Georgetown, the Forgotten City | Abandoned and Lost Town | Destination Adventure
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- Опубликовано: 3 июл 2021
- I am so very excited to be able to share this location with you all, because I never thought I would be able to get to a place this remote. This new boat is opening up some Amazing new opportunities for me.
This is what is left of the old town and mill site of Georgetown. In 1875, George Williscroft received financial backing to start a large milling operation, and construction was underway at Georgetown. This is the oldest mill site in North West British Columbia, and was the first mill to supply lumber up into the Yukon Territory. This mill had a successful working lifespan, supplying lumber for anything from housing, to aircrafts for WW1, but like many of these old towns constructed of wood, it suffered the same fate of a dreaded fire, burning the entire town to the ground.
When I was inquiring around town about this location, it was hard to find anyone that even knew that this place even existed. The couple people that did know about it, told me that there was nothing left to see. Were they ever wrong. I explored as much as I could here in one day, but you could easily spend days exploring and finding things in the forest.
If you want to get out to Georgetown yourself, make sure you go with a capable boat, and I can say first hand that a Swellfish can make it no probs. swellfish.co/?rfsn=5864361.30...
I want to also give a big thank you to my Patrons. If you enjoy this channel, please consider joining the Patron team: / destinationadventure
On the Oregon coast in the 1960's we kids would go adventuring through the woods. We found many steam Donkeys and cable for yarding the logs up the mountain sides. Those were back in the days when they were logging old growth still. I knew a logger that was a faller up until he was 55. He was an expert old growth logger. He had to retire when he broke both legs logging. I think he was born in Montana in 1918. He was a cowboy when he was young and would sing all the old cowboy songs when he thought no one was listening. He would hop on freight trains to go into town now and then when he was a kid living in Montana. He didn't keep any pictures of his family in his wallet. But he kept a picture of a horse he had in Montana that saved his life in a white out blizzard. He was in WWII and spent 2 years sleeping on the ground fighting in France against the nazis. He was part High Plains Apache. He was one of my heroes growing up.
I am glad I got to grow up around men like that.
Great Story!
I love story like urs. I’ve been thinking of writing shorts stories as there are just so many out there. If one day you’d like to share some. Just reply to me here. Again great story. I’m an Aussie. Plus I had read a bit about this place. That’s why I’m here. God Bless 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🇦🇺
Thank you for sharing. The world shouldn't forget characters like you hero. Sounds like he was larger than life. They don't make 'em like that anymore.
Thank you for the story! I really enjoyed it!
He sounds very interesting and would definitely have some stories to tell😉
This installment has been very special. In the 70's I owned a sawmill operation that consisted of equipment built in the early 1900s. As you walked toward the mill site you were following what was referred to as a corduroy road constructed with layers of neatly set slab wood from the milling process. One thing I noticed on some of the machinery was a spattering of babbit material that tells me there had to have been a serious fire at one point. You passed several specialty planers 2 and 4 sided and then a "Tower" edger which would have had multiple adjustible blades. I'm pretty sure what appeared to be small water turbines may have been saw dust blowers and some of the scrap I saw looked like the housings for them. You pointed to what you said was a transmission and that was correct, but it was a planetary transmission still connected to a partially buried Model T engine. This may have been the power for your insane go-cart with turntable on the back. What a great video. It was a walk down memory lane. Thank you.
What you said Ken was so interesting! It makes me wanna go there and explore I’m supposed to have some Mexico in the next year I’ve had enough of the United States
So that model T motor and transmission might be worth saving huh?
I currently work in a sawmill in BC that was built 50 years ago and as he walked through I almost could envision the route the wood would have travelled, after the band saw, I didn’t see a cut off saw though.
Those planetary gears are still used in modern mills just have design improvements. This is really really cool site,
Super interesting
Exactly - - and the three pedals part of it
Hey Dustin, Jeff and Rose and the girls here. My Grandad grew up in Georgetown. His Great Uncle was mill manager for many years. We've got a few stories and pictures from his time there. His fishing boat actually burned and sank anchored in the bay right out in front. We've been wishing we could visit for years and your adventure has only encouraged us. Maybe 2022 is the year. Thanks for taking us along.
That thing with the steering wheel, that would today be called a skidder. It was used to haul trees on that fork in the back. You lifted just on end of the trees and pulled them along. The snow chains on it were not because of snow but mud. Judging by the transmission it was powered by a Ford A engine. Probably built around 1920.
I didn't exactly know what it was but I had a feeling that's what it was for hey sometimes I guess right LOL
Back in that day they were called a Doodlebug
Early skid steer?
I would fix it up!
@@Clem.H.Fandango Sidder and skidsteer are different.
The vehicle is a "doodle bug" a cut down, modified truck in my neck of the woods. Used by my grandfather/ loggers to haul or skid trees in the 40's or later here.
common on farms too!
Yep homemade skidder.
That one was a model TT truck. That "gearbox" you found was the original motor and transmission for it. It had a worm gear drive so it was a TT. Definitely a neat cut down TT
If i would guess the truck that was cut down was probably a 1920 to 1927 ford TT. Probably cut up in 1935 to 1945.
I know we have similar today called skitterers?
What a fascinating place! These are the type of sites I love! Where mother nature takes over the industrial World. It’s so amazing how well machines were once built. All the past machine builders of this era were proud of their work and knew it would outlast them.
Crazy to think of how many billions of pounds of iron and steel are just laying abandoned at old industrial sites throughout the US and Canada.
Why you must be a scrapper too. I can't help but think the same thing. But some needs to be left to decay.
@@danielfouardlibertarianono8017 Out of curiosity, why does it need to be left to decay?
@@ASchell90 had nothing been left to decay, there would be no spots like this to explore. Just old photographs and empty lots.
I was thinking the same -
Exactly what I thought.
Some people's idea of "nothing left" seems to be considerably different than ours.
Couldn’t have said it better myself.
That "ore cart" looks like an old safe, maybe?
That's exactly what it is.
👍agreed
Definitely a safe.
AGREED. The damage may be due to cracking it!
They hauled it as for as they could, then said “screw it”, too heavy.
"Honestly I think I might have the nicest boat in Prince Rupert" As you pass what I can only assume is in multi million dollar yacht 👍🤣
That one nearly had my iced capp come out through my nose, LOL!
I am so happy to see all the thumbs ups on this comment because that means folks watched to the end :). When I was the yacht I immediately had to go and make the joke lol. Hopefully they didn’t hear me. I could see they were out on the deck eating peanut butter and jealous sandwiches when I cruised by ;)
My buddy and I say the same thing about our Jon Boats as we motor past the Supra wake board yachts on Lake Conroe...
@@Destination_Adventure 😆
@@Destination_Adventure this is the first episode I've seen from your channel. It was GREAT! Thanks and thumbs up, I'm hooked.
Thats great to see. My grandfather grew up there as his Dad was the mill manager. He had some good stories and I've always wanted to go there. That was about 1895 to 1910. Ish. Cheers
No kidding! Interesting. You should tell us more.
Russ, please tell us more.
God damn it russ
@@annetterichards4072 I just remember him saying how he'd catch crab salmon and sometimes halibut from a rowboat. He was a rabid fisherman. The mill people would sometimes come and get him from the school to crawl in some pipes to clear them of obstructions as he was the only one small enough yet still willing to do it. Said it was a great time to be a boy. Tough times yet a good clean and simple life.
@@lou_dabs ?
The cart when you got on the island looks like an 19th century safe.
Yup. As soon as he said mechanism i automatically thought safe. Its just upside down i believe.
Agree!!!
The safe on the shoreline says robbed, to me.
You should bring camping gear and spend a few days exploring in depth.
That’s the first thing I thought. Imagine how quite it would be at night
what if artem lobov finds him ?
@@bane8305 the underground leper colony always comes up to feed at night. Popcorn slows them down when being chased untill you trip over a gear pulley.
@@AA-ke5cu hahahahaha! Thanks for the chuckle!
and possibly make a bug out plan 🤔 that would make a good getaway location for multiple uses
Funny the explorer with a starbucks coffee in his hand. Now that's survival. Lol Magellan would be proud. Lol
Tid bit from a guy who has hunted the bush of BC for decades. It's real easy to get a stick poke in the eye as you push through the bush. Especially as the gloom of evening sets in. And under the canopy it's even gloomier. In the low resolution gray of dusk you wont even see the stick that jams your orb.
I've taken to wearing polycarb safety glasses in bush walks. No tint.
Your call of course, I'm no Karen.
Second that. I almost lost an eye on a quad once, but for an inch. Sticks are harder than you. Eye protection and bushwhacking go together well. It's funny how much safety advice Dustin gets though, he's got his own workplace safety commission here!
I also wear eye protection in the bush, same as when I am pruning at home.
I had a broken off sharp and pointy stick jab my eye last winter as I ventured through the snow. It bled so much I was afraid id go blind in that eye lol. I was fine in about a week but eyeyeye, no pun intended.
Yes. When I worked on wildfires, I loved the face screen on my hard hat for thrashing through the brush. That thing saved my eyes all the time.
That spool with the rusted chain is literally a piece of art ,, the right picture of that thing man,, that would be something I'd hang on my wall !!
The people saying “Don’t go, there’s nothing left there.” Those are the people that want to keep the spot for themselves...Can’t really blame ‘em
In all honesty,i wouldn't tell anyone.
Those people are right. Theres nothing useful there for practicle folks. Working people. Only ruins to interest a RUclips Gen Z kid with a silly but trendy beard, and money. Just junk.
@@matthewdavies2057 One man's trash?Just a thought,mind.
@@1953beetle More like idle hands.
According to a historical salvage project, the mill was destroyed by fire in 1978. A detailed study conducted the year before documented the site. Plus, the owner had moved some of the machinery to a different mill prior to the fire for a museum.
journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/MCR/article/view/17087/22916
I was just reading that report also about the site. Some neat photographs showing how things were. Should like they had thought of preserving it before the fire because of its age.
How convient, good planning on the timing.
My GrandMother watched as the guy that owned the hay barn just down from her house on Turtle Creek, went into it to check on it. The local crick was backing up and flooding all the lowland and it was only a matter of time before the barn was flooded and hay lost. When he left he saw her watching him and as he went by he slipped her $10 and asked if she'd seen him. She said no and later a fire broke out and the hay and barn were lost. When the insurance investigator came by, he asked if she'd seen anyone around the barn. She hadn't ...
That’s so sad. Losing all his hard work to a fire.
5:13... it's a lobby safe (for payroll / production, most likely.) . The original deterrent was to keep you from running off with it because it was so heavy! A friend of mine has a smaller one and we bent the boom on a two and a half ton engine hoist lifting it in and out of a 3/4 ton pickup. That one that you saw is easily three times as big as hers!
What's most interesting about this site is how nature consumed all of the structures and is now slowly consuming/burying the machines. In a century, it might be as if Georgetown Mills never existed. Considering the efforts put into keeping such a place running, it's just another reminder of how ephemeral Human endeavors can be. I appreciated your sharing the history of this place as you explored it. Thanks for sharing this. :)
"I explored as much as I could here in one day, but you could easily spend days exploring and finding things in the forest. " EXACTLY. There should be a Part-2 to this adventure. What else is in that forest?
yes most definitely, this time pan in on relics a little longer, it's like being teased with just a glimpse and I feel cheated 😊 then your viewers can offer their knowledge of what's the item is, some viewers here already have done, thanks viewers, that one larger piece looked like a plainer, anyway, again great stuff, 👍👏,
As a young boy I used to crap in that forest but always forgot to bring toilet paper. I used my socks to wipe my butt so if you find any socks they are probably mine.
I recall flying over Georgetown heading north many times during the late 70;s and early 80s and when flying over there was an old recon aircraft which had crashed during the war and the floats were still attached.
The "gear-box out'a somethin here" @ 19:54 appears to be a Model-T Ford planetary transmission assembly, possibly still attached to the motor which would be forward of it and sunk into the ground or junk heap. The vehicle looks like just some sort of site-specific, cobbled together "doodle-bug" sort of contraption that ended its life there in the junk heap many decades ago.
That "tractor" has a cut down ford model "TT" truck worm drive rear end. Just prior to that you walked over a Ford model "T" engine/transmission. That was the three pedals.
Just imagine driving that machine around while sitting on it's fuel tank. Looks like there's still plenty of useful things left there.
Says that one guy at a swap meet somewhere you knw that footstool over there is out of a model t
@@sandmanbub that heavily depends on how corroded the parts are if they aren’t usable they can at least be used to make replicas.
The art deco find of the century; OMG.
Please please please....dude I love that you wrap your adventures in history and I wanna watch more so PLEASE wear a life jacket that'll flip you onto you back should you go flying out of that boat! One piece of driftwood could send you flying into one of those Rocks! A human head doesnt fare very well with granite. A old school Bright Orange life preserver will flip a human being onto their back.
You are by yourself so please do this!
Love your channel!
He gets better every episode.
Also the wrist attached auto-kill switch. I didn't have one on my old Zodiac semi rigid hull like yours. I never did get thrown from it, but you never know.
Please get your eyes checked he had a life jacket on get your eyes checked
@@V.I.Outdoors you can see the kill switch line at 26:57 ish
@@V.I.Outdoors it’s attached directly to my waist.
I’m wearing a life jacket
That scenery, the waterfall... absolutely gorgeous!
The best camera work I have seen in years!
Yes it’s unbelievably beautiful
This channel is incredibly underrated. I started watching The Why Files when it was about the level of subs Dustin has now, and look at it now! Fingers Crossed that Destination Adventure makes the same meteoric rise. Truly deserved. A good soul.
your sense of humor and your positive energy is exactly what I needed to get me through this day. Thank you man! Never met, but it feels like im exploring a new place with a life long friend. Hard magic to pull of and youve done it perfect.
Hey amigo, I’ve had my share those days. Happy to help you explore a little. Thank you for coming along.
@@Destination_Adventure thank ya man! Subbed with a blue bell. Keep it up brother! Great things come to great people.
What a nice thing to say- lovely sentiment
@@cdd4248 ❤🤟🏼this whole thing called life is too beautiful a trip. On my bad days..instead of being angry at the world and life, it always helps to remind myself of the good in people, and of the good they do for me, see someone explore the nature i see only in dreams, 1 good video reminds me of why im here, so the least i can do, is send kind words to those who help. Today it is considered weak and naive to show strangers a meaningful kindness, especially where im from in the bible belt. Jesus is good, just some people use the word rather than embrace it. Peace and love friend. God bless you and those you care for!
@@9FisterSpit9 bible belt, as you mean in the Netherlands?
Me too like this way of exporing the world, made possible by people filming "destination exploring" BaiG thanxs greeting from Hengelo Holland
i love stumbling upon old civil war walls/defenses.
just as sturdy as when they were built, by brave young men more than a hundred years ago.
i would have been one of those boys...
It’s great that the trees are growing back
I would have packed my tent and sleeping bag and camped out for a couple days to explore longer. Great video😃
That's what I was thinking, some top ramen, tent and metal detector!
New to your channel Dustin- the old ‘ore car’ looks like it might have been a railway office safe, especially given the mechanism inside. They were often not do heavy as their stationary bank type brothers as the value kept was not as much. Mostly record books tickets stamps and petty cash and they had to be hauled into remote areas by cargo steamer charging by the pound.. great video and catching up to your newer ones !
It must’ve been a very huge and lucrative operation to support the financial investment that went into it. Thanks for the hunt !
Might need to spend a night or 2 there to really explore as much as you can.
Thankyou for the adventure.
✌️ Australia.
I fell in love with that area years ago. IMHO British Columbia and Alaska are the most beautiful places on this planet. Prince Rupert stole my heart too. I was hoping to get back up there last year, but of course the powers that be had other plans for the world it seems. Maybe someday.
steampunk paradise !!! thanx so much love hiking and finding old rusted stuff ,man the amount of wheels and gears is awesome ,could imagine being shipwrecked there and just building the coolest sheltered living space ... mahalo
I went through George Town lake by kayak and hiked for three hours or so and was worth it back in 2016 with my high school class. Seeing the twin waterfalls was amazing
Love your work Dustin , I'm so glad I found this footage. I would have taken a tent and enough supplies to stay there a few days and explore as much as possible. It fascinates me how resourceful people were back then and they probably never took the time to admire the beauty of their surroundings. Thank you for your dedication in following through , blessings from Melbourne Australia.
If I knew what the location and landing site was like, I think I would have packed up some gear and stayed. Amazing place. Thanks for enjoying the show.
Man never seen a dirt path before “Hey look first gen sidewalk!”
🤣🤣
That was an awesome adventure. Thank you for taking us along.
20:45 "...anyone has information on this thing...": Looks like a homemade log dragger. May have been built on a Model T chassis (looking at the controls on the steering wheel).
To bad you didn’t stay on the island and made a series out of this beautiful place. So much missed, thank you.
Yes, too bad.
@17:30 that equipment came from Greenville, Michigan where there was also a large lumber industry during the late 19th century. I grew up near that. Interesting that it made it to BC.
The part at the end where you talk about having the “nicest boat in Prince Rupert”, while passing a luxury yacht was impeccable timing! 🤣. It IS a pretty nice boat, though.
The doom buggy looking car you wanted to know what it was it pushes ore cars into place on the rails. And if you look on the back of it, it used chains to flip the ore cars around. I live by a railroad when I was a kid, they made all kinds of contraptions to make work easier.
*dune buggy
you should totally do a part two, and camp out on the island, maybe make a weekend out of it? Looks like you just scratched the surface.
Well obviously one man's "there's nothing to see" is another man's "Wow, there is a lot to see here"
Thanks for sharing the Wow!
More abandoned logging/mine stuff please! Love seeing it and the history you include
Well that boat is going to help you grow your channel to a million views with discoveries like that. Very interesting place, lots of sawmill equipment there, too bad you didn't have the drone to get the overlay of the place, still thanks for all the effort to show us this hiding spot. The coast is full of them.
These kind of Adventures are right up my alley
Great explore Dustin, really love this kind of stuff !!! Awesome new boat man !!
Going to need another video of going back with alot more time to explore. 👍
Beautiful. Just amazing. Another great adventure. Thank you.
How fantastic!! I found you by accident just scrolling through and this is the kind of place I would love to explore or stay for a while. Thank you for sharing 🦋
Same.. Now I want to tiger long... lol
Yep. Me too!😎
@@Muchjoy.. “tiger long”? Do you mean “tag along”?
Thank you for this! What an amazing place!
Thanks for taking us along!
Thanks for sharing that beautiful scenery with us all!
Living vicariously through you here in central Texas....
Might actually be my favorite of your videos! GREAT adventure!
Another great video. Thanks for sharing Dustin!
That was a neat explore. Thank you
I love this explore! Beautiful scenery as well as great finds. Walking on all that rotting wood looked a little sketchy! Thanks for taking us along.
You live an amazing life my friend. Thank you for creating an educational exploration channel that I can sit down and enjoy with my kids. Every episode is so well planned and shot, as well as informational. Keep it up!
One of ur best! TY
Thanks for this. I can't go to places like this, you take me there. I really enjoy these.
Thanks for taking us along with you. You are living the dream from my perspective. A great presentation that was very enjoyable to see.
Again, just wow. You definitely should make another trip out here and spend more time.
very cool place, thank you for taking us. I would just like to note that all that electrical items left there is making the illegal copper thieves to have heart palpitations when they see this. Distance from the mainland is the saving grace for this place.
That was absolutely freakin amazing. So much stuff .
If anyone is going to find something you are !
Awesome video keep up the awesome job
That was a great adventure ! Sooo much cool stuff in there ! The old geared machinery is an amazing find. Thanks for bringing us along. 🤘🍻
Wow the water fall was worth the trip for sure. What an amazing adventure! You rock.
What an incredible find! Thank you for documenting this for future generations.
Great video man, really enjoy the outdoor adventures
Loved this adventure, Dustin!!! Too bad that you couldn’t have found 1 piece of pottery or glass, intact 😞 Thank you for sharing this beautiful adventure with us! Loved it ❤️
That vehicle looks to be an old log truck/tractor, judging by the bunks in the back probably for carrying timber or boards. It’s just missing the “pup” trailer that would connect to the back of it.
This was just the best video!
I'm a scrap metal artist and I'm drooling over.that beautiful metal!!
Just stumbled across your channel, what an amazing place, what an amazing channel! Just scrolling through your videos I have a lot to watch, and I can’t wait!
Welcome to the channel :)
Hey man, I absolutely love your videos! I live in a small town called Port McNeill, you may have actually driven through here before. Hope you check out the small village of Holeburg sometime, until the early 90s there was a Cold War Radar Base up there. Love your vids and stay safe, Dustin!
first time I saw one of your videos was when you back around the Ghost Lake area - keep up the good work, this was really interesting!
Way cool location, great shots, well done !
Another totally amazing location and the history to go along with it. Like so many of the sites you explore there is so much of this countries history locked up in them rarely seen by anyone. But then again probably best that way keeps a site like this from being ravaged by the spray paint decorators, looters and others. I hope you consider a return trip at some point. Another A+.
Perfect opportunity to have camped, at least for a night and have more time to explore. Weather permitting of course. Pretty cool. You just earned a new subscriber from the States.
Keep up the great explorations!
amazing , thanks !
Fantastic video Dustin, I spent summers growing up at Brown,s mill, the twin to Georgetown, loved it, hopefully you could do a video on it, Brown,s mill was way before Georgetown, was a water driven mill started by Jim Donaldson,s mother and stepfather, so interesting, thank you for all of your wonderful video,s, try never to miss one, just love your new boat and motor, real beauty.
Wow!! Such a great trip and Awesome Vid Footage of the whole exploration on the island. Thanks for sharing it with us and please continue to travel safely; its a sure bet we all want to see more. Have to check out those Dunlop Boots of yours, thanks for mentioning them.
Great find! Lucky you! Love finding history as well.
Love your videos Dustin...and your pioneering Spirit thanks for sharing all your adventures with us.
It would be interesting for a camping adventure there is a lot more to that area to explore
What a great place to explore. I'd have to start where the loggs got pulled up the ramp. Then: walked through with my imagination to reassemble⁰.xd$=' things in my head. Still photos of the manufacturers plates and patent dates that makes identifying the equipment easier. I love this video and subbed awesome content.
Most of the big machinery came from S.A. Woods Machine Co. out of Boston, Massachusetts. They were one of the best makers of wood working machinery in the world at the time. This mill probably had a bunch of different saws and planers among other things from them.
great video man thank you.
What a great adventure again! Thanks 😎👍
I hope someone from the BC Museum sees your videos, they should have a copy of all the BC videos you do as photos are good, but a video like yours of someone exploring historical sites would be far more memorable than something somewhat dry from a historian.
I’ve reached out to the government on every board related to the content. They won’t even return an email. It’s a real shame that the government doesn’t care about history, because once it’s gone it’s gone forever.
@@Destination_Adventure The NDP government could care less about BC history. The BC Transportation museum used to be located at Cloverdale till the NDP shut it down around 1992 and auctioned off everything they could. The majority of vehicles going to the US. It was an amazing collection of historically significant vehicles from BC. They even had the first motor vehicle used in the Cariboo. Some vehicles could not be auctioned because they were on loan from the owners and had to be returned to them when the museum was closed.
@@andygebert2460
That's sad to hear. We would visit different museum's when we would come out of AK and drive down throughout BC.
Lovely Canada.
another great adventure! Thank you for the time and love you put into your trips. I feel like I'm seeing parts of BC that I wouldn't otherwise get to see. Honestly wish I was capable of tagging along! Oh, and the ore cart, I think maybe it was a safe? I was thinking that even before I read the comments, seems like a few people think the same thing. Anyway, thanks again for sharing.
same thought the mech on the inside shot looks like a safe
That was great ty.
Thank you for sharing your journey. I love old places like that.
nicely done! While you're up there, you should check out Port Essington, the city at the mouth of the Skeena - on the other side! It was a big city in its day, but the railroad was laid on the wrong side of the river, and that killed it.
The plants at the homesite area, just WOW! Large deep green leaves growing up out of the ground. Nature is amazing!!😍 Would love to have one as an indoor houseplant .
Wondered if I was the only one impressed by those beautiful plants! They looked more tropical than I expected for that area.
@@Starting321 YES!!!
Thank you for sharing.
I really enjoyed your history lesson thank you I’ll be watching