THE KÜTNE READER

Rare slides reveal some interesting views of the Boundary on a summer’s day. With a digression about the Grand Forks-Bossburg stage lines.

Below is one of the strangest souvenirs ever made of our area, courtesy of the Greenwood Centennial Committee. The committee was first struck in 1958 to mark the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Colony of British Columbia, and revived in 1965 ahead of the 100th anniversary of the amalgamation of the colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island, and of Canada’s 100th birthday. The committee decided to issue a commemorative card of Greenwood’s smelter, which operat

Three noteworthy bits of Greenwood memorabilia (Greewoodiana?) have sold on eBay in the last few months. On Aug. 4, a dry-mount photo of Greenwood looking southwest sold for $225 US. Rossland photographer William J. Carpenter took it in the late 1890s or early 1900s. The seller was in Tacoma. An envelope from the British Columbia Copper Co. Ltd. smelter at Greenwood, postmarked 1900 and mailed to Sweden attracted 16 bids and netted $277.79 US on Oct. 2 . The seller was in Sto

We recently looked at faux phantom signs in Greenwood left over from filming Snow Falling on Cedars . But there are a few other real signs, including those on the side of the Copper Eagle Cappucino and Bakery. The building’s south side has four signs: two contemporary ones for the Copper Eagle, plus four old ones: 76 Gasoline, Greenwood Grocery, Use Royal City Canned Foods, and Smoke Totem Tobacco/Fine Cut/Coarse Cut/Save the Wrapper They Have a Cash Value. A business called

Visting Sandon in August 2018, I was surprised to see a hand-carved wooden sign on the old brothel as you enter town that reads: “Greentree 1 mile.” The sign must have been added fairly recently, I figured, as I certainly didn’t remember it and it doesn’t show up in photos I’ve taken of the building in years past. What came to mind was the short-lived Greentree Hotel, which operated for a few months in 1897 between Sandon and Cody. Its exact location is unknown and no photos

Snow Falling on Cedars , the movie filmed partly in Greenwood in 1998, left a legacy of faux phantom signs, which helped transform the Boundary mining town into the Puget Sound fishing village of Amity Harbor. Those signs are themselves starting to fade and decay, and a few have been removed. The following photos were taken in 2000 and 2018. The Hyde Block (also known as Brown’s Store) has three different signs. The “San Juan Islands Choice Quality Salmon” sign painted on the

Painting signs by hand has largely gone out of style but was once a common vocation. The men (and I imagine a few women) who did it for a living sometimes supplemented their income by painting houses but also occasionally created other artwork. In 1880s Idaho and 1890s Montana and West Kootenay/Boundary, if your opera house needed a new backdrop or you wanted to gussy up your hotel (or boat or store), M.D. Cryderman was your guy. Main Street in Slocan City is seen in May 1897

A clear syphon from the Lion Bottling Works of Rossland and Greenwood (pictured below) sold on eBay this afternoon for $1,382 US, which is $1,722 Cdn. That’s the most I’ve ever seen paid for a local syphon. The auction attracted 19 bids from five bidders. The seller is in Brantford, Ont. According to Beer Barons of BC, published in 2011 by Bill Wilson, the Lion Brewery was formed in 1897 by Louis Blue and managed by James McCreath. The Columbia Bottling Works was built in 189