Greenville
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: Not official
Lookup the official name
Relative Location: N side of lower Nass River, between Gitwinksihlkw and Gingolx (formerly Kincolith), N of Prince Rupert, Cassiar Land District
Latitude-Longitude: 55°01'49"N, 129°34'36"W at the approximate population centre of this feature.
Datum: WGS84
NTS Map: 103P/4
Origin Notes and History:

"Lachkaltsap (Indian Village) not Lachkaltzap" adopted in the 1930 BC Gazetteer. Name changed to Greenville (Post Office) 6 July 1950 on 103NE; confirmed 6 August 1953 on 103P and 7 July 1960 on 103P. Form of name changed to Greenville (Community) 14 January 1983 on 103P/4. Name changed to Laxgalts'ap (community) per Nisga'a Treaty, Appendix F-3, effective 11 May 2000.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office, file N.1.53.

Laxgalts'ap - a Nisga'a First Nation community known for many years as Greenville - was one of 34 official names adopted in 2000 as part of the Nisga'a Treaty. It can be interpreted as "a dwelling place located on the site of an ancient village." The original settlement here, called Gitxat'in, was destroyed long ago by fire. The modern community was spelled Lachkaltsap in the 1930 Gazetteer, but the name was changed in 1950 to Greenville after Reverend Alfred Eli Green (1851-1914), who served there as a Methodist missionary, 1877-90. A native of Northamptonshire, Green taught at New Westminister and Nanaimo before marrying Elizabeth Jane Gilbert (1857-1936), from Cornwall, at Victoria in 1878. He was a close associate of Thomas Crosby and, like Crosby, caused controversy by backing First Nation land claims on the North Coast. In 1890, Green moved to Vancouver and established a number of churches in the Lower Mainland, including Fairview Methodist, where he and his wife were members. He was appointed federal inspector of Indian schools in BC in the early 1900s. Greenville Creek, a tributary of the Nass River, is also named for him. Laxgalts'ap is a popular spot for catching and processing eulachon. It was only connected to the rest of the Nass valley by road in 1985.

Source: Scott, Andrew; "The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names"; Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, 2009, pp. 331.

Pronounced "GREN vill" in this region. Named after Rev. [Alfred] E. Green (incorrectly recorded as Albert E. Green in archives), Methodist missionary here from 1876-1889. The Mission is identified by not named on J.W. Trutch's 1871 map of British Columbia.

Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office