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In this image (date unknown), teacher Miss Richardson (far right) poses with her classroom of 15 children. Back row, left to right: Bob Tegart, Orville Gibson, Harry Richardson, Hazel Tegart, Emily Tegart, Violet Richardson, Nellie Richardson. Second row, left to right: George Gibson, George Tegart, John Gibson, Tom Richardson, Buster Tegart, Marjore Tegart. Front row: Ivy Tegart, Geraldine Richardson. If you have any more information, e-mail us at info@cv-pioneer.com . Photo courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

Remember the days of the old schoolyard

Posted on May 10th, 2013 by


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Two boys and a girl roam the hills of Windermere in this circa 1920 photo. Left to right: Bruce Achenback and Madge Achenback and Charlie Crook. Photo provided by Ray Crook. If you have any more information on this or any other historical photo, e-mail us at info@cv-pioneer.com . Photo A1337 courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

Young wanderers of Windermere

Posted on May 3rd, 2013 by


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Porch pals at Windermere Hotel

Posted on April 26th, 2013 by


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A fellow and two ladies embark from the Windermere Government Wharf for a leisurely cruise on Lake Windermere aboard the Osprey, a small wooden dinghy, in this photo from 1915. An old steamer seen on the shore behind the boaters is believed to be called the “City of Windermere”. As of 1975, part of the ship’s old boiler was thought to be in use as part of the heating system at a home in Windermere. If you have any more information, e-mail us at info@cv-pioneer.com . Photo A1306 courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

A lap on Lake Windermere

Posted on April 19th, 2013 by


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This photo, taken in July 1930, is of the Royal Canadian Legion building and Cenotaph in their original locations on the point between 6th and 7th avenues, in between the museum and the old Invermere school board office. The building is now located on the grounds of the Windermere Valley Museum in Invermere. If you have any more information, e-mail us at info@cv-pioneer.com . Photo (A258) courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

Canadian veteran history in the Columbia Valley

Posted on April 12th, 2013 by


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Ten students pose for this 1926-1927 class photo at the Invermere School. Back row, left to right: Jack Jones, Frank Foyston, Ernest Stillings, Jim Ashworth, Gordon Lake. Front row, left to right: Frances Ashworth, Mabel Doyle, Kathleen McGuiness, Minka Sandwell, and Lucy Pennington. If you have any more information, e-mail us at info@cv-pioneer.com . Photo A1262 courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

Students on the steps

Posted on April 5th, 2013 by


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In this image, dated from the mid 1940s, John Murray Gibbons, surveys his farmlands, located near Toby Creek Bridge in an area known as Peter’s Hill. The farm was managed by the Peters family and later sold to George Deck. If you have any additional information on this photo, please email The Pioneer at info@cv-pioneer.comPhoto (A1266) courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society.

Field of dreams

Posted on March 29th, 2013 by


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This photograph of a Kootenay National Park road maintenance crew relaxing on the porch of a log cabin near Hawk Creek in the park was taken in June 1945 by Ray Crook, who was then the grader operator. The four men standing were conscientious objectors; the foreman was Wally Lautrop, who is holding the dog; to his right is John Wells, the driver; and standing is Jim Long, the cook. If you have any more information, e-mail us at info@cv-pioneer.com . Photo A1263 courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

Cabin camaraderie in Kootenay National Park

Posted on March 22nd, 2013 by


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Party of players

Posted on March 15th, 2013 by


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Front porch frolicking

Posted on March 1st, 2013 by


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In this undated image, Ormond Braisher, who was born in August 1920 near Parson, poses with a cougar that he shot when it came too near to his property. The threat of cougars wasn’t the only hardship of growing up in the Columbia Valley at that time. The worst year that his family faced was 1960, a summer of drought followed by a month of extreme rain, which caused massive flood damage to his family’s potato fields and vegetable gardens. Photo submitted by Dorothy Isted

Tough life on the range

Posted on February 22nd, 2013 by


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In this image, dated 1938, a group of valley locals enjoys a picnic at McLeod Meadows in Kootenay National Park. Pictured, from left to right: Mr. Casey Oliver, Mr. Arthur Taylor, Mrs. Oliver, Mrs. Taylor, Mr. Alec Dobbie, Ms. Edith Ashworth, Mr.Arhur Ashworth, Mrs. Elsie Dobbie and Ms. Fisher. Photo (1260) courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society.

A picturesque picnic

Posted on February 15th, 2013 by


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The Sparkling Creek schoolhouse, which still stands near Lake Lillian, was opened in 1913 and used for only three years as a school. The first teacher to call Sparkling Creek home was Ms. Winnifred Marples, who taught her own nieces and nephews as well as children from the Engels, Turner and Gauthrie families. If you have any more information, e-mail us at info@cv-pioneer.com . Photo (A31) courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

Stately schoolhouse

Posted on February 8th, 2013 by


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Sixteen men and one youngster gather outside Invermere’s First Legion Clubhouse in this Coronation Day photo from May 1937. Pictured, back row, left to right: T.W. Turner, S. Horwood, Fred Cutts, Dapper Ede, Jack Walker, Bill Lee, Ernie Bryan, and an unknown man. Front row, left to right: Tom Gallagher, Jack Kimm, Charlie Thornton, Frank Richardson, Bill Seaton, Mr. Sandilands, Arthur Ashworth, and Commander Powles. The boy’s identitry is unknown. If you have any more information, e-mail us at info@cv-pioneer.com . Photo (A1259) courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

Lounging at the Legion

Posted on February 1st, 2013 by


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In this photo from 1928, tourists travel through the valley in what appears to be a pre-1920s Ford Model T, complete with custom spare tire hanging from the driver’s side door. The photo comes from an album by Mrs. A.M. Chisholm. If you have any more information, e-mail us at info@cv-pioneer.com . Photo (A1258) courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

Rugged road trippers

Posted on January 25th, 2013 by


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In this image, dated 1930, the cenotaph and Legion building are found in their original locations between the Windermere Valley Museum and the original school board office between 6th Avenue and 7th Avenue. Photo (A3) courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

Military address

Posted on January 18th, 2013 by


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A group of stick handlers gathered together for a game on Lake Windermere at James Chabot Beach near Athalmer in 1912. Due to the date of the photo, not all of the first names of the gentlemen pictured are available. Pictured, from left to right: Mr. Stewart, Bernard Monk, W.H. Cleland, George Bennett, Mr. Hall, and I.C. Wedd, who was manager of the Imperial Bank, take time in between plays to pose for a photo on the lake. Photo (A5) courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

HISTORIC HOCKEY ­

Posted on January 11th, 2013 by


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In this image, dated circa 1920, Mrs. A. M. Chisholm (Maud), sister of Jim and Ed Stoddart, holds up what appears to be a pie baked over a fire at a rustic backcountry hunting camp somewhere in the Columbia Valley. If you have any more information on this or any other Historical Lens photograph, email us at info@cv-pioneer.com . Photo (A1229) courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

Cooking in the great outdoors

Posted on January 4th, 2013 by


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This chainsaw-wielding man was snapped by a photographer during the 1950s dispatching some unwanted foliage. The two men pictured are American Bev Harris, a Windermere potato farmer who later became a prominent painter, and his friend Roy Clement, a highways worker from Windermere. If you have any more information on this or any other Historical Lens photograph, email us at info@cv-pioneer.com . Photo (A963) courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

Pulp friction

Posted on December 28th, 2012 by


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Crew and actors set up a shoot for a flying scene in the movie “Snowblind”, filmed on Lake Windermere in 1923. If you have any information on this or any other Historical Lens photo, e-mail us at info@cv-pioneer.com . Photo C141 courtesy of the Windermere District Historical Society

Frozen lake fliers

Posted on December 21st, 2012 by


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