Transformed by extraordinary circumstances
Located on the hillside just northeast of New Denver, Nelson Ranch was one of the smallest internment sites established in the Slocan Valley during the forced incarceration of Japanese Canadians. Occupying just two acres, the ranch provided accommodation for single men in a converted barn while the surrounding orchard and large vegetable garden helped supply fresh food for residents. Its location on the edge of town allowed internees to walk to New Denver’s schools, shops, and other community services, making it one of the more closely connected camps in the region.
The property began as Hillside Ranch in 1913, established by Thomas Jones Lloyd and his wife, Dorothea “Dolly” Lloyd. For decades it operated as a productive family farm overlooking New Denver before being acquired by a subsequent owner named Nelson, from whom the wartime camp took its name. When the federal government began uprooting Japanese Canadians from the coast in 1942, the existing ranch buildings were repurposed to house displaced men, transforming a working farm into another site of wartime incarceration.
Unlike many of the larger camps, Nelson Ranch retained much of its agricultural character. Fruit trees, cultivated fields, and gardens became part of daily life, with residents helping maintain the property while living under government restrictions. A hand-drawn map created in 1942 by internee Ken Saito illustrates the layout of the ranch and provides a rare firsthand record of how the camp was organized. Historic photographs from the period show the converted barn, surrounding farmland, and daily life at the site, while a portrait of young internee Basil Izumi offers a personal connection to those who lived there.
In the summer of 1944, the National Film Board visited the Slocan Valley while producing the film Of Japanese Descent. The crew captured rare colour footage of Nelson Ranch, preserving one of the few moving images of life at the camp. Although the film was presented as wartime propaganda, it now serves as an important historical record of the people and places affected by the forced removal of Japanese Canadians.
Little remains of Nelson Ranch today. The original ranch house was demolished in the 1970s or 1980s, and the land has gradually returned to open grassland with a handful of homes. According to local histories, only a few lilac bushes hint at where the farmhouse once stood. The former men’s bunkhouse, however, survived for many years and was repurposed as a barn, offering one of the last physical reminders of this small but significant internment site.
Nelson Ranch is remembered as one of the many places where ordinary farms and rural properties were transformed by extraordinary circumstances. Its story reflects both the disruption experienced by Japanese Canadians during the Second World War and the resilience of those who created community, cultivated the land, and endured incarceration in the shadow of New Denver.
