Welcome to Balfour ...
The origin (or the toponymy) of ' . Balfour . ':
There seems to be two stories for the naming of Balfour:
- Named by Charles Wesley Busk after Lord Balfour, whose family had mining interests in the area. In support of this story, several streets were named after Busk (Charles, Wesley & Busk) and with other streets named after members of his family.
- Named after D.B. Balfour, who lived in the area. In support of this story Lady Aberdeen noted in her diary (1895),<1> that "Opposite Pilot Bay a gentleman of the name of Balfour has built a private residence just because of the beauty of the place. And he is fully justified."
Balfour is 1,870 feet [570 m] above sea level.<2>.
Time Zone: Balfour lies in the Pacific Time Zone (PST/PDT) and observes daylight saving time. The time zone in French: PST- Heure Normale du Pacifique (HNP), PDT- Heure Avancée du Pacifique (HAP).
Note: If you travel east from Balfour, you will soon leave Pacific Time and cross into the Mountain Time Zone (MST/MDT).
Area Codes for Balfour: 250, 236, 672 & 778<3>
The Canadian Postal Codes for Balfour: V0G, V1L<4>
Communities Also Named Balfour ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 5 communities that are also named Balfour - they are located in Colorado, Iowa, North Carolina, North Dakota and Ontario.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Balfour.
Communities near Balfour ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Balfour.
- Nelson
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)
- Kaslo
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kaslo came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kaslo
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kaslo <5>
- Harrop
(4 miles [6.4 km] to the southwest)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Harrop
- Longbeach
(5 miles [8 km] to the west)
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Longbeach
- Former names for Longbeach:
- Hallets Landing
- Thirteen (13) Mile
- Longbeach has also been known as:
- Thirteen (13) Mile
- Ainsworth Hot Springs
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the north)
- Crawford Bay
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Gray Creek
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the east)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Gray Creek came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gray Creek
- Kokanee ‑ Historic
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Kokanee. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kokanee
- Kootenay Bay
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the northeast)
- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Kootenay Bay came from an uncertain source and they still need to be verified:<6>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Kootenay Bay
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Kootenay Bay <5>
- Atbara ‑ Historic
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the west)
- Note: We haven't been able to verify our GPS coordinates for Atbara. Although the coordinates have been estimated, they should be in the vicinity.<7>
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Atbara
TripAdvisor Tourism Pages for Balfour ...
Looking for more information about Balfour? A wonderful source is the TripAdvisor website. We always start with the TripAdvisor Tourism page, where you can read an overview with links that will help you find lodging, restaurants and attractions.
In addition to the Tourism page for Balfour, there are neighboring communities that also have Tourism pages. More information about those communities can be found on our TripAdvisor Page for Balfour.
Adding Balfour to Our Gazetteer ...
The earliest source we've referenced which mentioned Balfour was mentioned on a train schedule titled Canadian Pacific Railroad Time Tables (October 1899).
We also found Balfour on a map titled Gulf Oil Map of British Columbia (1925).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Balfour.
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Balfour. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for Province of British Columbia: https://www.gov.bc.ca/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Taken from the GeoBC website for British Columbia Geographical Names: please visit data.gov.bc.ca/ and search for 'Balfour'. |
| <2> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Balfour - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <3> | When there's a risk of an area code running out of phone numbers, an 'Overlay Area Code' is created that has the same geographic boundaries as the existing area code. In this case, the 250 code has been Overlayed with one of the following codes: 236, 672 or 778. New phone numbers in the Balfour area will be assigned with one of these codes: 250, 236, 672 or 778. As a result, placing a call in the Balfour area will require 10-digit dialing (where you enter both the area code and then the phone number). |
| <4> | The Canadian Postal Code consists of 6 characters, where the first three characters are the 'Forward Sortation Area (FSA)', with the last three characters being the 'Local Delivery Unit (LDU)'. In the case of Balfour, we provide only the FSA and not the LDU. The Canadian Postal Codes were created as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. So keep in mind that any given Postal Code is only 'loosely' associated with a community (such as Balfour). The boundaries of the Postal Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other Postal Codes. When looking for a Postal Code, whether Balfour or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the Canada Post / Postes Canada. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | If we found a location and have questions about the accuracy of our information, we will simply say that the marker is 'in the vicinity'. We are not confident about the location and the position of our marker is only a rough guide. If we have too many doubts about the location, we will not include it in our database. |
| <7> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |