The Hedley Museum

Image Credit: Google Maps

Despite online statements that the Southern Interior community of Hedley was once for sale for $346,000, that is just not true, according to Margaret Skaar of the Hedley Museum.

“The rumour of the town for sale for $350,000 is just folklore,” she wrote in an email to iNFOnews.ca. “I had heard it before as the town was in a short declining position at one point and someone probably said they would buy up the whole town for $350,000. But that was so untrue as several of us in town had houses with values to total way over that price.”

But, Google the word Hedley and the first thing that comes up is a Wikipedia article about the band, Hedley.

“Hedley was a Canadian pop rock group that originated in Abbotsford, British Columbia, originally formed in 2003,” that article says. “They were named after the unincorporated community of Hedley, British Columbia, a name chosen after members heard that it was for sale for $346,000.”

The Canadian Encyclopedia is cited as the source of that information.

"They named themselves after the B.C. mining town of Hedley, which made news by offering itself for sale,” it says.

Skaar has a dramatically different take on the name.

“The band Hedley got their name from our town as they were friends with some local residents from their school days,” Skaar wrote. “They were visiting them here and liked the name of our town and decided to use the name.

“The rumour could have been started around the time the Hedley band boys were visiting here and, who knows, their friends might have even told them the town could be bought. But it was never true and a very short-lived tale.”

There’s been no ongoing relationship between the band and the community.

“The band never came back here,” Skaar wrote. “Even after they first became famous they were asked by their friends if they could do a concert here and the answer, apparently, was no.”

Of course, the fame soon wore off when, in 2018, lead singer Jacob Hoggard was arrested and charged with sexual assault. He was found guilty on one charge earlier this year and is scheduled to be sentenced in October.

“We feel no connection to them nor do any of us follow their downfall,” Skaar wrote. “You are the first person who has asked this question. So, the only answer I can give, is that it is a non-issue. Our town mining history is what we are known for and what we project to the public. No one has even asked us at the museum tour booth if Hedley band has any connection to us. So, we shall just keep it a non-issue.”

READ MORE: The history behind Kamloops area place names

The community was named after Robert Rift Hedley in about 1898. He was the superintendent of the Hall mine and smelter in Nelson from 1897-1907, according to the B.C. Government Place Names website.

“In 1896 he sent Peter Scott, an American surveyor and prospector, to examine the Twenty Mile (now Hedley) Creek region,” the citation reads. “A year or so later, Scott and others discovered the gold deposits which led to great mineral production, commencing with the famous Nickel Plate Mine, which began operating in May 1904.”

Scott named the place Camp Hedley.

The townsite was surveyed in 1900 and the post office opened on May 1, 1903.

Given that history, and the ongoing mining activity in the area, the town of Hedley has its roots that have nothing to do the band.

READ MORE: If these pioneers had gotten their way, you could paddle from the Shuswap to Osoyoos

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