Denman Island

Denman Island (Sla-dai-aich [k’omoks First Nation name meaning "inner island".
	Denman Island looking south from Comox
	Location in British Columbia Location in Comox Valley Regional District
Geography
Location	Strait of Georgia
Coordinates	49°33′N 124°48′W
Archipelago	Gulf Islands
Area	51.03 km2 (19.70 sq mi)
Administration
	Canada
Province	British Columbia
Regional district	Comox Valley
Demographics
Population	1,165 (2016)

Denman Island, or Sla-dai-aich (Taystayic), its indigenous name, is one of the Northern Gulf Islands and part of the Comox Valley Regional District of British Columbia, Canada, and is home to a small community of 1,022 year-round residents.[1]

Leaving Denman Island on the local Ferry

History

Denman Island was first inhabited by Indigenous peoples including the Pentlatch and Sliammon as evidenced by middens, gravesites, and oral history. It was visited and mapped by Europeans during the 1791 voyage of the Spanish ship Santa Saturnina, under Juan Carrasco and José María Narváez. It was named by Captain Richards in 1864 for Rear Admiral Joseph Denman who was commander of the Pacific station from 1864 to 1866.[2]

Denman Island life

Regular ferry service links Denman Island to both Hornby Island from Gravelly Bay on the east side of Denman and across Baynes Sound to Buckley Bay on Vancouver Island on the west side. Denman Island has long been a haven for people escaping from busy urban centres. "Downtown" Denman consists of one general store, dental bus (shared with Hornby two weeks a month), two community halls, the Dora Drinkwater Volunteer Library, a community school, an Anglican church, and a museum. It is known for its dances, festivals, quiet roads, and scenery. A number of artists have made Denman Island their home for decades. The island has a land area of 51.03 square kilometres (19.70 sq mi).

The author Emily St. John Mandel was born and brought up on Denman Island.[3]

Vegetation and soils

The western part of Denman Island is covered by a dense forest dominated by Douglas fir, western hemlock, and western red cedar on deep loamy glacial till or marine deposits mapped as Royston gravelly loam or Tolmie-Merville complex. Some areas have shallow soils over sedimentary rock and are mapped as Haslam shaly loam or Rough Stony-Haslam complex. The eastern part has a loamy sand (Kye-Qualicum complex or Bowser series) on which arbutus is frequently present near the shore. Poorly drained depressions are mapped as Tolmie loam, Parksville sandy loam, or Arrowsmith peat.[4]

Provincial Parks located on Denman Island

Sandy Island Marine Provincial Park (off northern tip, accessible on foot at low tide).
Fillongley Provincial Park – B.C. Ministry of Environment Site
Boyle Point Provincial Park – B.C. Ministry of Environment Site

Local media

Denman Island has a monthly news and artistic journal called the Flagstone, a weekly news and advertising circular called the Grapevine, a community radio station, and several active online groups, including the Denman Open Bulletin Board.

References

2011 Canada Census
"Denman Island". BC Geographical Names.
Kirch, Claire (9 March 2012). "Emily St. John Mandel: Once a Dancer, Now a Noir Phenom". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
Canada, Government of Canada; Agriculture and Agri-Food (1959). "Soil Survey of Southeast Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands, British Columbia". Retrieved 2018-03-11.

External links

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[1] 2011 Canada Census

[2] "Denman Island". BC Geographical Names.

[3] Kirch, Claire (9 March 2012). "Emily St. John Mandel: Once a Dancer, Now a Noir Phenom". Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 30 September 2015.

[4] Canada, Government of Canada; Agriculture and Agri-Food (1959). "Soil Survey of Southeast Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands, British Columbia". Retrieved 2018-03-11.