About Ten Mile Point
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Ten Mile Point is a neighbourhood in the District of Saanich in Victoria, British Columbia, and is the most easterly point on Vancouver Island. Ten Mile Point was
so named because it was ten nautical miles (19 km) from what was at the time the headquarters of the Pacific Station of the Royal Navy (now CFB Esquimalt).
Ten Mile Point is a wooded peninsula that forms one side of Cadboro Bay, the home of the Royal Victoria Yacht Club and the mythical Cadborosaurus sea monster. Cadboro Point
is located on the east part of this peninsula. Prevost Hill was named after James Charles Prevost, British commissioner in the negotiations to settle the
San Juan boundary dispute. Prevost Hill is the highest elevation on Ten Mile Point and is known informally in the neighbourhood as "Minnie Mountain".
Prevost Hill is the location for a subdivision within Ten Mile Point called "Wedgewood Point" or "Wedgewood Estates". A small wooded island, "Flower Island",
almost touches the southern shore of Ten Mile Point. Ten Mile Point has many secluded beaches and coves.
One such cove, called Smuggler's Cove, was used during the prohibition years as a boat landing and launch for rum-runners traveling back and forth to the United States. Another cove is called "Telegraph Cove" and was the location of a dynamite factory which operated in the late 19th century.
In the early part of the 20th century, Ten Mile Point became a summer retreat with many cabins on its shores. It gradually developed into the present upscale residential neighbourhood. The area maintains a rural, bucolic feel as a result of 1-acre (4,000 m2) lot municipal zoning implemented specifically for this area by the District of Saanich. The area has only two street lamps.
The Ten Mile Point Ecological Reserve was established to provide an undisturbed, intertidal and subtidal study area accessible by car in the Greater Victoria area. More information on this designation can be found here.