Glimpses of the Past: August 28, 2025

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

World War I Internment Camp on Mount Revelstoke, 1915. Revelstoke Museum and Archives Collection, P-1871.

130 years ago, Kootenay Mail, August 24th, 1895

Gold Quartz was in plenty at the Big Bend mines making the area look to be one of the most prominent places in the country to be a gold producer. Two new mineral locations were added in the Big Bend that previous week, both created for the purpose of mining gold quartz. This isn’t the only resource found though; camps all around the river are finding large bodies of arsenical iron ore, and one more site had been discovered in the past week of such mineral.

120 years ago, Revelstoke Herald, August 24th, 1905

Work on the new Knox Presbyterian Church was progressing rapidly. The organ for the church arrived and was to be installed as soon as the building was sufficiently advanced. The church was built at the corner of Second Street West and Boyle Avenue. It later became an apartment house known as Harmony Lodge and currently operates as staff housing for Revelstoke Mountain Resort.

110 years ago, Revelstoke Mail-Herald, August 25th, 1915

During the First World War, an internment camp was set up in Mount Revelstoke National Park. The people held there were citizens from the countries at war with the Allied Powers. The government was worried they would be spies or disloyal to Canada and sent them to these camps to work, many reporting that there were rough conditions and treatment by guards. Many of those interned were from Ukraine, and had no ties to the Austrian Hungarian Empire. In Revelstoke, they were to be held in the camp until November 15th, most likely to return again next spring if the war continued.

100 years ago, Revelstoke Review, August 26th, 1925

War was declared on our uttermost enemies, the mosquitoes. In the valley of Eagle River, mosquitoes resided in the masses and when brought up to the provincial government, nothing was done. So, people of the nearby towns rallied up and created the “Eagle Valley Mosquito League” which had a president and secretary as well as a plan to get rid of the swarms. They used thin fuel oil to spread along the breeding areas of the bugs which seemingly worked! This is my formal request to being the league back.

90 years ago, Revelstoke Review, August 30th, 1935

Revelstoke had a “bear-y” cute visitor during the nights. A two-year old black bear was frequenting a small orchard just behind the CPR station, eating the apples peacefully until Mr. Brown, the landowner, found him one Tuesday morning. He took pictures of the bear before he chased it out of his orchard. People assumed that bears were common in town this year because the wild berries were scarce so they had to resort to more domestic means.

 80 years ago, Revelstoke Review, August 30th, 1945

The Arrowhead school has been remodeled and is ready for the upcoming school year. They were hoping the school board was to be elected soon after the opening and everyone was congratulating the area for a successful growth to their community. This achievement has shown great progress in the educational system and the town was discussing the positive effects it would bring along with the new bus which was to be sent to the outer areas of the town.

 70 years ago, Revelstoke Review, August 25th, 1955

Timber from the Big Bend clear-outs was the talk of the town as people were anxious to have it in local manufacturing sites and the city council had put in a request to buy all of the privately held timber from the Big Bend. 80 sections of timber were held, some in the same hands for almost 50 years and there were mature trees that should’ve been removed long ago to make room for regrowth that is otherwise stunted. The timber was suggested to be removed by the owners, or the government will do it.

 60 years ago, Revelstoke Review, August 26th, 1965

Accident rates were the focus of the RCMP and their efforts in reducing them were starting to begin both in the town and on the highways. All available human power and assisting equipment’s were endorsed for the long weekend that was to come in order to control the speeding rates and hopefully prevent the amount of accidents that were assumed to occur. There were set rules that people were asked to follow on their travels to ensure their safety.

 50 years ago, Revelstoke Review, August 28th, 1975

The popular watering hole for Revelstoke’s youth on a hot day is, of course, Williamsons Lake. Apparently the lake had fallen into disarray at this time even though it was popular to the generations before like it was to us, but there were hopes that the lake could be restored with grants given to the community. The council brought up the idea that the Rotary Club could help get the project underway and bring back the lake to its former glory.

40 years ago, Revelstoke Review, August 28th, 1985

A travelling heritage exhibit was displayed in Revelstoke as one of the 24 cities in BC to be visited; it was created by the BC Heritage Trust and portrayed pictures of the conservation of historic amenities in local communities. Revelstoke was on its way to being one of these communities with our now known heritage buildings, such as the Roxy Theatre, after the provincial government became incredibly interested in the preservation of our town.

30 years ago, Revelstoke Review, August 25th, 1995

Rain, rain go away, come again… well, in three decades. You may have heard complaints about the current unpredictable weather we are having, but even more were persisting in the summer of 1995 when there seemed to be only rain. Many were feeling down that they couldn’t sit outside or wear that new summer outfit they bought due to the wet weather, joking they couldn’t remember the feeling of the sun, but now we know that this rain is important considering the past few “blazing” summers we’ve had.

20 years ago, Revelstoke Review, August 24th, 2005

A Christian school going from kindergarten to Grade 6 was in the planning stages. This school was intended to be small and held in the Baptist Fellowship Church after the plan to host it in the old Big Eddy School fell through. They had teachers, a principal, and funding to help support the cost of enrolment.

10 years ago, Revelstoke Review, August 26th, 2015

An interview with two brothers from Revelstoke tells of their memories about ski jumping. John and Allan McInnes were born in Surrey, BC, but moved here as kids when their family bought a local sawmill. Allan won a North American Championship in ’69 and John went on to the Olympics in both 1964 and 1968. The ski jump on Mount Revelstoke was maintained through manual labour: no snow groomers or lifts, just human maintenance.