Europeans first traveled through the Okanagan in the early 1800s on their way from the Pacific Northwest to the north and its bountiful supply of animal furs. For decades, the valley was a transportation route for trappers and traders. Soon enough, the riches of furs destined for Europe gave way to the lure of gold. Thousands of prospectors flooded into the Southern Interior.

Gold, it turned out, was a fleeting fantasy and the real riches turned out to be fruit. By 1900, orchards cropped up on the mountainside at the elbow of Okanagan Lake between Kelowna and Penticton. Saw mills worked at feverish speeds to handle trees cut on newly cleared land and new homesteaders arrived.

Today, Peachland is the smallest municipality in the Central Okanagan, spread across 11 kilometres of Lake Okanagan lakeshore and up the side of Mount Coldham. Just 5,000 people call Peachland home and it has managed to keep its small town charm throughout 100 years of growth. It is today a quaint community of young families, retirees and a significant number of volunteers.

Peachland today is an involved community, where high voter turnout is the norm, community meetings can attract hundreds and events are well attended. History is being preserved, as evidenced by the saving of the town’s unique museum and first two school buildings.