An aquatic prodigy on Kootenay Lake
In 1923, Frances West (also known as Florence), the six-year-old daughter of Edbert West, manager of the Ogilvie elevator in Taber,...
top of page
Search
Greg Nesteroff
Jan 18, 20199 min read
Ted’s tribute: Remembering a fallen pilot on the Santa Rosa summit
This is the story of a local woman’s search for the place where her father died more than 60 years ago. It begins with Donald Edward...
3,159 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jan 12, 20192 min read
Becoming BOB
One oft-asked historical question is exactly when Nelson’s Big Orange Bridge was painted orange. It was originally silver when built in...
1,528 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jan 10, 20192 min read
Ainsworth becomes Ainsworth Hot Springs
Fifty-five years ago today, the Ainsworth post office ceased to exist. The following day, it was reborn as Ainsworth Hot Springs. The...
763 views4 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jan 10, 20192 min read
Clark Gable in Kuskonook?
Helena White’s 1984 booklet, Sixty Bloomin’ Years: A History of Creston, British Columbia contains this statement on page 21: “Moviegoers...
634 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jan 8, 20194 min read
High weirdness over Rossland
One of West Kootenay’s best bits of folklore is the Flying Steamshovel, the story of an amateur aviation enthusiast who apparently built...
881 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jan 6, 20191 min read
1862 Fort Shepherd envelope nets $1,600
An envelope mailed from London to Fort Shepherd in January 1862 sold today for $1,600 Cdn. The piece was part of the Gerald Wellburn gold...
423 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jan 5, 20193 min read
Last of the Phoenicians
Betty Ridge, who died in Nelson on Dec. 23 at age 98, was probably the last surviving person born in the mining town of Phoenix, BC. She...
3,732 views3 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jan 1, 20195 min read
Fake news, 1899: a wedding and a coffin on Kootenay Lake
The following story is completely fabricated. The names and circumstances were made up but passed off as genuine. It says something...
602 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 24, 20186 min read
5 phantom cemeteries
Of the 100 or so cemeteries in West Kootenay/Boundary, two dozen can no longer be visited because they were either flooded out, exhumed,...
1,297 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 23, 20183 min read
Silverton’s oldest piece of mail?
A terrific cover from Silverton, postmarked July 28, 1894, sold for $192.50 Cdn yesterday on eBay. It was sent from Hunter & McKinnon,...
344 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 22, 20188 min read
A Russian revolutionary in the Slocan Valley
Twice this year I’ve learned secret details about someone that made me re-evaluate everything I thought I knew about them. The first case...
1,371 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 20, 20182 min read
Lawrence Twoaxe in the Slocan Valley
Curious thing: this ad appeared in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette on March 26, 1911 and subsequent issues. Koch Siding is a nearly-obsolete...
484 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 18, 20183 min read
The Pop Inn Annual
Robert Main was sometimes referred to as the poet laureate of the Kootenays. In the 1920s, he ran a small roadside stand at Beasley...
816 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 16, 20188 min read
Pioneer women of West Kootenay: Ralphia Weir Stitt McLean Borrow
I’m not sure who the first woman to work for a West Kootenay/Boundary newspaper was, but it may have been Harriet Haire Smith, a daughter...
353 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 12, 20187 min read
Births aboard planes, trains, ferries, and automobiles
Having examined births, marriages, and deaths aboard sternwheelers on local lakes, we turn our attention to West Kootenay–related births...
527 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 7, 201810 min read
A phony dentist in the Slocan Valley
In January 1910, a man posted a notice in Silverton that read: Mr. A.L. Pinchbeck, D.M.S. dental surgeon, has visited Silverton for two...
789 views3 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...
715 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 2, 20181 min read
First Nations faces in Rossland
An amazing cabinet card sold on eBay last week for $181.50 US ($240 Cdn), showing two First Nations people in a studio portrait by...
870 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 1, 20187 min read
Canadian-born mayors of Northport
It may be in Washington state, but I regard Northport as an honourary West Kootenay town, given that its existence from 1898 to 1921 was...
631 views1 comment
bottom of page