| Feature Type: | Settlement - Any permanently occupied, unincorporated area normally identified by a single name, generally rural, and having a recognizable central focus. |
| Status: | Not official |
| Relative Location: | W of Crawford Bay on E side Kootenay Lake, opposite entrance to West Arm Kootenay Lake, Kootenay Land District |
| Latitude-Longitude: | 49°38'44"N, 116°52'48"W at the approximate population centre of this feature. |
| Datum: | WGS84 |
| NTS Map: | 82F/10 |
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Origin Notes and History:
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Pilot Bay (settlement) adopted 21 October 1903, and identified in the 5th Report of the Geographic Board of Canada, 30 June 1904. Rescinded 4 August 1981. Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |
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A sawmill site was already under development here when Kootenay Mining & Smelting Co decided in 1892 to locate their smelter here. Pilot Bay Post Office was opened 1 August 1892. The smelter was "blown in" (ie. became operational) 2 March 1895 but was in receivership within 12 months and closed later in 1896 - the smelter had not been capable of reducing the highly refractory lead ore from the huge Bluebell mine. As many as 1000 people lived here at the height of the smelting activity, but the population fell to less than 250 by 1900. Post Office closed 1 May 1908. Regional District advised in 1981 that the name is no longer in use. See also Pilot Bay (bay). Source: BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office |