Photos of Nelson’s Railtown neighborhood prior to the construction of the Highway 3A-6 interchange in the early 1970s are inexplicably scarce. But here are a few.
The project resulted in the relocation of some homes and demolition of many others, as well as the loss of a rock wall, a set of stairs on Silica Street, and the portion of Falls Street that used to descend into the area where the Cottonwood Market is now.
The first photo was taken by Ellis Anderson sometime in the 1960s, and shows many of those lost features. (The bridge in the background, built in 1957, was painted orange in 1969-70.)
Here is a key to what’s since disappeared and what’s still there.
The second photo was taken a few years later (the bridge is now orange) and published in an unidentified magazine. It shows several empty lots where there were once buildings. One of the remaining homes was only torn down in the last few years.
Between the time the two photos were taken, several homes were demolished and replaced with the building now home to Pacific Northwest Garden Supply and Kootenay Woodstoves.
Due to how much the trees have grown up, it’s difficult to impossible to take a comparison photo today from the same angle. At least my efforts were unsuccessful.
Greg Scott found this fascinating ad in the Nelson Daily News of March 27, 1969, inviting bids to demolish seven buildings in the neighbourhood.
The Shawn Lamb Archives at Touchstones Nelson has some ca. 1940s photos of this neighborhood — which was only christened Railtown in 2011 — showing other homes and the Stangherlin grocery store which stood where Finning Tractor was built (now Nelson Ford). The photos were part of a family collection accessioned a few years ago, but unfortunately I can’t remember the name.
Here are two ca. 1910 postcard views that show the now-vanished section of Falls Street, as well as a few houses depicted in the later photos.
The card above is by Victoria photographer J. Howard Chapman, while the one below is unsigned.
Another interesting note about the Anderson photo at top is that it shows the back of the Royal Hotel and Oddfellows block. (The latter name has long since fallen out of use, but it’s the building now home to Dr. Matt Ospechook and Comishin and Astle accountants.) It’s surprising to see so many windows at the rear.
Additions to both buildings have covered up most of those rear windows. The Royal’s backside is wrapped up in a concrete cocoon (this is the squash club — read Stephen Harris’ comment below), while only a few windows peek out from atop the Oddfellows block. Here’s what the buildings look like today from behind.
Updated on March 7, 2019 to add the 1969 demolition ad.
The concrete cocoon on the back of the Royal is the Nelson Squash Club. It was built in the early 80s, primarily for racquetball back then, with four courts (two 'upstairs' and two downstairs). Because of the height of the courts, each one is essentially two stories.
The story as I understand it is that the owner of the Royal at the time was interested in expanding the hours of the bar, and back in those days, bars weren't allowed to be open on Sundays. But if you had a sports club (golf club, tennis club, or in this case, Racquetball Club), you could be open Sundays to serve booze. A pretty significant investment later, the Club was formed and…
I remember some of the area there when we first moved to Nelson in August of 1951. I was the young age of 9 years old. I think the City had some of their public works there on Railway St, just as you came in off the Granite Rd. Greg, I will send you via email an old city bus photo of around 1952-53 from that area. Always liked history of Nelson.
I grew up in Nelson, and lived for many years on another part of Falls Street that was appropriated by the provincial government for the highway bypass. Our house (which was a duplex) was located in a depression below Latimer Street just before the Latimer Street bridge. There were three houses in our little "hole". There was also a set of concrete stairs that led down to a pathway that ran down to the old fish hatchery in that area that would have been to the right of the area in your last picture identified as Cottonwood Market.
By ferry. The ramps are still there; one is now the boat launch at Lakeside Park. https://alhs-archives.com/document/2013-045-45-nelson-ferry-kootenay-lake-guess-1940s/
I've never thought about it before but one of your photos without the bridge made me wonder.., How did people get across to the north shore before the bridge was built?