Victoria Hopper in Trail
1930s stage and film actress Victoria Hopper (1909-2007) spent part of her childhood in Trail. Although the city has done an excellent...
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Greg Nesteroff
Jan 17, 20201 min read
Then & Now: Trail’s Pine Avenue
Here are some more in a series of negatives I bought on eBay last year showing Trail in 1953. These two views show the west side of the...
1,347 views3 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Sep 13, 20192 min read
Then & Now: The Arlington Hotel
Here is another photo from a series of negatives I recently purchased showing Trail in 1953. Pictured is the intersection of Bay and...
1,696 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jul 6, 20193 min read
Then & Now: Trail’s Bay Avenue
I bought a bunch of negatives showing Trail in 1953 (judging by the license plates on the cars in one of the shots) and had them scanned...
1,462 views5 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Mar 29, 20194 min read
Sunningdale Drive-In Market
Went for a walk with my wife in Trail’s Sunningdale neighbourhood and came across this curious building at 632 Isabella Crescent. It was...
948 views6 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Mar 28, 20193 min read
The milkshake murder’s Trail connection
Several of bestselling BC crime historian Eve Lazarus’ books have West Kootenay connections. I’ve discussed one before, how Canada’s...
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Greg Nesteroff
Mar 17, 201916 min read
10 West Kootenay Boundary drive-in theatres
Is anything more nostalgic (at least to certain generations) than a drive-in theatre? From 1947 to 2003, at least 10 of them operated in...
6,642 views6 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 3, 20183 min read
Capitol Records salutes CJAT, 1958
On Sept. 29, 1958, CJAT Trail opened a new studio in the former post office at 1300 Cedar Ave. They also marked their 25th anniversary as...
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Greg Nesteroff
Nov 27, 20184 min read
Wonderful Town, Trail BC
In 1962-63, the American jingle house of Richard H. Ullman Associates produced a series of cheesy but oh-so-catchy songs to promote radio...
1,579 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
Nov 8, 20182 min read
Larry Kwong (1923-2018)
You heard it here last: Larry Kwong, the NHL’s first player of Asian descent and the oldest Trail Smoke Eaters alumnus, died on March 15,...
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Greg Nesteroff
Oct 18, 20182 min read
The Gulch after the storm, 1932
I picked up a couple of interesting postcards by Hughes Studio recently, showing the mess on Rossland Avenue in Trail following a huge...
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Greg Nesteroff
Sep 21, 20183 min read
Phantom signs: Lauriente’s
Lauriente’s was synonymous with business in the Gulch in Trail from the early 1900s until the men’s wear store by that name at 730...
574 views4 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Sep 14, 20185 min read
Lost buildings: Trail Legion
The old Trail Legion (also known as the Memorial Hall) was built in 1924 on Victoria Avenue to honour those killed during the First World...
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Greg Nesteroff
Aug 24, 20186 min read
Gassosa Beverages of Trail
For those who grew up in the Kootenays before 1950, the word Gassosa must be intensely nostalgic. It means soda in Italian and was the...
1,873 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Aug 8, 20184 min read
Lost buildings: Tadanac staff house and school
In 1930, Cominco built a staff house at 211 Kootenay Ave. in Tadanac (then a company-owned district municipality that included the...
1,503 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
Apr 23, 20181 min read
Wandering manhole covers of West Kootenay
Is Trail missing a manhole cover? If so, public works might want to call their counterparts in Nelson, because there’s one in Railtown...
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Greg Nesteroff
Mar 25, 20183 min read
Buildings that weren’t: Trail hotel, Rossland apartments, 1927
These Art Deco masterpieces, held by the City of Vancouver Archives, were drawn by the firm of Townley and Matheson, who designed...
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Greg Nesteroff
Mar 12, 20181 min read
Lost buildings: Last call at Trail’s Union Hotel
The City of Trail bought the Union Hotel (pictured below) and a neighbouring building last year with plans to tear them down and sell the...
2,225 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jan 11, 20183 min read
Emilio Picariello in Trail
Western Canada’s most infamous bootlegger was once in the ice cream business in Trail. Emilio Picariello immigrated from Capriglia...
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Greg Nesteroff
Jan 11, 20185 min read
Trail’s smelter stairs
Below are four postcard images from my collection of Trail’s Jacob’s Ladder, also known as the Golden Stairway, the Golden Stairs, or...
1,644 views1 comment
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