Geordie Smith: Nelson’s Lusitania hero
I’ve written before about people from the Kootenay who were aboard the SS Lusitania the night it was sunk by a German U-boat in May 1915,...
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Greg Nesteroff
May 15, 20207 min read
The adventures of Alpine Al
In 1959, Joe and Freda Zimmerman opened the Swiss Inn and Motel at Kettle Valley, a little east of Rock Creek. It was quite a building,...
1,541 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
Apr 12, 20206 min read
Nellie McClung in Nelson
In 1937, prominent suffragette Nellie McClung visited Nelson. She wrote about it in her book More Leaves from Lantern Lane, a collection...
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Greg Nesteroff
Apr 2, 20207 min read
Castle Brewery
Having studied one brewery in Nelson’s Fairview neighbourhood that was planned but never built, here’s the story of another that was...
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Greg Nesteroff
Mar 6, 20203 min read
What still stands of the Strand
Kütne Reader reader Bob Guesford recently pointed out something to me that I never noticed: two giant walls from the old Strand Theatre...
1,921 views4 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Mar 6, 20202 min read
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
Mar 6, 20201 min read
Rare Kootenay cancel fetches $375
A rare postal cancellation from the Kootenay post office, dated August 1884, sold at auction last month for $375 Cdn. The envelope was...
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Greg Nesteroff
Mar 6, 20207 min read
Patricks on postcards
The remarkable postcard seen below sold in 2020 on eBay for $168 Cdn. It’s a previously unknown image of the Patrick Lumber Camp No. 1...
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Greg Nesteroff
Feb 4, 202020 min read
Little-known Nelson heritage buildings: Home Private Hospital
I’ve previously written about sites in West Kootenay associated with the Patrick family, famous for their exploits in early lumbering and...
1,646 views4 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Feb 2, 202013 min read
Taffy Jack
Around 1995, Nelson’s Heritage Inn renamed its basement lounge Taffy Jack’s. This was an interesting choice, for while Taffy Jack was a...
1,828 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
Feb 1, 202011 min read
Nelson’s Gyro Park lights and illuminated signs
Between Kootenay Lake Hospital and Gyro Park in Nelson are decorative lights that are often seen but seldom remarked upon. They’re...
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Greg Nesteroff
Jan 29, 202010 min read
Little-known Nelson heritage buildings: Jiszkowicz’s grocery
I’ve long been curious about a yellow brick building at 103-05 Chatham St. in Nelson’s Fairview neighbourhood, seen below. It’s an oddity...
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Greg Nesteroff
Jan 17, 20204 min read
The first moving pictures in the Kootenay
I was intrigued to read in John Mackie’s This Week in History column in The Vancouver Sun: The first films in BC were shown in Victoria...
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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...
1,348 views3 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Jan 16, 20204 min read
Kiwanis border monuments
The Paterson and Nelway border crossings both have peace monuments erected by Kiwanis clubs on both sides of the border amid much...
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Greg Nesteroff
Jan 4, 20201 min read
Then & Now: Avenue Grill
Below is an ad from the Nelson Daily News of Jan. 31, 1953 for Avenue Grill and Groceteria, which operated at 714 Ivy St. in Castlegar,...
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Greg Nesteroff
Dec 29, 20195 min read
The former home of the Nelson Daily News
Before the Nelson Daily News moved to 266 Baker St., it was in the building now home to Jackson’s Hole.
1,012 views5 comments
Greg Nesteroff
Dec 29, 20195 min read
Little-known Nelson heritage buildings: The Economist office
On the heels of discovering that the last office of the Nelson Tribune (and probably the Nelson Ledge and Lowery’s Claim) is still...
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Greg Nesteroff
Dec 28, 20193 min read
First mention of the Cody Caves
Prospector Henry Cody (1861?-1921) is said to have stumbled across the cave system near Ainsworth that bears his name in the late 1880s....
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Greg Nesteroff
Dec 28, 20193 min read
Edward Connolly and the lost bullion of Slocan Lake
One day I’d like to write a book or booklet about the lost bullion of Slocan Lake, one of our region’s most enduring treasure stories. On...
3,799 views2 comments
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