Midway is a village located in southern British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

 in the West Kootenay

West Kootenay

West Kootenay was a provincial electoral district in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It was formed along with East Kootenay from a redistribution of the old Kootenay riding, which was one of the province's original twelve.- Demographics :...

 region.
It is located 13 km west of Greenwood

Greenwood, British Columbia

Greenwood is a small city in south central British Columbia.It was incorporated in 1897 and was formerly one of the principal cities of the Boundary Country smelting and mining district. It earned "city" status and has retained that stature despite the population implosion following the closure of...

 and 51 km east of Osoyoos along Highway 3.

History

Originally known as Boundary City, the land was purchased by the Midway Town site Company. The Company divided the land into lots and sold each for about $100. The name was changed by the owner, RC Adams, a few years later.

A year after its establishment, an elementary school

Elementary school

An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...

 was built.

The town was slowly populated. During mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...

 booms in the 1890s, the population reached up to 6000. Midway also expanded in 1899 with the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway

Canadian Pacific Railway

The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...

, making it a centre point for the distribution of ore

Ore

An ore is a type of rock that contains minerals with important elements including metals. The ores are extracted through mining; these are then refined to extract the valuable element....

.

Government

Midway's local government consists of a mayor and four councillors elected to four year terms. The current mayor is Randy Kappes. The councillors are Dick Dunsdon, Martin Fromme, Marguerite Rotvold and Gary Schierbeck. James McMynn, Midway's first Mayor, was the longest serving mayor in Canada, retiring after 38 years.

Representation for school board is elected to School District 51 Boundary

School District 51 Boundary

School District 51 Boundary is a school district in British Columbia. Centred in Grand Forks, it covers an area west to the outskirts of Kelowna, British Columbia and all along the border with the United States. This includes the communities of Midway, Greenwood, Beaverdell, and Rock...

 which is based in Grand Forks

Grand Forks, British Columbia

-Schools:Schools in the region are operated by School District 51 Boundary which has its main office in Grand Forks but also serves Midway, Greenwood, Beaverdell, and Rock Creek....

. It operates two schools in Midway; Boundary Central Secondary School

Boundary Central Secondary School

Boundary Central Secondary is a public high school in Midway, British Columbia part of School District 51 Boundary....

 and Midway Elementary School.

Local Attractions

Midway is Mile Zero of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail

Kettle Valley Rail Trail

The Kettle Valley Rail Trail is a multi-use recreational rail trail located in the Okanagan-Boundary region of southern British Columbia.The trail uses a rail corridor that was originally built for the now-abandoned Kettle Valley Railway...

, a popular wilderness cycling trail which follows the rail bed of the old Kettle Valley Railroad. At the trail's start, the Village of Midway operates the Kettle Valley Museum which highlights the life of early Boundary Country settlers. Notable museum features include a windmill from the Bubar farm that was originally purchased from the T. Eaton Co.

Eaton's

The T. Eaton Co. Limited was once Canada's largest department store retailer. It was founded in 1869 in Toronto by Timothy Eaton, an Irish immigrant. Eaton's grew to become a retail and social institution in Canada, with stores across the country, buying offices across the globe, and a catalogue...

Construction of a bunk house has been started. When complete, the bunkhouse will offer accommodations for cyclists using the trail.

The Midway Curling

Curling

Curling is a sport in which players slide stones across a sheet of ice towards a target area. It is related to bowls, boule and shuffleboard. Two teams, each of four players, take turns sliding heavy, polished granite stones, also called "rocks", across the ice curling sheet towards the house, a...

 Club is a popular destination for Boundary Area curlers. A hockey rink next door is popular with local youth. The curling rink is home to the Boundary District Curling Club Across the street from the curling rink and arena is McMynn park, a large green space which hosts many ball tournaments and picnics.

Adjacent to the Boundary Central Secondary School is a park in which two trees have grown together after being entwined together when the village was young. The trees were joined together by the Indians who camped in Midway, from America and the Okanagan, as a symbol. "Yet they are separated, be as one"; and they tied the trees together.

Tubing

Tubing (recreation)

Tubing is a recreational activity where an individual rides on top of an inner tube, either on water, snow, or through the air. The tubes themselves are also known as "donuts" or "biscuits" due to their shape.-Water:Tubing on water generally consists of two forms: towed and free-floating, also...

 the Kettle River

Kettle River (Columbia River)

The Kettle River is a tributary of the Columbia River in northeastern Washington in the United States and southeastern British Columbia in Canada. Its drainage basin is large, of which are in Canada and in the United States.-Course:...

 is a popular summer activity, and the village maintains a stock of inner tubes at Frank Carpenter Memorial Park. The park is also a local campground, and is particularly popular with rv

Recreational vehicle

Recreational vehicle or RV is, in North America, the usual term for a Motor vehicle or trailer equipped with living space and amenities found in a home.-Features:...

 owners traveling through.

Midway features a grass

Grass

Grasses, or more technically graminoids, are monocotyledonous, usually herbaceous plants with narrow leaves growing from the base. They include the "true grasses", of the Poaceae family, as well as the sedges and the rushes . The true grasses include cereals, bamboo and the grasses of lawns ...

 airstrip suitable for small planes. Hangars were added in 2005 to the airstrip. Plans exist for a paved runway, but the completion date is uncertain at this point.