| The
Fernie Derrick Society maintains & updates the historic
wooden oil derrick at the eastern entrance to Fernie on Highway
3. We are part of the Fernie Gateway Group that is dedicated
to improving the eastern approach to Fernie.
This
derrick is the last standing wooden oil derrick in BC. The
metal components of the rig were used to drill the first oil
wells in British Columbia.
These
were in the Akamina and Sage Creek areas of the Flathead Valley.
The components were moved from the Flathead and rebuilt on
the present site in 1984. There are still the remains of 23
drilling rigs and oil wells that were drilled SouthEast BC
in the 1907 – 1930 era. No commercial quantities of oil
were ever found.
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