operated in Slocan, but by 1920 only 3 remained. In 1906, the city was placed in receivership. By 1931, only 202 people remained, falling to 177 a decade later. The Women's Institute played a vital role in the welfare of residents and those serving in the armed services during the world wars. On closing in 2015, Slocan was the last chapter of the Institute operating in the West Kootenay. In the early 1950s, Slocan claimed to be the smallest incorporated city in North America. In June 1958, Slocan reincorporated as a village to receive provincial funding for road maintenance, schools, and policing. Railway, ferry & roads The transshipment of ore from the foot of the lake was initially northward via Rosebery, which connected northward with the CP Nakusp & Slocan Railway to Nakusp on the Upper Arrow Lake. There, a further steamboat to Arrowhead linked to a branch of the CP main line. In 1897, the CP Columbia and Kootenay Railway (C&KR) branch line from South Slocan opened, reversing the ore flow southward. In 1928, the one-lane road (with pull outs) north to Silverton opened, heralding the beginning of the end for lake traffic. Passenger service on the lake ferry ended in 1954. The final freight run was either December 1988 or March 1989. However, by the 1960s, the service had reduced to twice weekly, and once weekly by 1980. On the C&KR branch, passenger service ended around 1957 and abandonment to all traffic was in 1993, the rail bed since becoming the Slocan Valley Rail Trail. In 1973, a new road bypassed the former Slocan–Silverton road. Prior to widening in 1989, the highway was hazardous. In 2011, the south entrance to the former road tunnel, just north of Slocan, collapsed. Hikers on the popular walking trail now have to clamber over the rubble pile to pass this point. Japanese internment Slocan was one of the West Kootenay internment camps housing Japanese Canadians removed from the BC coast during World War II. Swelling the existing meagre population, thousands of internees found a range of work in existing or new businesses, and several who permanently settled owned enterprises. The Slocan centre comprised 595 internees at the end of 1942. Slocan was also a departure point for those who were sent to Japan in 1946. The leased Popoff farm, about south, housed around 1,000. Operating 1943–1946, the camp comprised nearly 100 buildings.