Glimpses of the Past: August 13, 2026

By Brennan Patry, Archival Assistant, Revelstoke Museum & Archives 

Open gates at the Revelstoke Dam, ca. 1990. P-10602.

130 years ago: Kootenay Mail, August 15, 1896

 Dr. A.T. Watt, Secretary for the Provincial Board of Health, had toured towns in the Interior and found that many of the jails were overcrowded. Many of the jails had no more than nine cells and would occasionally have up to four men in one cell. Watt stated that this was unsanitary and illegal.

120 years ago: Revelstoke Mail-Herald, August 15, 1906

Authorities were trying to figure out how to distribute a reward of $11,500 for finding and arresting train robbers. The seven mounted police that aided in the capture were not allowed to accept government rewards. B.C. officers were pushing that they should receive the money instead. It was expected that the seven mounted police would share the $5000 that was donated by the railway and the rest that was donated by government would be split between the B.C officers.

110 years ago: Revelstoke Mail-Herald, August 12, 1916

A public meeting was announced; it would be held on August 17th. The meeting would have Premier W.J. Bowser, R.F. Green, and Hon. Thos. Taylor as speakers. The announcement said that the seats would be reserved for any ladies in attendance.

100 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 11, 1926

The Revelstoke Gun Club was preparing for the Interior Shoot event that was going to be held on Labour Day. There were to be eight events, and an additional team shoot for the Revelstoke Cup. Teams were expected to come from Kelowna, Vernon, Armstrong and Lumby. They were also expecting to have a large crowd of spectators.

90 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 14, 1936

The Revelstoke Rotary Club was preparing for the upcoming Labour Day celebrations. The club had just been approved by City Council to close parts of Mackenzie Avenue for the night so they could have a carnival. They were preparing many events including multiple games of tug-of-war and raffle prizes.

80 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 15, 1946

A sports advisor for the Pro-Rec organization was in town and made a visit to Williamson Lake. He said that it was one of the most “attractive” lakes he had seen. The sports advisor believed that the lake would have a wonderful future as a place for people to relax and for younger residents to learn water safety.

70 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 9, 1956

Mountain View Park had an unusual visitor showing up at night. Jim Donald, caretaker of the park, said a two-year-old black bear had been stopping by the park every night. The bear seemed to be walking to the park from the city garbage disposal grounds. The bear continuously returned to the park hoping to find a midnight snack.

60 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 10, 1966

Mayor Arvid Lundell of Revelstoke appeared on a television station in Saint John. Lundell told viewers that Revelstoke didn’t need to advertise the town too much because all the people who have travelled to visit the town would spread the word for them. He said that he always runs into people while travelling that love Revelstoke and praise the beautiful nature in the area.

50 years ago: Revelstoke Mail-Herald, August 11, 1976

Many residents of Revelstoke were reminiscing on the memories they had in town as more buildings were being torn down. People were bittersweet about this as they had fond memories of the businesses that were in these buildings, but they were also excited to see what could be created. Buildings that were between the Bank of Commerce alley and Orton Avenue were the ones being demolished.

40 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 13, 1986

Many residents and visitors were up by the Revelstoke Dam watching the water as the flood gates were opened. This was the largest volume of water to be released from the Revelstoke Dam. The water was flowing at 30,000 to 90,000 cubic feet per second for multiple hours.

30 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review, August 14, 1996

People living or wandering around Big Eddy may have noticed that there were some interesting residents. A woman living in Big Eddy had bought and trained llamas for packing. Llamas were supposed to be better pack animals than horses, and she had trained them to carry supplies when she went out to explore nature in the area. The llamas’ names were Starbuck and Chilcotin.

20 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review, August 9, 2006

The 19th annual Kokanee Softball Tournament was a success. The games had an influx of around 2,200 visitors watching. Restaurants and businesses were constantly packed with tourists in town to watch the games. Some people complained that the music at night was too loud but people in attendance had a great time.