People uprooted from Leechtown (2)

Leechtown, on a Sooke River tributary, was established by non-Indigenous settlers as a gold mining settlement in 1864. After the gold rush, there was renewed interest in small-scale mining in the 1930s, but logging became the primary industry in the area. In 1928, the Kapoor Lumber Company sawmill opened. The company employed a crew of almost 300 workers, including Japanese Canadians, until it burned down in 1935. In 1934, the Cameron Lumber Company opened nearby. After another sawmill fire in 1953, Leechtown was abandoned.