| Beschreibung: | Hyder was originally called Portland City, after the canal. In 1914, when the United States Postal Service told residents that there were too many cities named Portland in the United States, it was renamed after Frederick Hyder, a Canadian mining engineer who envisioned a bright future for the area. Hyder was the only practical point of access to the silver mines in Canada, and the community became the port, supply point, and post office for miners by 1917. Hyder's boom years occurred between 1920 and 1930, when the Riverside Mine on United States side extracted gold, silver, copper, lead, zinc, and tungsten. The mine operated from 1924 until 1950. In 1948 the old abandoned part of Hyder, which was built on pilings, was destroyed by fire. By 1956 all major mining had closed except for the Granduc Copper Mine on the Canadian side, which operated until 1984. Westmin Resources Ltd. currently operates the only remaining mine in the area, a gold and silver mine on the Canadian side. Hyder is accessible by highway from Stewart, British Columbia, which connects with the British Columbia highway system. Hyder became popular with long distance motorcycle riders in 1998 when author Ron Ayres set a record of riding to the contiguous 48 states in six days. Ayres went on to add to the 48 state record by continuing on to Hyder, Alaska to establish a new 49-state record of 7 days, 0 hours and 20 minutes. Ayres named the new long distance ride the "48 Plus" and the 49-state ride has become very popular with members of the long distance motorcycle riding Iron Butt Association. Hyder is also the location of the annual "Hyder-Seek" gathering of long-distance motorcyclists who travel from all over North America each Memorial Day weekend. |
