Central Hope Town

The Sto:lo First Nations were the early residents of the area. Explorer Simon Fraser arrived in what is now Hope in 1808, with the Hudson's Bay Company creating the Fort Hope trading post in 1848. The Fraser River and Fraser Street is named for the explorer, while Hudson's Bay Street and Fort Street in Hope commemorate the town's origins. Hope was transformed in 1858 and onward by the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush as thousands of miners flooded into the region. Spurred by the gold rush and the desire of the British to solidify their claim to control in the face of thousands of American prospectors pouring in, the Colony of British Columbia was created on 2 August 1858, and the Colony of British Columbia joined Canada in 1871 after being promised a railway connection to eastern Canada, which came through Hope.