Merritt, British Columbia
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Merritt, British Columbia (Latitude:50.113987 Longitude:-120.79147) is a town located in the historic Nicola Valley in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District. Its total land area is 3614.44 square kilometers. Its' elevation is 595 meters (1,950 ft.). It was given a charter in 1911 and a city hall was built a year later. For years, the Merritt area was used as a gathering place by local First Nations groups, and was eventually discovered to be a good place for ranching by settlers in the 1800s. Eventually, a central settlement was formed. Originally named Forks, or Forksdale (so named for its position between the Nicola and Coldwater Rivers), it was originally settled by William Henry Voght in 1872, after being used as a transportation route by early pioneers. The first industries were coal and farming; forestry followed along shortly thereafter.
Merritt is composed of five distinct residential areas: Bench, Collettville, Central, Diamondvale, and Lower Nicola. The Bench is a residential mountain bench, hence the name, sitting the north west side of the valley. Collettville, on the southwest edge of the community south of the Coldwater River, is the newest addition to Merritt, previously identified as part of the Collett Ranch. Central is situated on the south end of the city centre. Diamondvale is in the heart of the valley, and is the most populated. Lower Nicola is about ten kilometres outside of the city of Merritt, but most residents are serviced by and work in the city. Each area is served by an elementary school: Bench Elementary, Collettville Elementary (French Immersion), Central Elementary, Diamondvale Elementary, and finally Nicola-Canford Elementary. Also, a high school, Merritt Secondary, and a middle school, Coquihalla Middle School, service the area.
Today, ranching, farming, forestry and transportation/tourism are the primary industries. Merritt is the nearest large community to the Douglas Lake Cattle Company, Canada's largest working cattle ranch. A number of lumber mills operate from Merritt, though recent efforts have been made to remove working mills from the downtown core due to air quality concerns. Merritt hosts a yearly Merritt Mountain Music Festival that in 2005 drew nearly 150,000 people. The Mountain Music Festival, combined with the development of the Merritt Walk of Stars - a display of bronzed handprints of Mountainfest artists placed around the community - and other tourism development activities have been used to solidify the city's branding as the Country Music Capital of Canada. It is the centre of three branches of the Coquihalla Highways. A newer feature in Merritt is the Pacific Forest Rally, an off-road rally conducted as part of the Canadian Rally Championship series every October. The annual Thunderbird Rally often begins and ends in Merritt.
In 1995, Merritt's air quality was rated worst in British Columbia due to fine particulate matter in the air, thought to be caused by a combination of dry desert conditions, active lumber mills in populated areas especially using a beehive burner, and a long-burning coal seam underneath the town. In 1997 studies showed that on average, 35 out of a 1,000 people are hospitalized for respiratory problems each year in Merritt.
Merritt is the home of professional wrestler Johnny Devine, who wrestles for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling in Orlando, Florida.