Description of Historic Place

Lower Rossland, located downhill from Columbia Avenue, evolved beginning in the first decades of Rossland, BC's history. It includes Ross Thompson's original townsite, laid out by J.F. Ritchie in 1894, consisting of east-west avenues Columbia, Leroi, Kootenay, Cook, and Thompson, plus north-south streets Cliff, Davis, Earl, Spokane, Washington, Queen, St. Paul and Monte Christo. It also includes the Pinewood and Black Bear residential areas.

Heritage Value

Lower Rossland has historic and social value for its mix of fine old homes, small houses that were originally modest miners' homes, and World War II-era and postwar houses that have kept the neighbourhood a vital family-oriented community over the decades.

Lower Rossland is important for its development on steep topography, traversed by a network of footpaths, and the former Columbia and Western (CPR) railway right-of-way, both of which have resulted in the construction of houses of diverse orientation and siting.

Residents particularly mention the neighbourhood's quiet ambiance, semi-rural private feeling, cooler temperatures in summer (as compared to Upper Rossland), large lots, and proximity to woodland recreational trails leading to the nearby valley bottom. The neighbourhood receives less snow in winter than other parts of the city.

Lower Rossland features two areas identified in the 2013 City of Rossland heritage report, Lower Earl and Thompson Heights, that include significant clusters of heritage homes. Leroi, Cooke, Thompson and Victoria Avenues, the Davis Street hill, Rossglen and the Southwest Corner define particular sub-regions within Lower Rossland, each with a distinct character and or community feeling. The character of Black Bear Drive, named for the original mine and townsite addition, is derived in part from its distinctive World War II and postwar houses. Pinewood, developed as a residential subdivision in the 1940s, has tree-themed street names.

Lower Rossland is important for its evolution as one of Rossland's early residential areas, today valued as a friendly family-oriented neighbourhood.

Character-Defining Elements

Character-defining elements are found in its:
- Diversity of housing, from miner's cabins to Victorian mansions to single family dwellings employing contemporary detailing.
- Grid pattern to the streets disrupted by topographic features.
- Historic sites of Chinatown and the Chinese Gardens.
- Views from high ground over Trail Creek Valley.
- Views of Upper Rossland and mountains above town.
- Modest sized housing on generous properties in older areas of the neighbourhood.
- Trailheads leading to forest walks, often following historic rail or road alignments.
- Recognizable sub-neighbourhoods within the Lower Rossland area.
- Proximity to the downtown core at north edge.