Thursday, June 18, 2009

Mayor McCarty

Wow, two blog entries in one day! I just got back from a Cemetery Walk and wanted to say how happy I am that Revelstoke's first mayor now has a headstone on his grave. For many years, the grave has been unmarked, but a few years ago, one of the participants on a Cemetery Walk asked the city to do something about it, and now, at last, Mayor McCarty has an appropriate marker.

When Revelstoke was incorporated in March of 1899, the first mayor elected was Mr. Florence McCarty, although he preferred to be called Frank (and who can blame him!) Frank McCarty had a butcher store on Track Street, near the CPR Station, and later had a livery business and a steam laundry. The McCarty's first home was on CPR hill, and he and his wife ran it as a boarding house for CPR employees. It was known as a temperance house, which meant that drinking was not allowed on the premises. Board and lodging cost $5 a week, or individual meals were available for 25 cents. The McCartys were Roman Catholic, and before the first Catholic Church was built in Revelstoke in 1893, services sometimes took place in their home.

In 1899, as the newly-elected Mayor, he had a fine new home built on Mackenzie Avenue at Third Street. John Kernaghan built the house at a cost of $5,000, and stonemason E.C. Fromey built the 2-foot thick cellar walls. The house originally had a turret and upper and lower verandahs. The house is currently the location of Heather Hut boutique, and while it has been changed a lot over the years, it still has many of its original features.

Florence (Frank) McCarty passed away in 1920, and a photograph in the museum shows his grave covered with flowers. It is possible that there was once a marker on the grave, but if there was, it has been missing for many years. In this year when we are celebrating Revelstoke's 110th anniversary of incorporation, it is fitting that at last his grave is marked, identifying him as Revelstoke's first mayor.

Revelstoke's First Doctor

We had the privilege this week of a visit from John McAlpine, great grandson of Dugald Leitch McAlpine, Revelstoke's first doctor. Dr. McAlpine came to Revelstoke in 1884 or 1885, in the very early days of the community's development. The doctor came here with his 17 year old son, Johnny, and set up an office on Front Street, the hub of activity in the new settlement. When the doctor and his son came, the town was still known as Second Crossing, as this was the second point that the railway crossed the Columbia River. First Crossing was at Donald. By 1885, the community was referred to as Farwell, after the surveyor who purchased the land and laid out the townsite.

Mr. McAlpine was interested in finding out how his grandfather and great-grandfather would have reached Second Crossing before the railway line had been built. At that time, there were two ways of getting here from the east. One was to take a treacherous boat trip around the Big Bend, and the other was to walk or ride by horseback along the surveyed route through Rogers Pass. We weren't able to find out for sure, but we suspect that they would have come through Rogers Pass.

In 1886, Dr. McAlpine's wife and other children arrived from Ontario. The doctor built a home for his family on an island in the Columbia River, near the west bank of the river opposite Front Street. According to John McAlpine, the doctor was concerned about having his family live in the wild west settlement of Farwell. At that time, there were several brothels, saloons and gambling dens lining Front Street, and Dr. McAlpine felt it was no place for young children. We have not been able to definitely identify the location of the island. The McAlpine family moved to Vancouver in 1887, but the island was still referred to as McAlpine's island into the early 1900s.

Remember that the Queen Victoria Hospital exhibit is opening this Saturday, June 20 at 2:00 pm.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

Queen Victoria Hospital

We're working on a new exhibit on Queen Victoria Hospital, and the opening will be on Saturday, June 20 at 2 pm. We have a little surprise we found lurking in the basement of the museum, and it will be a special feature of the exhibit. Anybody born in Revelstoke between 1913 and 1970 was most likely born in the old brick Queen Victoria Hospital, so it still brings back a lot of memories for past residents.

The exhibit will dwell a little bit on the other hospitals as well, including the private hospital opened by Dr. McKechnie and Dr. Jeffs in 1897. It was located in a house at the top of Douglas Street hill, and it could only accommodate 7 patients. One of the first patients was a man who was working in one of the sawmills in the area. He was in the hospital with a broken leg when his fiancee arrived on the train from the east. expecting to meet up with her man and get married. When she discovered that he was in hospital, she arranged for a minister to come there with her to perform a bedside wedding.

In 1902, the Queen Victoria Cottage Hospital was built where Cooper's and Alpine Village Mall are now located. The hospital fronted onto First Street, and was built in cooperation with the Victorian Order of Nursing, who provided the first nurses and some much needed funding for construction. The first Matron was Miss Elsie Mackinnon of Prince Edward Island, who only worked at the hospital for a year before marrying T.D. Kilpatrick, local CPR Superintendent and President of the Revelstoke Hospital Board. Mr. Kilpatrick had to endure a great deal of good natured ribbing for depriving the hospital of the Matron. At that time, married women did not work in professions, because of course, once you were married, you had the noblest profession of all: housewife and mother! ;)

The brick Queen Victoria Hospital opened in 1913 and was in use until February of 1971. We welcome memories, photos and stories about the hospital. Come in and see the new exhibit, and add your stories to our memory board.