House Histories AND Heritage - Powell River Townsite River, House Histories_SAMPLE.pdf · House Histories and Heritage AND Heritage A Visual History of the Historic Vol I - The Vanishing

House Histories

Ho

use H

istor

ies and

Her

itage

AND Heritage

A Visual History of the Historic

Vol I - The Vanishing BuildingsV

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Bu

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Powell River Company Townsite

Karen Southern

South

ern9 780987 798503

ISBN 978-0-9877985-0-3

KAREN SOUTHERN was born in Powell River and has lived there most of her life. Her first job was at the Patricia Theatre, and her second was at MacMillan, Bloedel and Powell River Limited. Best known for her local history writing, she also served as Archivist and Co-ordinator of the Powell River Historical Museum for several years.Karen is the author of The Nelson Island Story, Hancock 1987; co-author with Peggy Bird, of Pulp, Paper and People: 75 Years of Powell River, Powell River Heritage Research 1988; co-author with Ken Bradley, of Powell River’s Railway Era, BCRHA, 2000; and author of the Powell River section of Sunshine and Salt Air, Harbour Publishing, 1987, 1991, 1997, 2001.In the making since 1992, this three-volume work on the Craftsman style historic houses of western Canada’s oldest pulp and paper mill town marks the culmination of her life’s work in Powell River.

The original PaTricia TheaTre, circa 1916, celebraTing 100 years in 2013

“Take the Axe to Accidents” Campaign Parade CA 1947 – 51. Powell River Digester/PR Museum

House Histories

Ho

use H

istor

ies and

Her

itage

AND Heritage


Vol I - The Vanishing Buildings

Vo

l I - Th

e Van

ishin

g B

uild

ing

s


Karen Southern

South

ern9 780987 798503

ISBN 978-0-9877985-0-3




Karen SouthernEdited by Ann Nelson

Photo Editing by Philip Murphy

Published by

The Townsite Heritage Society of Powell River

for the Powell River Centennial Celebration of 2010

House HistoriesAND Heritage




Copyright © 2013 Karen SouthernPublished by the Townsite Heritage Society of Powell River

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form by any means without permission in writing from the author, or the Townsite Heritage Society, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

Every effort has been made to check dates and facts. Where there is an error, please excuse the memory of an old-timer or errors made at the time of printing of the newspapers, Digester, Wrigley’s BC Directories, North-west and BC Telephone phone books, City directories and other directories. We have sincerely tried to provide you with an accurate history of each house and building in the Powell River Company Townsite of Powell River.

Published with the assistance of Canadian Heritage - BCAH (Building Communities Through Arts and Heritage) and the Government of British Columbia, Heritage Branch

Canadian Cataloguing in Publication Data

Southern, Karen, 1943-House Histories and Heritage: A Visual History of the Historic Powell River Townsite

Volume One: The Vanishing Buildings

ISBN: 978-0-9877985-0-3

Looking North East along what would become Ocean View and across what would become the intersection of 2nd Street and Ocean View. Note temporary narrow gauge railroad tracks intersecting standard gauge at centre, right, and quarried granite being transported by narrow gauge railcar to the building site of the breakwater. House which became a rectory and was moved in 1927 to stand at corner of Sycamore and Ash, is yet to be built in this 1912 photo, as it was constructed where these narrow gauge tracks pass between the two houses. “Ellis” Photo 1912

The Vanishing Buildings • 7

Table of ConTenTs

The Federal Plaque 4 Dedication to the Early Photographers 8 The Roots of the Townsite Heritage Society 10 Map of Townsite 15

Pioneer seTTlemenTLutzville Camp 16 Before the Streets, the Lanes 22 1910 Tent Town 23 1910 The Bunkhouses and Cookshack 24

early HosPiTals1910 The Tent Hospital 25 1911 The Bunkhouse Hospital 26

alder - 1sT sTreeT/arbuTus1910 The Temporary Bunkhouse Duplexes 27 1910 An Early “shack” Home (Clapps’ First Home) 29

Plans and WorkersGeorge Ingemann - Master Builder 30 The Men Who Built the Cottages 32 How to Build a Good Company Town 34 John McIntyre - Architect and Townsite Manager 36

THe real building beginsPhase I 38 Phase II 39 1911 Central Building 40 1910 The “Black” Building - The First Gopher Club 43 1911 Bon Ton Apartments 1st Wing; 1918 2nd Wing 45 1912 The Sing Lee Building 50 1923 Brooklon Block 52 1913 Avenue Lodge First Wing; 1918 Second Wing 53 1913 The Fire Hall 59

THe firsT sCHools and CHurCHes1911 The First St. Joseph’s Church 62 1911 The Powell River Public Library 63 cum First School Building cum St.Paul’s Anglican Church (1920-55) 1913 The Henderson School 65 1926 The Original Brooks School 67

reCreaTional buildings1911 The Boat Houses 72 1912 Wilberta McBain’s Playhouse; 1930 Cricket Club 73 1913 The First Patricia Theatre 74 1913 1st & 2nd Beach Bathhouse 75 1923 The Powell River Company Gymnasium 77 1924 The Bandstand, The Grandstand & Liquor Store 78

WalnuT (CresCenT) avenueIntroduction 79 1913 100 The BC Police Station 81 1915 110 The Nurses’ Home 83 1915 120 The George Clapp House; 1928 The Nurses’ Home 85 1912 130 The Gus Courte House; The Nurses’ Home 87 1912 140 The Olimpico House 88 1912 150 The Adams House 89

oCean vieW (marine) avenue1914 101 E A Sadler House 90 1914 111 Frank Yates House 92 1914 121 H G Blackwell House 95 1912 120 William B. Graham House 96 1912 130 Henry Morris House 98 1912 131 Sam Dice House 100 1912 140 Harry Woodward House 102 1965 130-140 Hyatt Lodge/Island View Lodge 1915 141 Second Customs House 104 1912 150 George Paterson House 105 1912 151 E. W. Wilshire House 107 1912 160 Nels Hamerton House 109

seCond (asH) sTreeT1912 320 The Willis House 111

riverside and balkan villageIntroduction 113 1916 Balkan Village 118 1911 Rivermouth 125 #1 Riverside 126 #2 Riverside 128 #3 Riverside 129 #4 Riverside 131 #5 Riverside 132 #6 Riverside 133 #7 Riverside 135 #8 Riverside 137 #9 Riverside 139 #10 Riverside 141 #11 Riverside 142

1914 addiTion#12 Riverside (A & B) 143 #13 Riverside 146 #14 Riverside 147 #15 Riverside 149 #16 Riverside 151 #17 Riverside 154 #18 Riverside 155 #19 Riverside 157 #20 Riverside 159 #21 Riverside 160

volume one - THe vanisHing buildings

8 • House Histories and Heritage

1926 addiTion

#22 Riverside 162 #23 Riverside 164 #24 Riverside 165 #25 Riverside 167 #26 Riverside 168 #27 Riverside 169 #28 Riverside 170 #30 Riverside 171 #31 Riverside 172 #32 Riverside 174 #33 Riverside 175 #34 Riverside 176 #35 Riverside 178 #36 Riverside 179 #37 Riverside 182 #38 Riverside 184 #39 Riverside 185 #40 Riverside 186 #41 Riverside 189 #42 Riverside 190 #42 Riverside 191

THe buildings of 1919-19311919 & 1924 The Orchard Houses 192 1922 The Bank of Commerce (1st and 2nd buildings) 195 1926 Motor Traders 196 1931 The North-west Telephone Building 197 1931 The Bus Depot 199

laTer buildings1942 The Powell River General Hospital 200 1948 The Elks Building 203 1948 The Walnut Lodge 205

managing THe ToWnsiTe 1910-551910 The Townsite Gang 207 1916 The Garden Contests 209 1956 The Last Townsite Office 211 (Interview-Isobelle Carlsen)

buildings losT or CHanged by fire1922 454 Maple: The Claridge House 214 1913 290 Oak: The Sutton House 216 1915 190 Poplar: The George Terris House 218 1929 The Sallie Scanlon Lodge/Golf Clubhouse 2201947 The Elks Building 202

THe TransPlanTed Houses1912-15 The Manson Houses 222 1912-15 The Redonda Houses 223 1924 Jimmy Carr’s Tailor Shop 225

aPPendiCesSeptember, 1910 Powell River Company Payroll 226 April 1912 Powell River Company Ledger Roll 227 B.C. Wrigley’s Directories, 1919-1923 231 Items from PRCo 1916-1935 Expenditures 244 Street Address Cross Reference 245 Sources 248 Acknowledgements 250 Index of Names 252 Index of Community Buildings 269

Powell River made history set against a backdrop of mill buildings and the ever-present steam ships. PR MuseuM

Note about abbreviations: Within the boxes listing residents of buildings Cs refers to census information, VR refers to Voter Roll information.


BEFORE THE STREETS – THE LANES

What was the first street in the Townsite? This lane showing “Water Front” between tents and shacks is dated 1910. At the end of it is Sam Sing’s laundry and small store which he began circa 1907 during the logging days of the Michigan and Puget Sound Company. The Golden Jubilee Book claims Alder Lane is the first street in Powell River [no index listing]. Arthur Dunn remembers that lane in 1914 “between the present day lab and Walnut Street there was a double row of construction bunk-houses which had been converted into two residences each...occupied by Italian families.” As the town was then “rapidly changing from a camp into a modern town, any kind of houses looked good to families seeking shelter.” Water Front Lane was eliminated by #5 & #6 paper machines in the mid-twenties.

Most would agree that Water Front was the first “street” as it was here before the Powell River Company itself. Alder Lane which ran at right angles to Water Front Lane between First St. (Arbutus) and Second St. (Ash) appears to be a later addition. Perhaps it was recorded as the first because four 1910 bunkhouses were still being used in 1925. One end of each bunkhouse faced Alder, the other First Street (Arbutus). On p 15 of Pulp, Paper and People, Evan Sadler talks about the duplexes being taken down in 1920 but a more recent acquisition, the 1925 Wrigley’s BC Directory, lists the residents. For some reason these families whom we know were there earlier are not listed in the 1924 directory, perhaps they planned to take the buildings down that year, not expecting them to be there on publication of the directory.

Water Front Lane in 1910. Rod LeMay / dunstan studios / PR MuseuM

A LOGGING STORY

George Smarge recalled his association with two Lutzville men in connection with his logging venture on the west side of Haslam Lake in 1918. “...Puget Sound went broke up here, and they had all their [steam] donkeys at Willingdon Beach on flat cars...The creditors were sellin’ ’em...” Rod LeMay was in charge of these donkeys and a judge in Vancouver handled the sale. Smarge bought one of the five to log at Haslam. Pendleton was planning to put a railway into the lake area on which Smarge could bring up his donkey, but before this could take place, he and Jimmy Springer’s brother-in-law, Alec Bell, handlogged the shoreline. He praised Alec as a “cracker-jack saw filer” and related the story about sawing through a tree with a “freshly sharpened saw...and we got halfway to the heart, and all at once, the sparks and everything came outa that saw and the teeth all broke off, and the tree started to fall...there was a rock as big as a man’s head in the middle of the tree; and the tree lifted

off this, and left the rock in the stump. Later, when Pendleton was going to a loggers’ convention, he asked Smarge to saw the stump below the rock and he amazed the assembled loggers.” From Boats, Bucksaws and Blisters, p 233-234)


The “Black” Building was not named for a Company man named Black but simply because it was covered in black tar paper for so long! It was built as a staff boarding house by the Powell River Company in 1910 (but not completed until 1911) and it was nick-named “The Gopher Club” because it housed the early office employees from Minnesota–the Gopher State.

The building was once referred to in the Digester as “the first hotel” in Powell River although it wasn’t registered as an actual hotel. The Rodmay, built as The Powell River Hotel and also known as “McKinney’s”, was the first and only hotel in the Townsite, although guests of the Company often stayed in the Black Building before the Director’s House, later known as the “Guest House”, was built.

Charlie Long, the pioneer druggist, and Dr. Rexford, the second doctor in the Townsite, also boarded here. The doctor was first mentioned by Dr. Henderson’s daughter Marjorie in her diary on May 5, 1911. She also noted the day he left to marry Miss Hancock, the nurse, Tuesday Sept 26, 1911. “This afternoon went for a walk. Dr. Rexford and Miss Hancock left. Fred Quayle was here this evening and we

played “checkers” .” Fred Quayle, the draughtsman, was also a boarder in the Black Building, and took his turn at running the library. Many of these men recorded on the 1911 Canada Census were also here in 1910.

In 1913, the Gopher Club was relocated to a new house at 300 (5840) Maple. Three large houses referred to as “The Staff Quarters’ were also built on Ocean View (Marine) in 1914 to house staff. According to Arthur Dunn, p8, Golden Jubilee Book, The Black Building, which he refers to as “an old frame building” by the Bon Ton, was torn down shortly after he came in 1914. The lumber was most likely used in the mill expansion.

Marjorie Henderson on Aug 13, 1911 recalled “Mr. and Mrs. Hogan, Agnes and I were invited down to the Gopher Club for dinner.”

Dr. Henderson and his family were next-door neighbours and good friends of the Minnesota Gopher Club “boys’ as Marjorie called them. After she was widowed, she married Ken Macken, one of the men from the new Gopher Club that opened at 300 Maple (5840) in 1913.

70 WALNUT AVENUE DEMOLISHED

• 1910 •THE “BLACK BUILDING“

The Black Building circa 1910. Rod LeMay / dunstan studios / PR MuseuM


Men of the Gopher Club. MaRjoRie HendeRson / Ken MacMiLLan coLLection

The Monagher brothers from Chicago and Bobbie Scanlon center 1911. MaRjoRie HendeRson / Ken MacMiLLan coLLection

The “boys” of the gopher club 1911 were heroes after they opened the gates to the dam and alerted the managers that the wooden penstock had burst. Rod LeMay / PR MuseuM

THE RESIDENTS OF THE BLACK BUILDING(According to the 1911 Canada Census)

McGRAW Ed labourer paper millLUBERT L labourer dam constr.FREDSON John labourer breakwaterFREDSON Eric labourer breakwaterTROPP Levin blacksmith breakwaterURSPRUNG Joseph cook cookhouseTHOMAS Sidney F cook cookhouseBRETT Alex cook cookhouseROBINSON George M waiter cookhouseRYAN S C waiter cookhouseDEFT Andrew waiter board houseWILDE Oscar baker bakeryFRASER William baker bakeryPUDDISHALT? Albert bullcook cookhouseALBIONS? Michael labourer railroadBONDE? LOUDE? Anders labourer railroadFINHOLM Leonard labourer railroadHAIG Charles track layer railroadMcDONALD Angus D teamster teamingMARSHALL B R millwright paper millHARPER J blacksmith paper millMcNICKEN George labourer paper millREXFORD H? W K Doctor Powell RiverLONG C W druggist Powell RiverNEWALL Joseph waiter dining hallFALLA Arthur waiter dining hallWHITNEY Arthur plumber officeWATSON George J clerk officeQUAYLE Fred draughtsmanMcDONALD J stenogra pher office


House Histories

Ho

use H

istor

ies and

Her

itage

AND Heritage



Vo

l I - Th

e Van

ishin

g B

uild

ing

s


Karen Southern

South

ern9 780987 798503

ISBN 978-0-9877985-0-3




Documents

House Histories AND Heritage - Powell River Townsite River, House Histories_SAMPLE.pdf · House Histories and Heritage AND Heritage A Visual History of the Historic Vol I - The Vanishing