Corner stores: Joffe’s Confectionery
A large building across from Butler Park in Trail is a little-known legacy of the city’s Jewish community.
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Michael A. Cone
- Feb 12
- 6 min
Remembering Luna Park
Michael Cone writes of a forgotten picnic mecca and home of world champions across the lake from Nelson.
487 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
- Feb 6
- 7 min
Waneta in postcards and other ephemera
Presenting six rare or never-before-seen postcards of Waneta recently sold online and probably dating to the 1910s.
1,366 views16 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Jan 8
- 3 min
Then & Now: 1200 block of Bay Avenue in Trail
Another in a series of negatives I bought a few years ago showing Trail in 1953 or so.
811 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
- Dec 12, 2022
- 8 min
Mysteries of Comaplix
Wherein I try to figure out more about a woman depicted on a postcard — and reveal some puzzling findings about a murdered brothel keeper.
737 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
- Dec 4, 2022
- 3 min
Sandon token fetches $610 at auction
The cachet associated with the ghost town of Sandon probably drove up the auction price of a trade token from the Hotel Reco.
854 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Nov 21, 2022
- 1 min
The thing under the Trail bridge
A stone and mortar structure sits beneath Trail’s Victoria Street bridge. What the heck is it?
1,787 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
- Nov 13, 2022
- 4 min
Then & Now: The Kinnaird Hall
The first heritage building identified in Kinnaird, the community hall was built in 1944 and saved from demolition by the Carpenters Union.
385 views7 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Nov 6, 2022
- 6 min
Seth Martin’s mask
Exactly when did legendary Trail Smoke Eaters goaltender start wearing a mask? And was it before or after Jacques Plante did the same thing?
1,035 views1 comment
Greg Nesteroff
- Oct 30, 2022
- 3 min
The phantom miner of Crawford Bay
A ghost story from a local mine, presented for the first time in 121 years.
1,459 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Oct 25, 2022
- 2 min
Trail’s Elma Hotel
Where was the Elma Hotel in Trail? And who was Elma?
841 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Oct 9, 2022
- 4 min
Pickles the driving dog and other oddities
A few curious things: a dog behind the wheel, a basketball team named the Comincos, and Yale University helps tear down buildings in Trail.
374 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Sep 26, 2022
- 4 min
The Sheep Creek boulder
One day in Sheep Creek, a giant boulder came crashing down the mountainside, flattening the front end of a car and hitting a house.
859 views6 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Aug 2, 2022
- 7 min
The night the Newmarket Hotel burned
When fire destroyed the Newmarket Hotel in October 1973, New Denver lost its greatest heritage building, constructed 80 years earlier.
878 views0 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Jul 25, 2022
- 4 min
A mystery monogram and an ancient arboreal autograph
In 1891, a man blazed his name onto a cedar tree. In 1899, someone scratched their initials on a rock face. Both remain to make us wonder.
521 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Jun 27, 2022
- 3 min
East Trail vs. Trail East
Here’s something that’s not confusing at all: the area across the Columbia River from Trail used to be split into East Trail and Trail East.
1,138 views2 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- May 24, 2022
- 7 min
Kokanees, Red Wings, Maple Leafs, and MRKs
From 1927 to 1934, Nelson’s senior men’s hockey team changed names four times. Why? Finding out is proving more challenging than I expected.
619 views5 comments
Judy Pollard and David Stevenson
- Apr 17, 2022
- 6 min
Seeking a different way of life
Seventy years ago this month, a group of American Quakers arrived in the Kootenays, looking for a new home.
1,956 views4 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Mar 31, 2022
- 5 min
Little-known Nelson heritage buildings: The Nelson House annex
The last remaining portion of an early Nelson hotel is still standing in the middle of downtown.
1,477 views3 comments
Greg Nesteroff
- Feb 20, 2022
- 9 min
Fun with the 2021 census
It’s fascinating to see what changes the 2021 census captured compared to 2016, particularly in the West Kootenay/Boundary.
865 views5 comments
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