Located on the 49th parallel, Ladysmith is a picturesque town built on the hillside overlooking the glistening waters of Ladysmith Harbour. One of the oldest settlements on Vancouver Island, the community known as Oyster Harbour was established in 1899 by James Dunsmuir, son of Vancouver Island's prosperous coal-mining family. The community was designed as a recreation and dormitory complex for miners, serving as a shipping port for coal from Nanaimo, and Dunsmuir moved many buildings by rail to this peaceful spot he had chosen.