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· The Village of Pemberton was incorporated in 1956, and encompasses an area of approximately six square kilometers.
· The Village of Pemberton is located on Highway 99 just 30 minutes north of Whistler at the base of stunning Mount Currie (peak elevation 8000 feet.)
· The Village of Pemberton (population 2300) provides many of services for the outlying communities of Mt. Currie, Birken, D’Arcy and Devine.
· The first settlers of the Pemberton Valley were the First Nations peoples of the Interior Salish tribe who now live mostly in the community of Mount Currie which is Pemberton’s closest neighbouring community.
· Pemberton’s namesake is Joseph Despard Pemberton who was a Surveyor General for the Hudson’s Bay Company during the 1850’s.
· The original location of Pemberton was at the north end of Lillooet Lake and was a port for the steamships carrying passenger heading north to Lillooet and beyond during the Gold rush.
· As the Fraser canyon became a more popular route to the gold fields and gold fever dwindled, Port Pemberton died away and farmers settled in the more fertile farm lands further up the Lillooet River valley.
· With the introduction of the railway in1914 the area was more easily accessible to settlers and trade.
· Throughout its history, agriculture and forestry have been the mainstays of the local economy.
· The Pemberton Valley is known for its virus-free seed potatoes, and is affectionately referred to as “Spud Valley” by locals.
· In 1967, this area became the first commercial seed potato area in the world to grow virus-free seed potatoes.
· Pemberton was serviced largely by railway until 1975 when the highway between Whistler and Pemberton was finished. The Duffy Lake portion of highway 99 through to Lillooet was paved in the late 1980’s.
· The section of Highway 99 from Whistler, through Pemberton to Lillooet is known as a scenic automotive route called the Coast Mountain Circle Tour.
· With the growth of Whistler and the completion of the highway Pemberton saw an increase in tourism.
· Pemberton is also known as the “Gateway to the Backcountry” and is a popular destination for backcountry skiers, snowmobiler’s, mountain biker’s, equestrians, hikers and more.
· Pemberton is home to The Pemberton Festival, an annual music festival drawing music lovers from far and near. The inaugural Pemberton Festival in July of 2008 drew crowds in excess of 40,000 and put Pemberton Festival on the music map.
· As the fastest growing community in BC (BC Statistics, 2005) the Village has seen many changes in a short period of time. Agriculture and forestry are still important aspects of local economy, but tourism and its related services employ the highest percentages of residents:
· accommodation and food services at 24.3%, followed by
· arts, entertainment and recreation at 13.3%, and
· retail trade, also representing 13.3% of the total labour force (2001 Census). Comparatively,
· forestry and logging employs 1.8% of Village residents. | 
