A sign off Landry Crescent in Trout Creek pays tribute to James and Mary Gartrell, Summerland pioneers who settled in the community in the 1880s.
The interpretive sign was unveiled on Thursday morning, with members of the Summerland Heritage Advisory Council and members of three of the six generations of the Gartrell family present.
Dave Hill, president of the Heritage Advisory Council, said the municipality provided the funding for the sign and public works staff installed it.
“Hopefully we will have more signs like this one throughout the community,” he added.
The sign is near the site of a large property in Trout Creek — once known as Gartrell Point — where the family settled.
James and Mary Gartrell arrived in the Okanagan from Stratford, Ont. in the late 1800s with their two daughters and three sons.
They were the first white settlers in the area.
They first came to the Penticton area in 1885 where he worked as a foreman on the Ellis ranch for two years.
His wife cooked for the ranch hands there.
In 1887, the family settled Trout Creek Point and in 1890, he established one of the first commercial orchards in the Okanagan.
In 1910, at the first Canadian Apple Show in Vancouver, Gartrell took the first, second and third prize ribbons.
Their son George Gartrell was the fish and wildlife warden here for 20 years and started the first fish hatchery here.
Another son, Fred Gartrell, became an orchardist and ran a dairy business in Trout Creek.
James Gartrell’s great-grandsons, David and Fred Gartrell, operated an orchard in the community, which is still run by the family.