[5] In 1867, Edwin Dalley, the first European settler, an architect from London, England, built his homestead at the foot of the lake.

That year, he resigned as Indian agent following the killing of Harper's Billy, a First Nations member.

[6][8] In 1883, Howse completed building one of the finest residences in the Nicola Valley, which he lavishly furnished.

In 1894, Howse, John Clapperton and Edwin Dalley combined their land to lay out the Nicola townsite.

[8] The survey comprised 765 building lots, which would take another decade before significant buyer interest emerged.

By 1905, when railway construction was imminent, people eagerly awaited a passenger and freight service, which would bring in supplies and take out cattle to markets.

Few appreciated that the primary reason for the railway was to facilitate the development of the extensive coalfields well to the southwest, which would ultimately diminish Nicola.

Howse for $27,000 and renamed it the Nicola Hotel, was left bankrupt before World War I.

Nicola became a place to periodically visit for a picnic or to watch a good horse race.

In 1951, he donated approximately 60 hectares (149 acres) of land around Nicola Lake for public use, which became Monck Park.

Subsequently, the township site fell into a state of disrepair and fire destroyed several buildings.

George Murray, a Presbyterian minister, covered a 970-kilometre (600 mi) circuit, which included the Nicola Valley.

[18] About 750 metres (820 yd) eastward, the Nicola Pioneer Cemetery (Anglican) was established beside the lake.

At that time, a station building, two-stall engine house, and 45,000-litre; 12,000-US-gallon (10,000 imp gal) enclosed water tank were erected.

[23] CP proposed to later extend the track eastward via Quilchena to Princeton, indicating that Nicola would become a divisional point.

In 1910, CP instead extended southeastward from Merritt, leaving Nicola as an isolated spur.

Immediately to the west of the Murray United church is the Nicola Ranch Country Gifts store,[26] which opened in the mid-1990s.