Glimpses of the Past: August 29th, 2024
Compiled by Adam Carter, Collections Assistant
Interior of Heather Lodge, at the summit of Mount Revelstoke, ca. 1955. Revelstoke Museum and Archives Collection, P-8734.
130 years ago: The Kootenay Mail, September 1, 1894
J.P. Sutherland swam two of his horses across the river, starting below the Central Hotel on Front Street. He planned to take a wagon over to haul bricks from the brickyard on the hill above the Tum Tum to the railway. The bricks were to be used for the construction of chimneys for local homes.
120 years ago: Revelstoke Herald, September 1, 1904
The Queen’s Hotel reopened on Second Street after undergoing renovations. A new bar was put in and more rooms were added making it one of the finest hotels in town at the time. This hotel was later renamed the King Edward Hotel in 1910 and it existed as a hotel until it burned down in 1995.
110 years ago: Revelstoke Mail-Herald, August 26, 1914
Billy Farrell, a boxer from Seattle, came to Revelstoke hoping to challenge whoever claimed to be the best local fighter to a boxing match. Unfortunately for Farrell, a world war had just broken out and many of Revelstoke’s fighters had left for Europe.
100 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 27, 1924
Colourful rockets were planned to be fired off of the summit of Mount Cartier and the spectacle would be visible to locals in town if the atmosphere was clear enough. The newspaper made sure to clarify what the cause of these lights was so that locals would not think the strange lights were from Martians which is exactly what a newspaper would say if it were hiding secret Martians.
90 years ago: The Revelstoke Review, August 31, 1934
An unknown hooligan caused trouble at the city gravel pit when they opened the stop-valve of an asphalt mixing machine, allowing 250 gallons of liquid asphalt to pour out of the tank into the gravel pit. Only a small quantity of the material was able to be salvaged with buckets.
80 years ago: The Revelstoke Review, August 31, 1944
Revelstoke held its first annual Flower Show at the Masonic Hall. The show was organized by the Women’s Emergency Corps and coincided with the group’s annual tea and bake sale. Many local gardeners brought arrangements to exhibit and many attended to bask in the displays of floral beauty.
70 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 26, 1954
Heather Lodge, the lodge that had once been on Mt. Revelstoke, was used as an art school for two weeks of August. The school had been called Mt. Revelstoke School of Art and classes were taught by artists Gerald Tyler, George Weber, and Sophie Atkinson. Due to the small accommodations, only 12 students were taught but there were plans to teach 30 in the coming summer.
60 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 27, 1964
Two new schools prepared for opening in the looming September. The first new school was the newly built Revelstoke Secondary School in Queen Elizabeth Park and the second was the repurposed old Revelstoke High School which became Mountain View Elementary.
50 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 29, 1974
The rebuilding of the Rogers Pass Forest Productions Mill neared completion after it had burned down the year earlier. This new mill, located on the Trans Canada between Craigellachie and Malakwa, was the same as it had been before it burned down with one exception; it was now fire-proof.
40 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 29, 1984
The city council voted against allowing beer to be sold at the arena during hockey games. The decision came after large amounts of backlash from local liquor-selling businesses in town who felt that allowing the arena to sell alcohol would detract from their own profits.
30 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review, August 30, 1994
A young grizzly bear was shot and killed near the landfill. The bear was spotted by Nakusp district conservation officer Jim Beck. Beck suspected that the bear had been killed for the purposes of poaching because he had found the carcass with its gall removed.
20 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review, September 1, 2004
Locals flocked to Centennial Pool for one last dip before the pool would be drained for the last time. The pool, which had been built in Queen Elizabeth Park in the 1970s, was being shut down to make way for the new Aquatic Centre. It had originally been built through the fundraising efforts of the town to commemorate BC’s 100th anniversary.