50 Years of Preserving Our History

The Revelstoke Museum and Archives Association turned 50 years old on November 23, 2008. For an entire year, we will be celebrating this occasion with a series of special events and programs. Our kick-off for our Golden Anniversary celebrations will begin on Friday, November 28th at 7:00 pm during Moonlight Madness. Join us for cake and tea and special displays and presentations. And while you're there, check out our new Gift Shop.

When the Association was formed in the B.C. Centennial year of 1958, there was an awareness that, although the community was relatively young, the history was already starting to be forgotten. Thanks to the foresight of local citizens such as Ruby Nobbs, Dr. Hugh McKay, Estelle Dickey, George Laforme and others, much of our history has been preserved for future generations. The first museum was opened in 1963, in the basement of the former Health Unit building, and in 1974, the collection was moved into our current location, the 1926 Post Office building. Since then, our collection has grown to over 5,000 artifacts, over 5,000 photographs, and dozens of boxes of archival material. We invite you to come in and experience our rich and colourful history.

All the News that's Fit to Print

This was the title of the last Brown Bag History presentation. We looked at the history of newspapers in Revelstoke. The first newspaper published in Revelstoke was The Kootenay Star, and it made its appearance on June 22, 1889. The museum has an original copy of the first edition and it is in remarkably good condition. We also have microfilm copies of most of the Revelstoke newspapers published between 1890 and 1964, as well as some hard copies of more recent newspapers, particularly the Revelstoke Herald of the 1970s and 1980s and the Revelstoke Unique from the 1990s.

My favourite local newspaper was the Observer, published between December of 1908 and August of 1909. The editor was E.A. Haggen, who also worked as a Mining Engineer, a Stock Broker, a Real Estate Agent, and an Insurance Agent. His ads for his other businesses were prominent throughout his paper, and some of the articles were also thinly-disguised advertising for himself. Haggen also used the paper to carry out some of his personal battles with other citizens, especially local lawyer George McCarter, and the local police commissioner and MLA. The paper thinly skirted the edges of libel, and sometimes crossed over the line, but it makes for entertaining reading.

The Observer published this rather lofty motto as its reason for being:
For the cause that lacks assistance;
For the wrong that needs resistance;
For the future in the distance;
And the good that we can do.

The first issue of the Observer featured a bit of local humour:
A Careful Man: “Have you noticed,” asked a neighbour, “that Mackenzie avenue sidewalks are laid so that there is a slant toward the curbstone? If you have not thought of it, there is a man in Revelstoke who has, and to save shoeleather he walks on different sides of the street on alternate days to make sure that his shoes will be worn off evenly.”

The newspapers are available for anyone looking for information from the past, or if you're just looking for an entertaining way to pass the time.