Glimpses of the Past: August 21, 2025

Compiled by Suri Stewardson, Collections Assistant, Revelstoke Museum and Archives

Smelter on the Columbia River in Revelstoke, ca. 1895. Revelstoke Museum & Archives, P-406.

130 years ago, August 17th, 1895

Controversy about a smelter being added in Revelstoke grows as the editors of Rossland’s “Miner” as well as Nelsons “Tribune” newspapers write their concerns about what it might mean to place another smelter in the West Kootenays. Miner states that Spokane will get direct profit from it while Tribune believes that it’s an inconvenient spot for the area. Our local editor shares a snarky response  to both noting that Revelstoke is one of the most central and desirable places for it, they are just spreading rumours.

120 years ago, August 24th, 1905

The lake in which Revelstoke had got its water from had company as two visitors hiked 8 miles north of the city to reach it. They promptly named it Grass Lake due to the luxurious supply of beautiful grass lands surrounding the body of water. The two adventurers also found another lake nearby the first which they had named Protection Lake to supply the city with more water and protect against fires once they have diverted the creek to the supply site.

110 years ago, August 21st, 1915

A “German spy” was arrested in Vernon who claimed to be a Swiss reservist that was anxious to fight with the allies. It’s said that there was evidence held by the authorities proving these claims to be false. Authorities claimed he was a German man with an assumed name and nationality, and he had been collecting military information since his arrival in Vernon. He had been offering to sell this information to Germany through neutral mail. It is not stated whether this proof was accurate or not.

100 years ago, August 19th, 1925

A house and barn was completely destroyed after a fire caught in the barn and travelled to the home through sparks where a mother and her two young children were residing. The father and two older sons were out firefighting a different blaze at the time. Unfortunately, only a trunk was pulled out of the house before the blaze grew. The family’s barking dog was the one who made the mother aware of the oncoming disaster. The cause was unknown, but insurance was sure to cover the damage.

90 years ago, August 23rd, 1935

More work was done on The Big Bend highway! Camps for the workers were being added. There were 7 in total, hosting the over 350 men that are helping widen the highway between town and 21-mile. Old locations for construction were being revamped to create new roads that made it easier to navigate the tools across the sites, rather than the narrow and winding paths in the bush that they previously used.

80 years ago, August 23rd, 1945

Studies in the 1940’s were being made, due to the increased amount of “delinquency” found in juveniles. They believed that this rise of disrespect was due to the fact that kids no longer needed to work as much due to new technology taking over harder jobs. Professionals said that workshops would help this boredom and parents should make more effort to engage their kids in activities. Maybe they should get a summer job at the local museum…

70 years ago, August 18th, 1955

Approval was given to the Revelstoke Ski Club to host the North American Ski Championship, but there are worries that Revelstoke can’t host such an event. More well-known communities in the realm of skiing are also going after the chance to host the championship. The people of Revelstoke were asked to contact our ski club and show their support to bring awareness to the fact that this town can assure the right efforts to accommodate such publicity and preparation.

60 years ago, August 19th, 1965

Retail merchants in Revelstoke protest the increase of rates that were high enough to be detrimental to the local economy. The costs were previously at a level so high they couldn’t ask the consumers to be paying more and if they did, these customers would travel out of town to buy the items for a cheaper price, driving away the needed business in town and lowering the profits of our vendors.

50 years ago, August 21st, 1975

Development has been approved for Hat Creek to start the first stage in their two-stage plan for hydro power, which would have 4 units generate 500,000 kilowatts each. Stage two planned to add 4 more units generating 700,000 kilowatts each which would all come in 1983-88. Along with this, additional developments are recommended to support our future needs, one being a 2.7 million kilowatt plant just outside of Revelstoke on the Columbia River. Read on for more…

40 years ago, August 21st, 1985

Everyone was rushing to the Revelstoke Dam, which opened to the public on June 14th. Reports at the dam’s visitor center stated that over 4,400 people were counted in that week of August, bringing the total to approximately 22,821 visitors total in the two months that it was open. People from America to South Africa visited, as well as people from Malaysia, Switzerland, and even visitors from New Zealand were registered.

30 years ago, August 18th, 1995

Misconceptions about the upcoming proposal for the ski resort that was being built were floating around town, and someone wanted them corrected! It was said that around 5,000 visitors daily would be a “good starting point” and locals didn’t want Revelstoke to be the new Whistler. The writer stated that in 20 years it might reach over 2,000 visitors daily with good publicity but we should never expect to be able to reach the status of Whistler, it was unrealistic.

20 years ago, August 17th, 2005

The Rotary Club of Revelstoke celebrated its local 75th year anniversary in honour of the 100th year anniversary of the International Rotary Club. To celebrate, a gazebo was built in the yard of the Revelstoke Railway Museum to commemorate the milestone. Many photos reconciling the great deeds the club has done for the community were provided in the papers, as well as a thank you to all of the members that are a part of the club here in Revelstoke.

10 years ago, August 19th, 2015

Waiting times for people to be placed in the Mount Cartier Court, or “The Cottages”, were growing to be a concern with local families. The waiting list to get a room was being ignored in favour of. If you were living alone, you got priority over someone who was in a hospital even if they were at the top of the waiting list because they had care. The average wait time was 142 days.