Putting Sechelt on Google Maps

Comments 7 by Rebecca Bollwitt

As of January 2009 Mapquest was still ahead of Google Maps in the online map department however I have a feeling that Google has taken the top rank in recent years. We turn to it for streetviews, directions, information about local businesses or for trip planning. But what happens when the place you’re looking for doesn’t exist on the map? That is a problem all to familiar to the people of Sechelt, a district municipality on BC’s beautiful Sunshine Coast.

Google-Map-Sechelt
Sechelt is actually located where the black arrow is pointing.

I was first told about this Google Map mishap at WordCamp last week. Local web designer Robert Dall explained that over the last few years members of the community have tried pretty much everything to get their town listed. These efforts include hundreds of people reporting the issue to Google, tweeting about it @GoogleMaps on Twitter, and the Mayor of Sechelt, Darren Inkster, has even written an official letter to Google – all to no avail.

Scenic Flight Around Sechelt with Westcoast Air

The village of Sechelt was incorporated in 1956 and today the district spans about 39 square kilometers with a population of about 8,400. It’s pretty hard to miss when you’re traveling up Highway 101. It’s home to a Provincial Park, distinct neighbourhoods, restaurants, a sea plane terminal and growing residential developments. So why hasn’t Google put it on the map?

“Sechelt is native word and so it is used in a couple different places which has confused the issue,” explains Dall who wants to make sense of this omission and get it corrected. “This really affects small businesses (especially the bed and breakfast owners), because when people using Google Maps suggest where they want to go they are usually directed to businesses in Whistler and Squamish.”

parking and street in Sechelt
Photo credit: waferboard on Flickr

To help the plight of Sechelt, I encourage readers to Tweet @GoogleMaps with the tag #PutSecheltOnTheMap or report a new issue (if you can find out how to do so in the Help Centre). Using their MapMaker tool won’t help though as it appears to not even recognize the Sechelt Inlet on the geographic layout.

This isn’t the first time Google has missed something on their map. The town of York in Maine was erroneously marked until US Congresswoman Chellie Pingree wrote an official letter Google’s CEO, Larry Page.

Update Less than 24 hours after this was posted, Google updated their pin-point marker for Sechelt and it is now correct.

Thanks to everyone who shared this story!

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7 Comments  —  Comments Are Closed

  1. Gary LittleThursday, May 12th, 2011 — 3:04pm PDT

    See this letter to Google from the Mayor of Sechelt that I helped write over 6 months ago. The anniversary of the first report of the bug is coming up in a few days!
    Aargh. http://www.garylittle.ca/google/google-letter.pdf

    Ironically, the Google geocoder has been fixed and the correct location is returned for Sechelt. But Google’s map has not yet been updated to reflect this.

    Gary

  2. Robert DallThursday, May 12th, 2011 — 5:05pm PDT

    Thanks so much to Rebecca Bollwitt for writing this and hopefully we can get this changed.

  3. Miss 604 helps Google find Sechelt | Everything Sunshine CoastFriday, May 13th, 2011 — 11:12am PDT

    […] like the epic battle between David and Goliath, little Miss 604, a Vancouver Blogger took up the banner and urged her Calvary of tweeters into action, with the […]

  4. Robert AllenWednesday, May 18th, 2011 — 7:59pm PDT

    The reason “Sechelt” is shown in those two locations is because that is where two of the twenty-two Sechelt Indian Reserves are located.

  5. Kevin BaggsThursday, June 9th, 2011 — 1:48pm PDT

    I was in Sechelt this past weekend and there was an article about you and this cause in the local paper.

  6. Putting Sechelt back where it belongs | Robertdall.comMonday, May 13th, 2013 — 9:04am PDT

    […] Google has fixed the location of Sechelt after Rebecca Bollwitt posted the problem and 40-ish retweeters! Thanks to all who helped out! It took Social Media one […]

  7. My problem with Google Places, Google Maps | Robertdall.comMonday, May 13th, 2013 — 9:05am PDT

    […] about this you’d know about how Google Maps lost the Town of Sechelt. Without the help of Rebecca Bollwitt (Mrs. 604) we’d still be off the […]

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