A once-thriving mining town.
During World War II, the once-thriving silver boomtown of Sandon, reduced to near-ghost town status by the 1940s, was repurposed as an internment site for Japanese Canadians. In 1942, about 953 individuals, many of them Buddhists, were forcibly relocated here under the directives of the BC Security Commission. Sandon was chosen in part because its abandoned hotels and boarding houses could be made livable with minimal repairs. Internees restored infrastructure, including the town’s failing hydroelectric system, and undertook repair projects despite harsh conditions.
The camp’s layout required little oversight; only one provincial police officer was stationed there, who later admitted he “had nothing to do” since residents managed themselves peacefully. Still, life in Sandon was grueling. The town lies in a narrow, sun-starved valley with long, brutal winters, earning it the nickname “Camp Hell-Hole.” Despite these harsh conditions, internees forged community life, organizing baseball games and ski-jumping meets, while receiving crucial aid from Doukhobor neighbors who shared food and supplies.
Due to its unforgiving environment, Sandon was the first internment camp to close, in 1944. Families were relocated to New Denver and other nearby sites. In 2025, the Sandon Historical Society unveiled the Window to the Past exhibit, a permanent memorial on the Burns Building that features photos and stories from the internment years, including recognition of Jean McKeever (née Hisae Yokoyama), the last child born in the Sandon camp.
Though Sandon’s internment history was brief, it remains a stark reminder of forced displacement and the resilience of a community determined to endure. A permanent exhibit at the Sandon Museum titled “Window to the Past” displays stories of displacement and the community life established during internment through interpretive panels and historical photos.
