THE KÜTNE READER

The following concept sketch of an aquatic centre for Nelson’s Lakeside Park appeared in the Daily News of Oct. 25, 1949, signed by local...

Here’s a newscast that aired on KC Radio in Nelson and Creston on Jan. 21, 1975, read by Ray Zinck, who sent it to me quite a few years...

Kyle Kusch of the Arrow Lakes Historical Society just finished digitizing more than 800 slides from Wilf (Hufty) Hewat, a pilot and...

Inventor Thomas Edison (seen below in a Wikipedia photo) passed through Nelson 110 years ago. While his visit was fleeting, he told a...

Many’s the time I’ve come across something historically interesting in a newspaper only to: a) Fail to fully appreciate its significance...

The postcard below is part of a sequence showing Lieut. George Knopp Trim’s flight around Nelson during the fall fair of 1919 — and crash landing in Kootenay Lake. (Greg Nesteroff collection) Originally the Nelson Agricultural and Industrial Association asked Capt. Fred McCall of Calgary to perform acrobatic flying at the fair but he was forced to cancel due to engine trouble and suggested they approach the Vancouver Aerial League to send someone in his place. Trim (often mis

Nelson has had three Kootenay Lake Hospitals. The first, built in 1893 near 40 High Street, had a dozen beds. According to Dr. Lorris E. Borden, it was really primitive … On the ground floor was the admitting room and the kitchen; the second floor had a medical ward and the operating room which was very small and narrow; the bird floor was for surgical patients which was considered a poor arrangement [because] there was no elevator and all surgical patients had to be carried

Did William Randolph Hearst (pictured below in a photo from Wikipedia), the larger-than-life American newspaper publisher who invented...

Go for a walk on Beatty Avenue in Nelson, down by the waterfront next to the RCMP station, and you will come across this curious building. From 1948 to 1952, Colin Baker ran a confectionery at the corner of Baker and Railway streets. On Dec. 1, 1952 he opened a new store on Beatty Avenue, next to his house along the waterfront. Nelson Daily News, Nov. 14, 1952 The store was listed in the 1954 directory as Baker’s Grocery & Confectionery, 1026 Beatty Ave., but it only lasted

A previous post looked at surviving West Kootenay landmarks related to the Patrick family, hockey pioneers who lived in Nelson from...

This business at 323 Vernon Street in Nelson only existed from about 1969-71. Winslow Sommerfeldt (1923-2016) was president and his son...

Third in a series on local electric cars The most noteworthy early electric vehicle in our area belonged to a Kootenay lumber baron, the...

Second of five parts In 2016, John Mackie of The Vancouver Sun wrote an interesting story about early electric vehicles, and called...

Is Trail missing a manhole cover? If so, public works might want to call their counterparts in Nelson, because there’s one in Railtown...

The Big Orange Bridge will soon be the Big Green Bridge. The new private owner of the span across Kootenay Lake’s West Arm in Nelson...

In 1940, Nelson city council was planning to build a new city hall next door to its existing one at the foot of Ward Street. Local...

Sometime after the Silver King Hotel in Nelson was demolished in 1947, a sign (seen below, circa 1960s) was painted on the side of KWC...

A few months ago I was forwarded this tattered but terrific photo, previously unseen (at least by me). It shows the Silver King Hotel and...

Second in a series on signs that outlived the businesses they advertised. This one is on the back of the building at 607 Front St. in...

There is a space between Vernon and Lake streets in Nelson that, near as I can tell, has always been vacant. Several buildings have been...