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The Wide World of the Arrow Lakes

Join us this Friday night as the Arrow Lakes Historical Society kicks off its 2021-22 presentation season with our latest slideshow, THE WIDE WIDE WORLD OF THE ARROW LAKES.

Over 75 minutes of amazing historical imagery await you as we explore our wonderful valley. You’ll take a trip back in time 100 years to the long-lost ghost town of West Demars, experience some of your region’s wildest weather events, visit some of the Arrow Lakes’ historic small town general stores (we may have been dropping a few hints on our Facebook page over the past couple of weeks about that one), look at some fantastic Walter Wells artwork, and perhaps even help us solve a mystery as we show off a batch of mystery photos!

Watch all of this and more LIVE Friday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. Pacific time (or anytime you want thereafter!) on our YouTube channel.STREAM LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqKrcvETOmA

ALHS archives acquires SS Minto log book

An amazing new arrival last month at the ALHS was a 1947 Canadian Pacific log book straight of the SS Minto pilot house! This would have likely been filled in by Captain Otto Estabrooks. Note the sailing times: the Minto stopped just long enough at Nakusp to let the crew get some sleep and then was right back at it again. Also of note, in addition to the large number of regular stops and familiar place names, are the various flag stops the Minto landed at, which varied from trip to trip. On this trip, we see the Minto landed at Jack Harris’ logging camp near Galena Bay, Pingston, Johnstone Creek (misspelled ‘Johnson’ here) south of Edgewood, and Sherwood (the Jowett family ranch across from Edgewood). (Hat tip: Ken Douglas.)

ALHS uploads 20,000th photo

Last month marked a happy milestone for the Arrow Lakes Historical Society, as we uploaded our 20,000th photo to alhs-archives.com! We’re still only about 60 per cent of the way finished uploading our photos, as it will take years more to process what we have already, and by the time we finish those, we’ll likely have thousands more, but that’s a really good problem to have! We remain humbled by the support from our repository has received from our donors and patrons.Lucky photo No. 20,000 is the shot seen here, taken from page 33 of the Nakusp and District Sports Centre opening day programme, released April 1, 1971, showing part of the inaugural roster of the Nakusp midget hockey teams.

TOP (L-R): Wilf Bells (coach), Gary Posnick, Ray Robson, Larry Yano, Brian Roberts, Grant Barrow, Rick deGans, Ken Nishida, Richard Yoshida. BOT: Wayne Obayashi, Herb Mueller, Jim Hankins, Brian Borle, Warren Jones, Gordon Posnick. MISSING: Tom Zeleznik, Colin McQuair, Wilbur Berry, Mike Nishimura, Art Lloyd, Frank Bone, Denis Desrochers, Cliff Trennaman, Howard Matthews, Dana Matthews, Darcy Jones, Brett Gordon, Wayne Langbell, Bill Brown, Dan Hascarl, Paul Coltura.

Memories of Old Nakusp Hot Springs launches July 3

Coming soon: the third volume in our portable history series, Memories of Old Nakusp Hot Springs. Filled with stories, historical anecdotes, and classic black and white photos, this booklet gives you a small glimpse of life at the original, rustic hot springs. Read about the springs’ journey from a rustic wonder to a provincial park and eventually a modern resort.

It will be launched on July 3 at the Farmers’ Market, and subsequently for sale through this website and at bookstores throughout the West Kootenay.

Summer Splash slideshow coming July 1

It’s summer, but you can’t possibly spend ALL of your time in this beautiful sunshine. Take an 80-minute break and join the Arrow Lakes Historical Society for a fun look through some of the summer-themed photos in our collection, as well as some new arrivals. Watch how people’s experiences at the beach — and the beaches of the Arrow Lakes themselves — have evolved over the past century.

We also show some interesting aerial photography showing how Nakusp, Glenbank, and Crescent Bay have developed over time, and we take a look back through the treasure troves that are the Kinsmen & Kinette Clubs of Nakusp fonds. The show ends with a haunting look through the old Arrowhead Cemetery and the abandoned Arrowhead townsite.

Watch the premiere live on July 1 at 7 p.m. — or watch it anytime you like thereafter — at https://www.youtube.com