The town of Houston (population 3,000) is located in the Bulkley Valley in BC’s northern interior region, on the Yellowhead Route #16 of the Trans-Canada, about 6o km east of Smithers and 300 kilometres west of Prince George.
Houston has a diversified economy, and is a hub for outdoor recreation, particularly fishing and hunting. The town’s small airstrip is about 10 km to the west, on the south side of the Yellowhead. Highway.
Houston History
The Carrier Indians have lived in the Houston area for over a thousand years. Today are more commonly referred to as the Wet’suwet’en (sometimes spelled Wit’suwit’en) and speak a language commonly referred to as Dakeł (Northern Athabaskan or Na-Dene language). The Morice River is called “Wet-zuhn-kwa” by the Wet’suwet’en people because of the bluish-green colour of the water.
Houston was founded in the early 1900s as a hub for the local forestry industry. The town was named after a prominent British Columbia government official, William Houston.
In the early days of the town, logging and sawmilling were the primary industries. The arrival of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway in the 1910s helped to spur growth and development in the area, as Houston became an important transportation hub for the region.
During the mid-1900s, the town saw continued growth and development as the forestry industry boomed. However, in the latter half of the century, the forestry industry began to decline.