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.