Richfield |
Richfield
The town of Richfield was born in 1862, named for the rich gold claim found at that part of Williams Creek by a miner named Bill Cunningham.
Soon people came from all around and built several saloons, a jail, a courthouse, and the St. Patrick's Roman Catholic church. Richfield was like a modern day banking town which included a branch of the Bank of British Columbia and the Bank of British North America, a French hotel, an express office, a post office, and various stores. Matthew Begbie, the "Hanging Judge", travelled throughout the Cariboo maintaining the law, and had his own log cabin in Richfield.
The local gold diggings proved to be shallow, and most soon gave out (though Walkers Gulch was still being mined as late as 1922). In the end not many miners got rich in Richfield, and they soon left for more promising places - like nearby Barkerville. The banks and many of the shopkeepers and government people followed.
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