The Kutenai (Ktunaxa) had for generations mined argillite in the neighbourhood, there was nothing at Elko but a few survey stakes and a crude tote road before the Foley Brothers' grading crews worked through here towards the end of May, 1898, building the roadbed of the B.C.

When the railroad went through in July, the Canadian Pacific Railway erected what it called a "Crowsnest Pass Branch Standard Second Class Station" and Elko began to grow as Charles E. Ayre's North Star Lumber Company commenced operations in the woods.

Though ranching and orchard industries sprung up on the deforested acres, they did not employ nearly the numbers that logging had and the pace of commerce in Elko slowed.

A blaze in 1914 gave a foretaste of the conflagration of Monday, 8 September 1919, which consumed the old Melbourne House, Fred Roo's general store and post office, the telephone exchange, and the pool hall.

Uncommon animals that are located in the area but are more elusive includes wolves, cougar, grizzly bear, moose, and a large assortment of birds and rodents.