Blue Bell Mine

Blue Bell Mine is a Stop of Interest sign in British Columbia.

British Columbia · 1.5 km from ferry terminal, Kootenay Bay on Kootenay Lake

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The orebody, known to local First Nations as a source of lead for musket balls, was staked in 1882 by Bob Sproule, and later restaked by Tom Hamill. The resulting lawsuit cost Sproule the property, and in revenge he murdered his rival, was convicted and hanged. Over the decades the mine grew to support a smelter and town site, until its closure in 1972.

This is the sign’s current text as the Ministry records it in its July 2022 dataset. The Ministry says over fifty signs were replaced or refreshed between 2016 and 2019, so an older sign or photograph may read differently. The Stop of Interest program ↗

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Sign text and location: Stop of Interest program, BC Ministry of Transportation and Transit, from the Ministry’s open dataset “BC Stop of Interest Signs” in the BC Data Catalogue (July 2022 edition). The text is the one the Ministry records as the sign’s current text, and the pin is the Ministry’s own. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia.
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Open Government Licence – British Columbia

Blue Bell Mine

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