Castlegar is the second-largest community in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, Canada. In the Selkirk Mountains, at the confluence of the Kootenay and Columbia Rivers, it is a regional trade and transportation centre, with a local economy based on forestry, mining and tourism. Castlegar was recently cited as one of the Top Eight Places in British Columbia for most promising growth. It is home to Selkirk College, a regional airport, a pulp mill, and several sawmills. Its population of 7,259 includes many Doukhobors, who were largely responsible for much of the town's early development and growth. The area which became Castlegar was an important centre for the Sinixt (Lakes) Peoples. Outside the city limits are the small surrounding communities of Ootischenia, Brilliant, Robson, Robson West, Raspberry, Tarrys, Thrums, Glade, Shoreacres, Fairview, Genelle, Pass Creek and Krestova, and the much smaller communities of Deer Park, Renata, and Syringa on Lower Arrow Lake. These outlying areas have a further population of about 8,000 people. History On 5 September 1811, David Thompson arrived in the area of present-day Castlegar, and camped near the mouth of the Kootenay River. A plaque dedicated to him is on the east bank of the Columbia River overlooking the town. The area's first settlement was West Waterloo, now known as South Castlegar. With widespread provincial interest in gold prospecting in the late 19th century, by 1895 there were 40 houses in Waterloo. The town boomed until the end of the century when interest in the local mines declined. Castlegar takes its name from Castlegar, County Galway in Ireland (on the eastern boundary of the city of Galway), the ancestral home of townsite founder Edward Mahon. Castlegar, BC was planned in 1897. Around 1902, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) built the bridge there and laid the wide-gauge railway tracks to Trail. They built a boxcar station at the old Waterloo Trail crossing and named it Kinnaird Station in honour of Lord Kinnaird, a CPR shareholder. There was little in Castlegar until after the completion of the CPR bridge. A Mr. Farmer built the first store, housing both the post office and town hall. William Gage built the Castlegar Hotel in 1908, which stood until 1982 when it was destroyed by fire. Also in 1908, the first schoolhouse was built by a few local residents. A dance pavilion, garage, tourist cabins and a slaughterhouse were established by 1925.