| Feature Type: | Community - An unincorporated populated place, generally with a population of 50 or more, and having a recognized central area that might contain a post office, store and/or community hall, etc, intended for the use of the general public in the region. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | Head of Nanoose Harbour, SE side Vancouver Island between Lantzville and Parksville, Nanoose Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 49°15'59"N, 124°12'04"W at the approximate population centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 92F/8 |
|
|
Origin Notes and History:
|
Nanoose (station & farming settlement) was adopted in the 1930 BC Gazetteer. Name changed to Nanoose Bay (Post Office) 11 December 1952 on 92F/8, located at 49º16' 124º11'. Form of name changed to Nanoose (Post Office & railway point) and location adjusted 4 September 1980 on 92F/8. Form of name changed to Nanoose (Community) 28 February 1983 on 92F/8. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
|
Arlington Hotel Post Office opened here 1 November 1906; name changed to Nanoose Bay Post Office 1 April 1916. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
|
Nanoose Bay refers to the community, Nanoose Harbour to the body of water. The word is a corruption of the name of the original Island Halkomelem inhabitants of the region, the Snaw Naw As, who have a reserve on the harbour. This Lantzville-Nanaimo First Nation is related to the Snuneymuxw of the Nanaimo region; its members were frequently known as Nonooas in earlier times. BC historians Helen and Philip Akrigg give two possible translations for the name: “a collection of families at one place” or “pushing inward” (referring to the shape of Nanoose Harbour). White agricultural settlement began in the area in the 1880s; several small communities and a large sawmill sprang up. The harbour is HQ for the controversial Canadian Force base used by the US Navy to test torpedoes and other naval weaponry in the nearby Strait of Georgia. In 1999, after a series of protects and attempts by the province to prevent nuclear-powered vessels entering the region, the federal government expropriated 217sqkm of ocean floor and signed a long-term agreement allowing the US to continue testing. Nanoose Creek and Nanoose Hill (formally known as Notch Hill) also derive their names from the Snaw Naw As people, as does Nonooa RK in Nanoose Harbour. Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, pp. 418. |