Downtown Audio Tour Sneak Peek!
The Rossland Museum has been developing an audio tour to complement the Downtown Walking Tour organized by the City of Rossland Heritage Commission and Tourism Rossland. Each building on Rossland’s Heritage Register has a historic plaque with information on the history of the building already.
This new audio tour will add an audio clip from an individual with a personal connection to each heritage building or site to help us bring that wonderful history to life. Each heritage plaque will have a QR code sticker on it which you can scan to access the audio tour. The complete audio tour will also be available all the time on the Rossland Museum website.
For now, 5 buildings/historic sites within the city of Rossland have audio content - so that’s our sneak peek!
By next summer, each heritage plaque will have a QR code and audio tour content by next summer. All you will have to do is scan the QR code and then listen in on some wonderful Rossland memories! Enjoy!
The Miners Union Hall - 1765 Columbia Avenue
Listen to Jack McDonald describe the Miners’ Union Hall as it was prior to the 2017 renovation to Neal Gillim, a CBC reporter. Unknown year:
2283.0002 - Miners Union Hall with a band forming for a parade, circa 1910.
About the Miners’ Union Hall:
The Miners’ Union hall was built in 1898 and finished by July of that same year by members of Branch #38 of The Western Federation of Miners. The building was designed by E.J. Weston and stands 3 storeys in height, reflecting a Victorian design. Weston is also responsible for including the iconic Raked Stage and for providing large rooms for social gatherings and meetings. The building was designed to be a multi-purpose space to accommodate the needs of the Union and the community. The hall hosted many spectacular events, including travelling vaudeville shows, political rallies, and a World Heavyweight Boxing exhibition. Renowned American lawyer Clarence Darrow, union activist Joe Hill, and future Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King were only a few of the famous people who were reported to have conducted business in the Miners' Union Hall.
Throughout the years, the Miners Hall has remained an important gathering place of all kinds to the community and survived the many fires that devastated Rossland. The Miners Union Hall is one of the remaining few buildings in the province of this era and stature. Renovations in the 1970s and 2017 breathed new life into the hall, with the attic transformed into a green room/events room, restoration work of the front facade, roof, electrical, and other such elements. Currently, the Miners Hall is home to the Gold Fever Follies, hosts many other local community events, and is a testament to collective action and vision.
Bank of Montreal - 2004 Columbia Avenue
2282.0004 - Bank of Montreal in Rossland situated on the northeastern corner of Columbia Avenue and Washington Street c.1900
Listen to Lydia Jakovac (Rossland Museum) interview Gwen & Jim Markle about their memories of the historic Bank of Montreal building from the 1950s-60s:
Interview originally recorded April 28, 2014. From the Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre Rossland Memories Oral History Project collection.
About the Bank of Montreal building:
Designed by Francis Rattenbury, the Bank of Montreal building was officially completed in January of 1900. The Bank itself stood three and a half storeys on granite sourced from local quarries with an impressive brick finish. Regarding the large size of the Bank of Montreal building, it was designed to be a multi-purpose building housing three main offices and living quarters for the bank staff on the third floor. It also housed the Spokane Northern Telegraph offices, the Great Northern Express Ticket office, and the office of Rossland’s founder and namesake, Ross Thompson. The bank survived both major Rossland fires and remained an active bank until 2000. It is now privately owned.
Swimming Pool - 1869 Columbia Avenue
Listen to Alice Chiko (née Gordon) describe her memories of the Rossland Swimming Pool from the 1930s and 40s:
Interview recorded in September 2021. From the Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre Rossland Memories Oral History Project collection.
2291.0029 - Rossland Swimming Pool situated on the south side of Columbia Avenue c.1935
About the Rossland Swimming Pool:
Likely the oldest operating outdoor swimming pool in BC, the Rossland swimming pool was built in 1932 at the height of the Great Depression to fill the absence of nearby, natural aquatic facilities. The pool brought a lot of joy to the community at a difficult time. The Rossland swimming pool is a testament to Rossland’s community spirit: land for the pool was donated by the city, a pump was provided by Consolidated Mining and Smelting Company of Canada (now Teck Trail Operations), and community fundraising efforts paid for the remaining building materials. Construction of the pool was all done through volunteer labour.
The swimming pool became one of the most popular projects ever completed in the city and attracted the younger generation in large numbers. Free swimming lessons were given as a donation from the Red Cross, and the Rossland Miner invited children from Northport across the border to enjoy the pool and free lessons. When the pool opened during the summer of 1932, the Rossland Miner newspaper noted that it was “the result of cooperative work among residents of the city who have had a vision of the need of the younger generation growing up.” The pool is still in operation and celebrated its 89th year in 2021.
Hunter Brothers Store - 1990 Columbia Avenue
2282.0031 - A window display at Hunter Brothers Store Ltd. This was located on the northwest corner of Washington Street facing on Columbia Avenue c.1916
Listen to Lydia Jakovac (Rossland Museum) interview Margaret Rosse about her memories of the Hunter Brothers store:
Interview originally recorded April 28, 2014. From the Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre Rossland Memories Oral History Project collection.
About the Hunter Brothers Store:
Brothers James and Robert Hunter came to Rossland from Coulee City, Washington in 1895. The Hunter Brothers Store was a prominent business in Rossland since their arrival from the states, selling everything a growing mining camp needed to thrive. The original building stood where the swimming pool is located today and was built in 1895 as a two-storey building on a 30’ by 100’ lot. The current Hunter Brother’s Store was constructed in 1905 after Rossland’s 1902 bylaw requiring all buildings from there on out to be built of brick.
In 1905, the store was the biggest retail space in Rossland. Presently, it’s one of the two remaining brick commercial buildings constructed after the 1902 bylaw. The store carried an average stock of $35,000 and developed a wholesale business with the mines that included supplies such as agents of giant powder, Goodwin candles, canton, and black diamond steel. The store also sold McClary’s stoves and ranges, plumbers’ supplies, and steam fitting while manufacturing their own tinware and sheet ironware and operated their own sheet metal shop.
The brothers retired in 1907, but the company continued to be run by W. F. Ternan. Hunter Brothers operated from 1895 to 1959. After the store closed, it became Eaton’s Department Store, followed by a SuperValu grocery store, and a hardware store.
Post Office - 2096 Columbia Avenue
Listen to Morris Wadds, grandson of postmaster William Wadds, share some background on the Post Office:
Interview recorded August 2021. From the Rossland Museum & Discovery Centre Rossland Memories Oral History Project collection.
2276.0064 - Rossland Post Office and Customs Building, Date: unknown
About the Post Office:
Rossland’s first post office was located in the western end of Columbia Avenue in a small store owned by David Stussi in 1894. By the spring of 1895, Stussi built the Stussi block on the south side of Columbia Avenue. A majority of the space was rented to Mr. Wallace’s Book and Stationery store, the rest of the building was used by Postmaster Stussi and the mail. By the fall of 1895, W. Wadds was appointed new Postmaster and moved the mail space to an unspecified but more accommodating location. In February of 1900, a telegram sent from Ottawa gave approval for an approximate $20,000 to be granted for the building of a new post office. By March 1901, construction on the new post office commenced under contractor Thomas Bradbury - and in good time too because by March of 1902 Deputy Postmaster Chas. E. Barrette was quoted by the Rossland Miner saying “Many remember the crowds that waited for delayed mail, the people extending in long lines in both directions on Columbia Avenue, sometimes paying for a place in line to be one of the first to be served.” Luckily, by 1903, the construction of the post office was complete.
The Post Office itself reflected great gothic architecture as well as Rossland’s significance as an important business hub to the West Kootenays. The building was built from locally sourced granite, imported sandstone from Calgary, and fine pressed brick. The first floor was the Post Office and Customs Office with the Inland Revenue Offices on the second floor. The third floor was living quarters for the caretaker with spacious and luxurious quarters - 6 living rooms, a spacious reception hall, and a bathroom with hot and cold water. Living quarters were provided for the caretaker on the third floor. However, the 1929 fire would decimate almost all buildings on the north side of Columbia Avenue. The gothic top of the post office was destroyed, but the granite and brickwork remained intact. The post office still serves the community to this day!