1913 The Old Church Smithers British Columbia (Pictures)

Above Photo: 1913 The Old Church Smithers, British Columbia.

The below information comes off a information sign on site.

St. James Anglican Church was the first frame building erected in Smithers. In March 1913, a Vestry Committee was formed here with the intention of raising funds for an Anglican Church, Subsequently, a subscription list was started and in early June, Mr. A. W. Smithers, chairman of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Company and in whose honour the town was to be named, gave the first subscription of $250.

Above Photo: 1913 The Old Church Smithers, British Columbia.

Two lots were secured on 1st Avenue by paying $110 down on a full price of $1,100 and architect and builder L. Schuller was given a contract to build the church at a price of $1,501. 

Money was difficult to raise in the days just before the First World war, so it was with great relief that Bishop Frederick DuVernet, 2nd Anglican Bishop of Caledonia, accepted a $300 donation from a Mrs. Plumptre of the St. James’ Women's Auxiliary, Toronto, agreeing that the new church be called “St. James’, provided that the newly appointed parson, Rev Kingstone, agreed.

Above Photo: 1913 The Old Church Smithers, British Columbia.

Although not quite complete at the time, St. James’ held its first on 7th December, 1913, an Evensong service led by Rev.Kingstone. The church register shows that this was attended by 25 people and a collection of $5.80 was taken.

Above Photo: 1913 The Old Church Smithers, British Columbia.

The register also show that Bishop Duvernet led the service on 5th July, 1914, attended by 22 people, and this may well be when the church was consecrated. No other record of the church having been consecrated exits.

On 2nd February, 1914, shortly after the church opened, Smithers’ first marriage ceremony was conducted here, uniting Mr. and Mrs. Ernie Hann.

By 1917 the church was already too small, prompting the addition of 12 feet to the east end of the church to form a Chancel. Sometime later, but prior to 1942, a 15 feet by 9 feet vestry was added. Subsequently, the original bell tower was removed as it was judged unsafe to support the bell. A new bell tower was placed on the ridge of the roof. The second bell tower was saved during the reconstruction and sits atop the structure.

Above Photo: 1913 The Old Church Smithers, British Columbia.

St. James’ church served Smithers continuously for 60 years, but by 1974 it had become too small for an expanding congregation. St. James’ hall, a separate building a few lots north (now demolished) was also beginning to show signs of age with a structurally unsound floor. 

Above Photo: 1913 The Old Church Smithers, British Columbia.

Even as St. James’ celebrated its 60th anniversary, a bold new venture was taking shape across town on Princess Street; the replacement of St. James’ Church with a multi-purpose, seven-day-a-week community centre that would house Worship Centre, Daycare facilities, Community Hall, kitchen, thrift shop and offices. As a fitting link between the old St.. James’ and the new, the stained glass window and various appointments were incorporated into a small chapel at the centre, creating a replica in miniature of the old church. 

Above Photo: 1913 The Old Church Smithers, British Columbia.

This was dedicated on 20th April, 1975, as the Fred Fowler Memorial Chapel, after the much beloved Lay Reader and Sunday school superintendent of 32 years. The design of the centre envisaged the addition of a separate church building at a later date. This new Anglican church of St. James’ was dedicated on May 6th, 1989 by Bishop John Hannen.

To help finance the new venture it was necessary for the congregation to sell the old church. As neither the town nor the province wanted it at the time, it was bought by a local businessman and used as a furniture store. 

Above Photo: 1913 The Old Church Smithers, British Columbia.

Subsequently, it changed hands a number of times and has been used variously to store: hardware (Marshall Wells), stationery supplies (Interior Stationary) and sports equipment (Sports Advantage). Roof leaks eventually made the building unsuitable even as a storage warehouse and it fell into disrepair.

This facility is operated by the Bulkley Valley Historical and Museum Society

The Old Church (Bulkley Valley Museum)

http://bvmuseum.com/about/oldchurch

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Old 1925 Courthouse/Bulkley Valley Museum Smithers British Columbia (Pictures)

Above Photo: The old 1925 courthouse, now Bulkley Valley Museum in

 Smithers British Columbia. 

The old courthouse was built in 1925 and is located at the intersection of Main Street and Highway 16. The courthouse houses the Bulkley Valley museum which has a wonderful display of artifacts from days past. 

I really did enjoy myself wandering through the museum and looking at all the exhibits. Some of what you can find are, the 100 years of photography in the Valley, the Witsuwit'en Exhibit and aviation in Northern British Columbia and there is much more to look at.

If you are traveling through, or visiting Smithers, make time to stop and enjoy the museum as it is open year round.

Above Photo: The old 1925 courthouse, now Bulkley Valley Museum in

 Smithers British Columbia. 

You can find the Bulkley Valley museum at 1425 Main St, Smithers, B.C. You can reach them at: (250) 847-5322

Location Map for the museum: 

The exhibit entitled Wings Over the North: Aviation in Northern British Columbia covers float planes that operated throughout the area and in 1950 a B-36 bomber that crashed north of Smithers after jettisoning a Mark 4 nuclear bomb. I have posted additional information on the B-36 bomber crash below.

Above Photo: The old 1925 courthouse, now Bulkley Valley Museum in

 Smithers British Columbia. 

The Below Source information: From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1950_British_Columbia_B-36_crash

1950 British Columbia B-36 crash.

On 14 February 1950, a Convair B-36B, Air Force Serial Number 44-92075 assigned to the 7th Bomb Wing at Carswell Air Force Base, crashed in northern British Columbia after jettisoning a Mark 4 nuclear bomb. 

This was the first such nuclear weapon loss in history. The B-36 had been en route from Eielson Air Force Base near Fairbanks, Alaska to Carswell AFB in Fort Worth, Texas, more than 3000 miles south-east, on a mission that included a simulated nuclear attack on San Francisco.

Above Photo: One of the guns that came from the wreckage of the crashed 

Convair B-36 Bomber.

Incident:

Plane 44-92075, was on a mission that was part of the first full-scale practice nuclear strike against the Soviet Union. Each B-36 involved in this exercise was to conduct a simulated nuclear attack on an American city. 

Above Photo: The old 1925 courthouse, now Bulkley Valley Museum in

 Smithers British Columbia. 

The exercise was also intended to test whether the B-36 could attack the Soviet Union during the Arctic winter, when temperatures are so low that if a plane engine were to be shut down for servicing on the ground, the engine could not be restarted.

Aircraft 44-92075 took off from Eielson AFB with a regular crew of 15 plus a Weaponeer and a Bomb Commander. The plan for the 24-hour flight was to fly over the North Pacific, due west of the Alaska panhandle and British Columbia, then head inland over Washington state and Montana. 

Here the B-36 would climb to 40,000 feet for a simulated bomb run to southern California and then San Francisco, it would continue its non-stop flight to Fort Worth, Texas. 

Above Photo: The old 1925 courthouse, now Bulkley Valley Museum in

 Smithers British Columbia. 

The flight plan did not include any penetration of Canadian airspace. The plane carried a Mark IV atomic bomb, containing a substantial quantity of natural uranium and 5000 pounds of conventional explosives. According to the USAF, the bomb did not contain the plutonium core necessary for a nuclear detonation.

Cold weather (−40 °F/−40 °C on the ground at Eielson AFB) adversely affected the planes involved in this exercise, and some minor difficulties with 44-92075 were noted before takeoff. Seven hours into the flight, three of the six engines began shooting flames and were shut down, and the other three engines proved incapable of delivering full power. The subsequent investigation blamed ice buildup in the mixture control air intakes.

Above Photo: The old 1925 courthouse, now Bulkley Valley Museum in

 Smithers British Columbia. 

The crew decided to abandon the aircraft because it could not stay aloft with three engines out of commission while carrying a heavy payload. The atomic bomb was jettisoned and detonated in mid-air, resulting in a large conventional explosion over the Inside Passage. The USAF later stated that the fake practice core on board the aircraft was inserted into the weapon before it was dropped.

The aircraft commander steered the plane over Princess Royal Island to spare his crew having to parachute into the cold North Pacific, whereupon the crew bailed out. Before bailing out last, he set a turning course toward the open ocean using the autopilot.

The plane had been in constant radio contact with Strategic Air Command headquarters at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, and within minutes of the bailout the Royal Canadian Air Force launched Operation Brix to find the missing men. Poor weather hampered search efforts; nevertheless 12 of the 17 men were eventually found alive. 

Above Photo: The old 1925 courthouse, now Bulkley Valley Museum in

 Smithers British Columbia. 

Four of the five deceased airmen were believed to have bailed out of the aircraft earlier than the surviving crew members, and it was assumed that they landed in the ocean and died of hypothermia. 

Two years later the partial remains of one of them was hauled up in a fishing net, while the remains of the fifth, the weaponeer, were recovered in 1954 from the crash site[dubious – discuss]. Canadian authorities were never told that the aircraft was carrying a nuclear weapon.

To find out more about the Bulkley Valley Museum, please visit their website at:

http://bvmuseum.com/

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Winter Time On The Morice River Houston British Columbia (Pictures/Wolves Video)

Above Photo: Winter on the Morice River Houston, British Columbia.

The Morice River holds a lot of good memories for me. The times with the kids fishing on the river, or just exploring different areas on it. The river has a beautiful glacial blue color to it which you can see in one of my photos below. 

I remember one time when three of us launched a twelve foot car top boat at the Lamprey Creek Recreation Site and floated the river. We were armed with fishing rods and mosquito repellent and was the fishing great, it was better than that, it was awesome !

Above Photo: The beautiful glacial blue color to the Morice River, 

Houston, British Columbia.

As we floated along we saw different types of wildlife and the fishing holes were loaded with Salmon, Dolly Varden, Trout and Whitefish and just as you were to float out of one of the holes, there they were just sitting in the fast water, steelhead all lined up ready to make their run up the next portion of the river.

Above Photo: Winter on the Morice River Houston, British Columbia.

The Morice is an amazing river to see, and even better, Morice Lake, now that truly is breathtaking. 

Video Footage of two Wolves running on the ice on the Morice River. The wolves are in the distance when I spotted them, so they look small.

Video Clip: https://youtu.be/kxEGSBF48z0

So when you are passing through, or have plans to visit, please drop by our Visitors Centre or send them an email to get all the information on everything Houston, B.C. has to offer.

Houston and District Chamber Of Commerce/Visitors Centre.

Website: http://www.houstonchamber.ca/

Map/Directions: https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/''/visitor+centre+houston+bc/data=!4m5!4m4!1m0!1m2!1m1!1s0x5475c690419c40fd:0xbc99c4ebad4867e4?hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwlqyJ1MbKAhULxGMKHdwpBBEQ9RcIbDAL

Above Photo: Winter on the Morice River Houston, British Columbia.

The text information below from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morice_River

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrien-Gabriel_Morice

The Morice River is the outflow of Morice Lake south west of Houston, British Columbia, Canada. Morice Lake and Morice River are named after Father Adrien-Gabriel Morice. 

Above Photo: Winter on the Morice River Houston, British Columbia.

The Morice has many small creeks joining it along its length, but retains the clear glacial hue for its length. The Morice river continues on to the town of Houston at which point the river is joined by a small tributary river called "The Little Bulkley" and the two rivers joined become the Bulkley River. They become the Bulkley, not the Morice despite the fact the Morice is larger. This was done by Poudrier, a government cartographer whom, it is rumored, never saw the region.

Above Photo: Winter on the Morice River Houston, British Columbia.

Adrien-Gabriel Morice:

Adrien-Gabriel Morice (1859–1938) was a missionary priest belonging to the Oblates of Mary Immaculate. He served as a missionary in Canada, and created a writing system for the Carrier language.

Above Photo: Winter on the Morice River Houston, British Columbia.

Early life:

Born and raised in France, as a seminarian he was inspired by Father Émile Petitot and set himself the goal of becoming a missionary and explorer in Northwestern Canada. He arrived in British Columbia in 1880, and after a stint in Williams Lake at St. Joseph's school, where he studied Chilcotin and, with the aid of Jimmy Alexander, the son of a Carrier woman and a fur trader who was sent to St. Joseph's School, began his study of Carrier.

Above Photo: Winter on the Morice River Houston, British Columbia.

Work with aboriginal languages:

In 1885 his dreams were realized and he was posted to Fort St. James, the fur trading and missionary center in the Carrier region. Father Morice rapidly learned the Carrier language and became the only missionary to speak more than rudimentary Carrier. Within a few months of his arrival he created the first writing system for Carrier, the Carrier syllabary, by making a radical adaptation of the Cree syllabics. From 1891-1894 he published a bimonthly newspaper, the Dustl'us Nawhulnuk, in Carrier. He was responsible for the translation of the catechism and many 

hymns and prayers into the language.

Above Photo: Winter on the Morice River Houston, British Columbia.

From this, Father Morice was the first person to recognize all of the phonological distinctions in an Athabascan language and write it accurately.

He was also the first person to make extensive transcriptions of material in an Athabascan language. His magnum opus was his massive two volume The Carrier Language: A Grammar and Dictionary, which immediately made Carrier by far the best documented Athabascan language of the time.

Above Photo: Winter on the Morice River Houston, British Columbia.

Disputes with the Church:

Father Morice would have preferred to remain in Fort Saint James but in 1904 he was withdrawn by the bishop, who finally paid heed to the complaints of the Hudson's Bay factor. Father Morice proved unwilling to perform the other duties the bishop assigned him and unable to get along with other priests, so after several years of conflict the Church set him up in a house in Winnipeg where he spent the remainder of his life as a scholar, writing extensively on Carrier language and culture, more general Athabaskan topics, the history of the Roman Catholic church in Western Canada, the history of the French and Métis of the West, and occasional other topics.

Above Photo: Wolf tracks on the Morice River road, Houston, British Columbia.

Legacy:

Morice River, Morice Lake, Morice Range, and Moricetown - all located in the Bulkley region of northwest British Columbia, are named in honour of Morice.

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Sunset Lake And Area At Topley British Columbia (Pictures)

Above Photo: Sunset Lake recreation site, Topley, British Columbia.

Topley is a village in northern British Columbia, Canada and is located on Highway 16 between Houston and Burns Lake, British Columbia.

A man by the name of  W.C. Lett founded the small community after the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway pushed tracks through Topley on the way to Prince Rupert in 1914. 

He named the community after his father-in-law, William James Topley who was a well known Canadian photographer who was from Ottawa, Ontario. Sadly William James Topley passed away on November 16, 1930 at the age of 85 in Vancouver, British Columbia and was not able to visit Topley.

Above Photo: Sunset Lake frozen over at, Topley, British Columbia.

Although Topley is a small community, it has all the outdoor recreational things to do like most larger towns. There is a range of wildlife that can be spotted roaming the area, such as bear, deer, moose, mountain goat and all kinds of smaller critters. 

Above Photo: Picnic table buried in snow at the Sunset Lake recreation site, 

Topley, British Columbia.

You can hike for miles and miles through beautiful forested areas. Another nice place to visit when in Topley is their Sunset Lake. In summer months folks go fishing, boating, water skiing or just lay around soaking up the sun. As well as Sunset Lake, there are Swans, Elwin and Day Lakes located just south of Sunset Lake on a forest service road.

These lakes also hold Rainbow and Cutthroat trout as well as Char. There are no boat launches at these lakes, so you have to bring a car-top boat, canoe or something you can easily handle to get your boat on the lake.

Above Photo: Sunset Lake frozen over at, Topley, British Columbia.

There are nice grassy areas to park a blanket on, picnic tables scattered around the recreational site so you and your family can enjoy a nice launch. In winter months people head to the lake with auger in hand to cut a hole in the ice and then try their luck at catching a meal. 

When my wife and I were there in the winter of January 2016, the road to the lake was plowed and also the parking lot. So everyone does have easy access to the lake.

Above Photo: Sunset Lake frozen over at, Topley, British Columbia.

Another important point I will add, is that Topley is the gateway to Granisle, British Columbia and B.C.’s largest natural lake. This would be Babine Lake and can be reached by following Highway 118 north from Topley. Fishermen flock to Babine Lake to catch large Rainbow trout and Char. Kokanee is also fished for as well as Sockeye salmon.

Above Photo: Sunset Lake frozen over at, Topley, British Columbia.

Also just minutes outside of Granisle is Red Bluff Provincial Park. This park is a beautiful park to camp in, or for a day visit. Here is a link so you can read up on everything Red Bluff Provincial Park has to offer.

Above Photo: Sunset Lake camping sign, just a little to cool for this at, 

Topley, British Columbia.

Red Bluff Provincial Park:

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/red_bluff/

For all information on Granisle, British Columbia and Babine Lake, 

please contact the Granisle Visitors Centre at:

http://www.granisle.net/siteengine/activepage.asp?PageID=49

The below text is From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_James_Topley

Above Photo: One of the farms that can be found close to Sunset lake in 

Topley, British Columbia.

Some information on William James Topley below who had the community named after him.

William James Topley (13 February 1845 – 16 November 1930) was a prolific Canadian photographer based in Ottawa, Ontario. Topley was noted for his portraiture of Canadian politicians, and was a business partner of William Notman, taking over Notman's Ottawa studio in 1872. 

A large number of photographs by Topley are now in the collection of Library and Archives Canada, including approximately 150,000 glass plates negatives and a set of 66 index albums covering the entire history of his Ottawa studios from 1868 until 1923.

Above Photos: From Topley, British Columbia.

William James Topley was born in 1845 in Montreal, and raised in Aylmer, a town just outside Ottawa in modern-day Quebec. His first exposure to photography was from his mother who purchased a camera in Montreal in the late 1850s. 

In 1863, at the age of 18, Topley was listed as an itinerant photographer, but by 1864 he was working at apprentice wages for William Notman in Montreal. In 1867, the year of Canada’s confederation, when Topley was only 22 years old, he was placed in charge of a new portrait studio opened by Notman (his first outside of Montreal) on Wellington Street in Ottawa in a new purpose-built structure across from the new Parliament buildings. 

Above Photo: One of the farms that can be found in Topley, British Columbia.

Topley clearly had very good business sense, becoming the “proprietor” of the Notman studio by 1872, and by 1875 opening a studio under his own name. King McCord Arnoldi (architect) designed the studio and residence on Metcalfe Street at Queen Street in 1875.

After building this rather overstated studio in 1876 he soon found that he had to abandon it and move to smaller quarters on Sparks St., where he and later his son continued to operate the Topley studio until they sold it in 1923. The studio attracted many political figures, including all the Prime Ministers from Sir John A. 

Above Photo: A winter scene that can be found in Topley, British Columbia.

Macdonald to Mackenzie King. The studio also attracted the wives and daughters of nobility, political and business figures, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll), The Countess of Aberdeen, Mrs. Robert Laird Borden, Mrs. Louis Philippe Brodeur, Mrs. Brown Chamberlin, Mrs. Louis Henry Davies, Lady Eileen Nina Evelyn Sibell Elliot, Mrs. John Peter Featherston, Mrs. William Stevens Fielding, Mrs. Edward Griffin, Mrs. Joseph Howe, 

Mrs. Wilfrid Laurier. 

Above Photo: A winter scene that can be found in Topley, British Columbia.

He catered to the well-to-do—as he himself said “If I can see beauty in the human face, and reproduce it, I can command three times the reward for my work than he who simply shoots a plate at his patron. True, in a small city, such a course limits trade, but one-half of the business with three times the prices is much better for mind and body and pocketbook.

Above Photo: A winter scene that can be found in Topley, British Columbia.

Map/Directions to Topley, British Columbia:

http://www.maplandia.com/canada/british-columbia/bulkley-nechako-regional-district/topley/

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The 1907 Heritage E Stuart Wood School Kamloops British Columbia (Pictures)

Above Photo: The 1907 E Stuart Wood School in Kamloops, British Columbia.

The 1907 E Stuart Wood School is a beautiful red bricked three-story schoolhouse and was named the Kamloops Public School. Later in 1922 the school was renamed in honour of teacher Edward Stuart Wood who would later become principal of the school. The school was built by a local contractor using local brick from around the area.

The school served elementary grades and high school grades, with the elementary students being taught on the first two floors and the high school students on the top floor until 1913. Now a days the school serves as a elementary school.

The below text information is From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_End,_Kamloops

              History and Heritage:

During Kamloops' evolution in the 19th century, the West End was the main site of residential settlement in the growing town.

The name of Nicola Wagon Road in the neighbourhood bears witness to the fact that the West End was the first concentration of inhabitation in what would become one of British Columbia's most spread-out cities.

The West End was home to many of Kamloops' most prominent early citizens, as demonstrated by the size and grandeur of many of the homes.

While a number of more modern houses have encroached upon the neighbourhood's elegant atmosphere, wood-paneled and stucco homes remain the norm.

The neighbourhood is located close to a number of significant Kamloops buildings, including the Old Courthouse, Sacred Heart Cathedral, St. Andrew's on the Square, Stuart Wood Elementary School (the city's first school), the Kamloops Museum and Archives and St. Ann's Academy.

William Tuff Whiteway was the architect/designer of the E Stuart Wood School.

William Tuff Whiteway (1856–1940) was a Canadian architect best known for his work in the early 1900s in Vancouver, although he received commissions in various parts of the United States and Canada during his peripatetic career.

Biography: William Tuff Whiteway.

Whiteway was born in Musgrave Harbour, Newfoundland and Labrador, in 1856.[1] He moved to Victoria, British Columbia in approximately 1882, to Vancouver in 1886, and to San Diego in 1887. In 1888, he moved to Port Townsend, Washington, where he practiced architecture with his partner Julius C. Schroeder. 

In 1892, he left Port Townsend for St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, and then moved to Halifax where he partnered with William T. Horton. In 1900, Whiteway returned to Vancouver, where he remained until his death in 1940.

During his career he was repeatedly in conflict with the Architectural Institute of British Columbia for nonpayment of membership fees, and for undercutting the minimum fees that the Institute imposed on transactions with clients. 

He was also criticized by the Institute for working with an unlicensed architect, W.H. Chow, who was barred from licensing because of his race.

Another element of controversy surrounds whether he truly designed the most famous work attributed to him, the World Building (now Sun Tower) of Vancouver. Another highly successful Vancouver architect of the era, George L.T. Sharp (1880–1974), has claimed the initial sketch was his, not Whiteway’s.

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