| Feature Type: | Provincial Park - Legally defined land area, under provincial jurisdiction, for camping, outdoor recreation, and preservation of wildlife. |
| Status: | Official |
| Name Authority: | BC Geographical Names Office |
| Relative Location: | S of mouth of Oyster River, just NE of Courtenay, Comox Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 49°47'19"N, 124°59'47"W at the approximate centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 92F/15 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Established by Order in Council 1735, 14 November 1944. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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Kitty Coleman was an Indian woman who, 40 or 50 years ago, left her tribe to marry a white man. He was later jailed, and she lived alone on this beach selling fish and berries. The beach became known locally as Kitty Coleman's Beach, hence the park name. (December 1958 notation in BC names files). Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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There are frequent references to Kitty Colemen in court documents through the 1890's and into the early 1900's; she ran a brothel (location not specified), and was frequently cited for unseemly behavior or jailed on prostitution charges. In later years, she lived near Cape Mudge. (February 1999 advice from Jeanette Taylor, citing Attorney-General records, Provincial Archives GR 0429). Source: Provincial Archives of BC "Place Names File" compiled 1945-1950 by A.G. Harvey from various sources, with subsequent additions |