Glimpses of the Past: February 27, 2025

Compiled by Jaimie Reynolds, Collections Manager

Halcyon Hot Spring Hotel, ca. 1935. Revelstoke Museum and Archives Collection, P-1530.

130 years ago: The Kootenay Mail, February 23, 1895

A full on saloon style brawl took place right here in downtown Revelstoke. Two old-time rivals met in the Bourne Brother’s store and after the usual passage at arms, there was a bout which “would have done credit to the arena of a prize ring.” The contestants were quite unevenly matched, but the smaller of the two ended up knocking out the larger in one round of about two minutes.

120 years ago: Revelstoke Herald, February 23, 1905

Thomas Brown, a Revelstoke trapper, was brought in from Jordan Creek with his feet frozen. The news was first brought to town by his partner, Laws, and a search party headed out to find him. The condition of the trail was extremely perilous, so reinforcements and assistance were called in. Mr. Brown ended up safely in the hospital, and was said to hopefully recover the use of his feet once more. This was the third case of frozen feet that winter.

110 years ago: Revelstoke Mail-Herald, February 27, 1915

The Riverside Orchestra and a number of friends had a snowshoe picnic on Wednesday evening. About 17 Revelstoke youngsters headed out around 8 o’clock for an outdoor romp, stopping at a bench behind Mr. Procunier’s ranch for supper. Campfires were built and a jolly good time was spent.

100 years ago: Revelstoke Review, February 25, 1925

Each member of the local Revelstoke rink, which took part in the recent curling bonspiel in Banff, received a beautiful lustre fruit bowl as a third place prize in the competition. The Revelstoke team made it to the semi-finals. There was also much talk about participating in a bonspiel again the following winter as well as hosting a winter carnival.

90 years ago: The Revelstoke Review, February 22, 1935

The Revelstoke Band decided to attend the Okanagan Valley Musical Festival in Kelowna to compete for the Rotary Club shield. An effort was being made to have the Vernon and Kamloops bands attend the Festival in order for the competition to be representative of Interior talent. An outstanding concert was being arranged by the band for the middle of March.

80 years ago: The Revelstoke Review, February 22, 1945

A special multi-day Pro-Rec Ski School was hosted in Revelstoke. It was said that “not for many years had Revelstoke been host to so many ski enthusiasts.” Instruction was given on the Revelstoke Ski Club’s slalom hill behind the Hillcrest Dairy from 9 to 12 each morning and from 2 to 5 each afternoon. In the evenings, skiing lessons were given at the Civic Centre. The instructor of the Ski School was Bill Irwin of Princeton’s Amber Ski Club, one of BC’s best known skiers. Great weather and ski conditions provided a wonderful time for all.

70 years ago: Revelstoke Review, February 24, 1955

The Halcyon Hot Springs Hotel was sadly destroyed in a spectacular blaze. The hostelry was thought to have gone up in flames following General F.W. Burnham’s attempt to light a kitchen range with coal oil. The General Burnham unfortunately lost his life to the blaze, and it was said that he was a very kind man, only operating the resort for the happiness of its customers. He charged only enough to keep the resort going and frequently charged nothing at all for patrons with small means.

60 years ago: Revelstoke Review, February 25, 1965

The Revelstoke Forum was officially going to be opened on February 26, at 7 o’clock, when the ribbon cutting ceremony would be taking place. The Salmon Arm Figure Skating Club was going to present several numbers aided by two well-known former members of the Revelstoke Figure Skating Club. A hockey game between the Salmon Arm Elks and the Revelstoke Selkirks would also be taking place.

50 years ago: Revelstoke Review, February 27, 1975

While members of the Public Service Alliance were on strike, their pickets were pulled off the lines of the Rogers Pass Highway by highway crews.  Howard Johnston, M.P. for Okanagan-Kootenay, brought the matter to the House of Commons with a private members’ motion which failed to receive unanimous consent. BC Highways crews refused to cross the picket lines and with the intense winter weather, the highway was closed indefinitely. However, the closure ended up being over rather quickly.

40 years ago: Revelstoke Review, February 27, 1985

Our very own Revelstoke Museum and Archives was in the paper this week! The theme at the museum for 1985 was “Our First Century”. They hosted an “Open House” on February 9th which was a great success! The Heritage Committee and the Historical Association arranged an exhibit of historical buildings under the titles: “Then and Now”; “Still With Us”; “Gone But Not Forgotten” and “Beyond Recognition”. Many visitors popped in and the exhibit received many compliments!

30 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review, February 24, 1995

Revelstoke’s Ambulance Service finally received its very own rescue vehicle, thanks to a generous donation from BC Hydro. The provincially run service had been trying for some time to acquire one of the vehicles. The gift of the rescue vehicle would be unbelievably helpful, as Revelstoke ambulance crews had to cover a very large area. The next step was equipping the vehicle with lights, a generator and other equipment. Donations were very much appreciated.

20 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review, February 23, 2005

At only two months into the year, the city of Revelstoke had already spent $156, 848 on snow removal within the city boundaries. The majority of that was spent in January and the rest in February. City councillors also voted to stop the so-called “wet snow dump”, which was the dumping of “dirty snow” at the wet dump area.