mail, Louis Levesque was hotelier and postmaster. Otherwise, passengers transferred directly from train to

sternwheeler A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine driving paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, whereby the first uses were wh ...

. Freight cars rolled onto barges. The upstream route to

Arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling. ...

connected with the spur from Revelstoke. However, low water and ice on the Arrow Lakes made the water route unreliable. In 1897, the CP built a C&K branch line from South Slocan up the Slocan Valley diverting much lake traffic from Robson. That year, the Columbia and Western Railway opened to West Robson on the opposite bank. Prior to the rail bridge, steamers and barges shuttled freight and passengers between the two Robsons. On timetables, and occasionally newspapers, the former terminal was called East Robson.

Reinvented

On the 1902 completion of the rail bridge across the

at Sproat's Landing, West Robson became the ferry terminal, and businesses and residents relocated. East Robson was reinvented as commercial orchard lots. The name eventually reverted to simply Robson. The railway tracks to East Robson were soon lifted. However, the CP steamers continued to call at both Robsons until the withdrawal of all Arrow Lakes services in the mid-1950s. By 1908, a general store opened, and that year the Baptists built a church and opened a school. Poultry farming intensified. In 1921, the school moved into the old hotel, which had been renovated. The orchards did not work out, but in 1919, the establishment of the Robson–Castlegar cable-guided reaction ferry developed Robson into a bedroom community for the larger centre. Ferry service ended in 1988. The 1994 opening of the Robson–Castlegar bridge restored a direct link.

Recent decades

Since the dividing line between Robson and

Raspberry The raspberry is the edible fruit of several plant species in the genus ''Rubus'' of the Rosaceae, rose family, most of which are in the subgenus ''Rubus#Modern classification, Idaeobatus''. The name also applies to these plants themselves. Ras ...

to the east is debatable, Robson-Raspberry is the unofficial amalgamation for census and improvement district purposes. In 2014, Robson/Raspberry opened a new water treatment plant, ending two decades of being on a boil water advisory. That year, Johnny's Groceries and Gas experienced an armed robbery. In 2016, the craft beer put the Lion's Head Pub on British Columbia Magazine's list of top ten establishments.

References

{{authority control Populated places in the West Kootenay Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia British Columbia populated places on the Columbia River