Glimpses of the Past: September 3, 2026

By Brennan Patry, Archival Assistant, Revelstoke Museum & Archives

Hikers in a field of wildflowers on Mount Revelstoke, ca. 1920. Revelstoke Museum & Archives Collection, P-3129.

130 years ago: Kootenay Mail, September 5, 1896

Several cases of cholera had been reported in Revelstoke. The cases were reported to be a mild strain of the disease. Almost all the reported cases were in men, and few required hospitalization.

120 years ago: Revelstoke Mail-Herald, September 1, 1906

An operatic show called “Dandy Dick” was to be performed at the Revelstoke Opera House. “Dandy Dick” was a two-act opera about a young man who joins a circus with his performing cat and falls in love with the circus owner’s daughter.

110 years ago: Revelstoke Mail-Herald, September 2, 1916

A $200 reward was advertised for anyone who had information that led to the arrest of the individual who had been cutting up logs that were labeled with the mark of the Forest Mills of British Columbia company. The reward was also available for information that could lead to the arrest of the people involved with the theft of wire cables the previous winter.

100 years ago: Revelstoke Review, September 1, 1926

A man had that had visited Revelstoke in August sent a letter to be published in the newspaper. He expressed that he had a lovey time visiting, he hiked up to Eva Lake and said that it was a lovely place that more people should go to. He did complain that the roads were intimidating to newcomers, and that you cannot drive fast enough on them. He noted the mountains and forest looked lovely and that the town needed to use that to its advantage to bring in more visitors.

90 years ago: Revelstoke Review, September 4, 1936

Residents were getting excited for Labour Day; it was going to be a large celebration with the actors who were filming “Silent Barrier”. The actors were expected to show up in costume to the carnival and dances. A new event would be happening as well, “donkey baseball,” which was exactly like regular baseball just with players on donkeys.

Learn more about “Silent Barrier” and see the film during the Fall 2026 Brown Bag History program! See the museum’s  website for more details.

80 years ago: Revelstoke Review, September 5, 1946

Residents of Revelstoke were happy that Labour Day weekend had wonderful weather. The week prior it had rained for the first time since mid-August, which was needed after a long stretch of dry weather. Many other cities in the province experienced quite a large amount of rainfall on Labour Day, but Revelstoke was happy to not be one of them.

70 years ago: Revelstoke Review, September 6, 1956

Revelstoke Lawn Bowling Club had a successful tournament. People came from as far as Cranbrook for the tournament. The weather was wonderful and everyone had a great day. In the afternoon, members served refreshments and snacks to players and viewers.

60 years ago: Revelstoke Review, August 31, 1966

Mrs. Barba Luce, wife of the Rotary governor, was in Revelstoke. A luncheon was held in her honour, sponsored by the Rotary Anns. Luce spoke about how welcoming Revelstoke had been to her and her husband, William Luce. She invited all the ladies to join their husbands at the spring convention that was going to happen in Yakima, Washington.

50 years ago: Revelstoke Mail-Herald, September 1, 1976

The flowers that bloom later in the summer were popping out on the trail to Eva Lake. Late August is when the flowers on the hike are in full swing, due to timing and habitat. Glacier Lillies, for example, begin to poke through when the snow is still on the mountain. Once the Glacier Lillies die, they are followed by white Spring Beauty flowers.

40 years ago: Revelstoke Review, September 4, 1986

The Revelstoke Art Gallery had quite a successful season, although they were disappointed in the low number of artwork sales. Despite this, they had over 1000 people visit the gallery within the two months it was open. They hoped that for the next season thy would be able to bring in more local artists.

30 years ago: Revelstoke Times Review, September 4, 1996

A company from Vancouver was hoping to build a shopping center in Revelstoke. They had sent a proposal to City Council for review; City Council hadn’t decided what they wanted to do. Instead, they decided to have a developer come to Revelstoke to look at different locations for the shopping center as they did not like where the company wanted to build.