Blast from the Past

DREAM A LITTLE DREAM OF TOWNSITE: 100 & 200 Block Maple Avenue looking South, ca 1919 (now Sycamore Street) photo courtesy of the Townsite Heritage Society

Courtesy of Townsite Heritage Society

BY JOELLE SEVIGNY

100 years ago, today…

The year was 1919, walking on Maple Avenue (now Sycamore Street), beautiful trees lined the streets and the Townsite which was simply known as Powell River, was a hub of activity. You could see mill employees walking to and from work – cars were still a rare sight. Powell River and the surrounding area

were about to enter the roaring 20s and it showed. Gone were the days where children attended school in a bunkhouse: children now walked to Henderson School, which now included first year high school.

Central Building, at the heart of town life, held dances and other community events such as the Papermaker’s Ball held every New Year’s Eve. In lieu of a newspaper in the early days, one could find important announcements on its bulletin board.

On the eve of the big plant expansion in the 1920s, apartment buildings housing mill employees rose above the houses. The Bon Ton Apartments had just completed constructing its second half facing Riverside, and a new wing was just being added onto Avenue Lodge facing 2nd Street (now Ash Avenue).

In a similar fashion that we do today, people from south and north of town, such as Lund and Stillwater, came from all over

to watch silent movies at the Patricia Theater. It was the place for entertainment – and back in 1919, the theater was a tall and narrow wooden structure that shook in the wind, just above the Rodmay Hotel.

In 1919, a flu epidemic was also nearing its end in Powell River and soldiers from the Great War were returning home. It was a turning point for many, the beginning of a new era.

~ Courtesy of Townsite Heritage Society