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Originally named Forks, or Forksvale, it was originally settled by William Henry Voght in 1872, after being used as a transportation route by early pioneers . The first industries were coal and farming.
Today, ranching, farming, forestry and transportation/ tourism are the primary industries. Merritt is the centre of the Douglas Lake ranch , Canada's largest working cattle ranch. A number of lumber mills operate from Merritt , though recent efforts have been made to remove working mills from the downtown core due to air quality concerns. Merritt hosts a yearly Merritt Mountain Music Festival . It is the centre of three branches of the Coquihalla Highways.
In 1995, Merritt 's air quality was rated worst in British Columbia due to fine particulate matter in the air, thought to be caused by a combination of dry desert conditions, active lumber mills in populated areas especially using a beehive burnerA beehive burner is a large conical steel shell with an opening in the top in which woodwaste is burned., and a long-burning coal seam underneath the town. In 19971997 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar), and was designated the International Year of the Reef''. Events January January 3 NBC's Today Show Bryant Gumbel signs off for the last time January 8 Mister Rogers receives a star on t studies showed that on average, 35 out of a 1,000 people are hospitalized for respiratory problems each year in Merritt .