Introduction   Revelstoke has about 7,500 inhabitants and is surrounded by great natural beauty. The town is situated on the Columbia River in between the Selkirk and Monashee chain of mountains and is therefore called “the alpine town”. The town itself is still a “railway town”, old locomotives can still be seen at the Revelstoke Museum. Nowadays mining and forestry together with tourism make up the most important industries. Many tourists are drawn mainly by the Glacier National Park and the Mount Revelstoke National Park.

History  Former inhabitants came to this area in the fall to fish for salmon but because of heavy snowfall and danger of avalanches they left when winter was approaching. In 1811 David Thompson put the Columbia River on the map for further expansion to the west. Later, more people travelled to the west. The furriers called the place at the river “Big Eddy”.

In 1880 they began the construction of a railway. At the place where the railway was supposed to cross the Columbia River, A.S. Farwell bought a piece of land in 1884 and named the place Farwell. When the Canadian Pacific Railway arrived, they established themselves a bit east of the place, supposed they were the owners of the land and took Farwell to court. In 1886 the name changed to Revelstoke. This name was owed to Lord Revelstoke, a benefactor who saved the place after it was almost bankrupt. On 1st March 1899 Revelstoke was annexed as town. The presence of the railway created much economical growth. Revelstoke was one of the first places in British Columbia with a power supply. Nowadays this energy is supplied by the Revelstoke Dam. The construction of the Revelstoke Dam was completed in 1985. The dam is located 8 km north of the town and is 470 m wide, 175 m high and supplies a power of 1860 mega watt.