"North Bend Recollections"   by W. Bill Young

No. 1                               An Introduction                  W.(Bill) Young

    First, let me introduce myself.  My name is Bill Young and I lived in North Bend from 1926 to 1938.  Being born in 1926, I am now at the age where I find it difficult to remember what I did two days ago.  Yet, I can vividly recall events, names, locations and the like associated with my younger years- especially those of the 1930's in North Bend.
    Thus, the owner of  "The Fraser Canyon Express" accepted my offer to put pen to paper and write some periodic articles describing my youthful recollections of growing up in North Bend in the 1930's.
    My father, also a Bill Young, had emigrated from Scotland prior to World War One.  He started work with the Canadian Pacific Railway- working out of Revelstoke and Field as a fireman.  Later, he began working as a brakeman out of North Bend.
    Although my parents knew each other back in Scotland and my father had returned to "The Old Country" on a couple of visits (including with the Canadian Army during WW1), I imagine their courtship must have been primarily by letter.
    Nevertheless, the year 1924 saw my mother leave her hometown of Kelty in Fifeshire and begin her long trip to Canada.  Landing in Montreal, she was met by my father and they were married in that city on Sept. 7th, 1924.  Thus, the honeymoon consisted of a long train trip across Canada.  Destination: North Bend BC, where a new home was awaiting her.  More about the new North Bend house in my next " Recollection"

("North Bend Recollections" will appear in one Issue every month)




No. 2                               The New Home                              W.(Bill) Young

    Once my father had his proposal of marriage accepted by my mother, plans were mad4e for her to make the long journey from her home in the small village of Kelty in Scotland to North Bend, BC.
    Not the least of the challenges now facing  my bachelor father was to arrange  for a place to live once my mother arrived in North Bend,  He decided to build a house and purchased a lot near the school on Government Road.
    Fortunately, his younger brother had also emigrated from Scotland and now lived in Vancouver.  Uncle Andy was a carpenter by trade and arrangements were made for him to come to North Bend to build the house.  So the house was built during the Spring and Summer of 1924 with my Dad helping, as he could, in his non-working hours.
    With the house being built during the Spring and Summer, it was ready for my mother's arrival in North Bend in mid-September.  It was a simple home consisting of a kitchen, a small front room, two bedrooms and a bathroom.  It was heated by a wood and coal furnace in the basement with the heat rising directly up through the metal grating to heat the house.  Cooking and the heating of water was through the wood stove in the kitchen- typical of the day.
    Our  family home on Government Road is still being lived in today and I am pleased to see that it is being well cared for.
    Some years ago, my wife and I took a visiting British cousin and his wife over to North Bend.  We were taking some photos of the family home and I thought it best that I should knock on the door and offer some type of explanation.  The kind lady who answered my knock asked if I would like to come in and have a nostalgic look around, which I readily accepted.
    Over the years, the house had been extended in both the front and the back.  Even though it is still of modest size, the house is considerable larger than it was when our family lived there.  It was then that I realized that my recollection of our house as being spacious and large was simply a myth.  
    Perhaps many of us have such recollections where many things seemed greater and more grandiose than they really were...or are.
Next Recollection, ?North Bend Post Offices?




    It was with some sadness when I heard the news several years ago that North Bend would be losing it's postoffice and that, henceforth, North Benders would all have a Boston Bar Mailing address.  I felt bad because it had always seemed to me that the three main support pillars of any small town were: the School, the Store and the Postoffice.
    But this would not be the first time that the people of  North Bend would have a  Boston Bar mailing address.  When the newly constructed Canadian Pacific Railway decided it needed a Divisional Point in the Fraser Canyon, it chose the site of "Yankee Flats" (named during the latter 1850's gold rush era) and the present site of North Bend.  However, the new community was named Boston Bar, BC and it's first postoffice was officially opened on October 1, 1884 with Postmaster P. Fink in charge.
    The new town remained Boston Bar, BC until July 1, 1887 when the postal address was changed to North Bend, BC.  Mr. P. Fink continued on as the official postmaster until august 9, 1890.  Succeeding him as official postmasters (postmistresses) in North Bend through the 1930's when I lived there were:
     H. Fink, August 1, 1890- January 15, 1891
     J. Webb, February 1, 1891-February 2, 1897
     W. Arnott, May 1, 1897- October 1, 1901
     E.B Richardson, ?- October 1, 1924
     Mrs. A.J. Richardson, January 20, 1925- through the 1930's

    Mrs. Richardson was the postmistress at North Bend during the years that I lived there.  The postoffice was located at the foot of Old Postoffice Road, across the tracks.  (i.e. the river side of the tracks) However, I can barely recall an earlier postoffice building.  It was also at the foot of Old Postoffice Road but on the West side of the tracks.  It was the last building on the right side of Old Postoffice Road and adjacent to the railroad tracks I seemed to recall that the building also served as a small store selling a few basic items.  Nothing remains of this building today.
    As a point of interest, the postoffice at present day Boston Bar was officially opened on April 1, 1917 following the decision of the Canadian Northern Railway (now the Canadian National Railway) to establish a Divisional Point in the Fraser Canyon at that site.
    Long before the aerial ferry and bridge, the mail between Boston Bar and North Bend was brought across by rowboat during the 1930's.  I recall that the boatman was a Mr. Cheeseman who would also bring any passengers across for a modest charge.  more about crossing the river in a future "Recollection" article including the time that my uncle Andy and family drove up the canyon to visit us in North Bend and my Aunt, taking one look at the river and refusing to get into the boat.     
Next  "Recollection"  on July 22nd, The North Bend General Store



    The North Bend General Store was located on the main road running down to the railway station about half way between the tracks and the school.  In the 1930's it was owned by the Coveney family.  Still later, it would become a res-idence for a youth program until it was subsequently destroyed by fire.
    The North Bend Store of the 30's was a true small town general store.  although not spacious by any stretch of the imagination, it stocked groceries, work clothes, gifts, hardware- you name it.  Although some residents would order case-lot and non-perishable items directly from Vancouver, our family bought all our groceries from the local North Bend Outlet.  Both of my parents believed that you should buy locally if you wanted to keep a  grocery store viable and in existence- especially in small, isolated communities like North Bend was at the time.
    My first recollection of the store was accompanying my father to pick up the daily newspaper.  The Vancouver Province was the main daily newspaper in British Columbia in those days and many North Benders had subscriptions.  One simply went to the pile of newspapers stacked in the store and selected the copy with your gummed address sticker attached to it.  Later, when I was a little older one of my tasks was to make the daily trip to the store to pick up the daily newspaper.
    Strangely, my main memory of the store was the sight of a large bunch of bananas hanging from the ceiling  in the middle of the room.  Order six bananas and out came a sharp knife to cut off your six bananas.  When all of these were gone, the storeowner would bring out a replacement bunch to hang from the ceiling.
    I recall that the store had a small van-type vehicle used to pick up groceries from the station as well as delivering groceries to customers.  I believe that the driver and all-round handyman was a bill Pomfret- a popular single young man.
    My mother has told me a story how the North Bend store provided her with her first "Canadiana" lesson in that despite all of the Scottish immigrants living in Canada, there was still a big difference between the cultures and cus- toms  of Scotland and Canada.  Newly arrived from Scotland, my mother told the tale of her first shopping venture to the North Bend General Store.  Armed with her list of needed grocery items, she ended her list with "a half loaf of bread"- only to be told by the clerk that "in Canada, we don't cut loaves of bread in half".
    Today, whenever I visit a small town general store in British Columbia, it seems to bring back nostalgic memories of the North Bend General Store of the 1930's.


No. 5                                 North Bend Folk                      W.(Bill) Young

    Recently, my wife and I visited North Bend and I found, to my surprise, that all of the streets had been named with signs posted.  When I lived there in the 1930's, I  had never heard of street names like North Bend Crescent, Lee Road, First Avenue nor second Avenue.  Even the one road that did have a name had been changed from Government Road to Chaumox Road.  (Mind you, I like the name of Chaumox Road better)
    As we drove around the town, more family surnames and given names of North Benders of the mid 1930's came to mind.  It was then that I thought I should include these in one of my "North Bend Recollections" articles.  One of the reasons is that I'll be referring to some of these family names in future articles.  (Don't worry, I'll be careful so that neither The Fraser Canyon Express, Crystal Kimber, nor I will be sued for libel).
    At the outset, I have relied on my personal memory only and, of course, there will be omissions of family surnames and the names of children (in brackets).  blame my poor memory.  similarly, I'm afraid that there will be some spelling errors also  and should I be able to get this updated some day, it may be worth the effort to publish an updated  version.

         In addition, there are a few additional family surnames that I recall but do not remember in which area of North Bend  they lived: (Gruchy; Prouting; Dryer; Ward).
          
         Finally, I'd be most pleased if any of the 1930-era North Benders would like to contact me with any additions, corrections or even just to say "Hello".  E-mail: billem@islandnet.com. Perhaps it may `trigger' more memories.




    In the 1930's, North Bend was a busy and active Divisional Point for the CPR and the peak of the steam era.  Freight trains were regularly coming and going and steam locomotives seemed to be constantly "switching" in the Yards with the breaking down and making up of trains.  In addition, four crack continental passenger trains made a ten minute stop in North Bend  (Numbers One and Three heading west plus numbers Two and Four heading east).  In addition, with heavy snowfalls often closing the Coquihalla pass in the winter, the Kettle Valley Line often re-routed an additional two daily  passenger trains through the Fraser Canyon and North Bend.
    During this period, the railway crews and their families made their homes in North Bend.  The families bought groceries at the North Bend Store, picked up their mail at the North Bend Post Office and their kids went to school at the North Bend School.
    Of course, there were no telephones in the majority of the North Bend homes- only a few of the CPR "brass" had such modern amenities.  Men were "called out" to work by "Call Boys"  I recall these men coming around to our home at any hour of the day or night with the word that my dad was being "called out" for a run to Ruby Creek, spences Bridge or Walachin.  Although Ruby creek and Spences Bridge were the most common "calls", I recall how my mother didn't like the Walachin call as dad would be away from home for a longer period.

Today, North Bend has changed from a busy railway town, the Roundhouse the Turntable , the Hotel, the Post Office and the General Store have gone.  while the railway traffic has increased significantly over the decades, North Bend is but a crew change point before the crew head back to their families in Kamloops or the Greater Vancouver area.  ............coming in Issue #20, "North Bend Hotels"


No. 7                                 North Bend Hotels                    W.(Bill) Young

    With the completion of its railroad across Canada in the 1880's, the Canadian Pacific Railway Company began an ambitious project to build a chain of hotels from coast to coast to attract customers.  Construction began on the first three of these in the latter 1880's.  These three original hotels were Mount Stephen House (opened October l886), Glacier House  (opened January, l887) and Fraser Canyon House in North Bend (opened January l887). Each of these three original C.P.R. hotels was designed by British architect Thomas Sorby.
    We have a framed photograph of Fraser Canyon House displayed in our home.  It was of wooden construction, three stories high with an open wrap around porch or veranda on at least two of its four sides.  The well-kept manicured lawns in front of the hotel are clearly visible.
    Unfortunately, the original Fraser Canyon House was destroyed by fire around 1927.  Immediately, the C.P.R.  began plans for a replacement hotel which was completed in 1929.  Architects would describe this 1929 building as "Prairie Style with Tudor Revival Front".  It was this hotel that I remember while living in North Bend in the 1930's.
    To me, this was by far the most deluxe building in town.  Kids like me were not allowed inside unless accompanied by an adult.  Although I don't recall my mother ever being in the hotel,  I was allowed in (accompanied by my father, of course) on three of four occasions.  I have two vivid recollections  of the lobby area.  The first was the plush carpets covering the floor area while the second was the liberal distribution of spittoons throughout.  
    Outside, the hotel was no less impressive to a young boy.  A wide paved walkway and steps led up from the railway platform to the hotel's lobby door.  Beautiful flower gardens along the wide expanse of well-kept lawns was the setting for two attractive fish ponds with fountains that were turned on with the arrival of the multi-daily passenger trains.  All this must have initiated many compliments from travellers as the passenger trains paused for their regular North Bend ten-minute stop.  
    The C.P.R. employee for these beautiful gardens  and  lawns that  provided the  attractive setting for Fraser Canyon House was a Chinese gardener by the name of Kim.  Kim was a most friendly individual.  He was always ready to exchange a  friendly  smile and "hello" with all the kids of North Bend.
    Fraser Canyon House was not the only hotel built  in  North  Bend.   The  C.P.R.   must have encouraged private investment in town as a privately-owned hotel (Mount View Hotel) was built just a few years following  the completion of the original Fraser Canyon House. But more about the Mount View Hotel in some future "North Bend Recollections" article.
    Finally, whenever I pay a visit to North Bend, I walk around the grounds of the  long gone Fraser Canyon House and drift back to the time  of plush carpets, manicured lawns,  fish ponds,  fountains and, yes, even the spittoons. (I'd like to  hear from any readers who may have lived in North  Bend in the 1930's.
E-mail: Billem@islandnet.com  Next Recollection "Medical Care in North Bend".


No. 8                                   Medical Care in North Bend                      W.(Bill) Young

    North Bend in the 1930's was an isolated community since this was well before the construction of the present-day North Bend-Boston Bar bridge and several years before the aerial ferry across the Fraser River came into being. Of course, there was no hospital in North Bend. Nor were there any type of Red Cross Outpost establishment, resident Doctor nor resident nurse.
    The family's first "line of defence" to any illness or injury was the family medical encyclopaedia which most North Bend mothers had at their finger tips for ready reference. I am certain that my mother's medical reference had but one solution for almost every childhood illness -Milk of Magnesia. I seem to recall taking a dose of Milk of Magnesia for every illness that might befall a child. Needless to say, it was not my favourite tasting liquid.  
    For an injury or an illness that was beyond the "Home Medical Gospel", families had access to the local CPR First Aid attendant. I don't recall the man's name but I do recall that he lived in the third or fourth house on the road facing the tracks to the north of Stevenson's lunch counter. During the years that I lived in North Bend, I had to pay two visits to the First Aid attendant. The first was for treatment for a dislocated shoulder caused by falling off a horse while the second was for a dog bite (my fault).
The closest C.P.R. doctor was Dr. Peter McCaffrey whose practice was based in Agassiz. (He had a brother who was also a doctor who had a practice in Chilliwack). Dr. McCaffrey made scheduled periodic visits to North Bend where prior appointments would have been made by families.
    The only other option open to North Benders was to take the train to a town or city that had a hospital such as Vancouver or Kamloops. This was usually the case when "mothers-to-be" were expecting the birth of a child. While some babies may have been born in North Bend itself with the assistance of unofficial mid-wives, I don't recall hearing of any.
    When my mother was "expecting" her three children (including me), she left for Vancouver to stay with my dad's brother and his wife. Thus, I was born in Vancouver at St. Paul's Hospital. While my mother stayed in Vancouver awaiting the birth of my sister in 1931, her mother came out from Scotland to North Bend to look after me. At that time, my mother had been away from her family in Scotland for some seven years so it must have been an exciting time for her  when my grandmother arrived in North Bend. I was not yet five years old at the time but I still recall going down to the North Bend station to meet her. I remember standing with my mother on the platform as the west-bound train arrived............continued next page
(pregnant and all) to embrace her mother. Many decades later, while on a Then, she began shouting: "There she is. There she is" as she ran down the platform (pregnant and all) to embrace her mother. Many decades later, while on a holiday to Scotland, my aunt told me how my grandmother could never get used to the hot summer temperatures of North Bend. Being there in mid-summer with a wood stove for heating water and cooking, I can well imagine how uncomfortable it must have been for someone directly out from cool, misty and rainy Scotland.
(I'd like to hear from any readers who may have lived in North Bend in the 1930's
(E-mail:"billem@islandnet.com")
Next Recollection- "The Mount View Hotel"


    But this was not the only hotel built in North Bend during the latter l880s. In those early years, the C.P.R. must have encouraged (or at least, did not discourage) privately financed businesses to become established in the community.  North Bend's second hotel was a case in point - the privately owned Mount View Hotel which, I believe, was built in the 1890's. It was located immediately to the north of the C.P.R. 's Fraser Canyon House.
    During the 1930's, I do not recall any homes in North Bend being vacant for very long. All were being used. This  included the old Mount View Hotel which always seemed to be fully occupied. To-day, "The Pig's Ear" apartment building is still being used and while the expansive lawn area in front of the building is no longer there, the old Mount View Hotel (or "The Pig's Ear", if you wish) is still contributing positively to North Bend's accommodation needs. (I'd like to hear from any readers who may have lived in North Bend in the 1930s. E-Mail:"billem@ islandnet.com")



    Some time ago, I received an e-mail message from a man who sought some information on that part of old North Bend that lies between the railway tracks and the river.  Unfortunately, I wasn't able to help him as much as I would have liked.
    As I grew older and my mother allowed me to wander on my own further from “home base” on Chaumox Road, I felt that I knew almost every square foot of North Bend that lay between the tracks and the mountains.  But, I was relatively ignorant of that part of the town lying east of the tracks- apart from visits to the Post Office to pick up the mail.  Why was this?
    In hindsight, there was probably a number of reasons in addition to the distance factor.  First, in those days, the railway yard was usually filled with long lines of freight cars.  Since crawling under, or climbing between, freight cars was a strict “no-no”, one had to walk to the end of the longest line of cars in order to cross the tracks.  Another fact that discouraged a young boy from visiting the other side of town was the strict rule that kids were prohibited from riding bikes along the long railway platform in front of the hotel.  Thus, the fact that one had to dismount and walk his bike along the platform did not help.
    But so much for anymore lame excuses.  What recollections do I have about the eastern portion of North Bend?  Of course, I remember the sturdily built granite roundhouse as well as the “turntable”.   I recall the ice skating rink that lay in front of the first row of houses and adjacent to the tracks.
    The Anglican Church was also located in that part of town not far from the Post Office.  The Hamilton family lived near the church and I seem to recall that they had space reserved in their house for a cell for the rare occasion when someone ran a foul of the law and needed to be locked up for a spell until the suspect could be transferred to a more conventional facility elsewhere.
    The  eastern portion of North Bend had a large, open area or field that was used for community outdoor activities.  It served as a baseball field and I recall  attending several exhibition ballgames with teams from Boston Bar and Hope.  Another use for this area was the Annual North Bend Sports Day- probably held in conjunction with the North Bend May Day Celebrations.  North Bend families would be asked to contribute to a  fund for prizes.  The fund couldn't have been  too large as I remember receiving a grand prize of ten cents for winning a race in my age category.
    On at least two occasions, I recall the field being used for one of the small visiting circus-type shows that travelled the small town circuit in B.C.  All this was great excitement for a North Bend boy.  The main show that I remember was the boxing ring.  For an entrance fee, spectators were allowed in the tent to see the North Bend “toughies” challenge the “travelling  boxer” in the hope of winning a cash prize.  While there was never a shortage of challengers, I don't recall seeing any local person win a fight.
    As I finish writing this account, I have concluded that I have more recollections of this part of North Bend than I thought when I began writing this article. ( I'd like to hear from any readers who may have lived in North Bend during the 1930's: billem@islandnet.com) Next Recollection, “Butcher Green.”


     As I mentioned in an earlier article, one of the changes that has occurred in North Bend since I lived there is that all the streets and roads have been officially named. One of these is the road that runs south of North Bend and is now called Green Ranch Road.
    To-day, this road has been extended many miles as a logging road. In the 1930's, however, the road ran no more than two miles south of town. At the end of the road was "Allen's Ranch" -the one with the big barn that can still be seen from the highway across the river. The Allens were
friends of our family and I visited their "ranch" on numerous occasions.
    But more about the Allens another time as this article is about the owner of the other "ranch" on the road -Green's Ranch lying some half way between the town and Allen's Ranch.
Mr. Green was locally known as "Butcher Green" as he owned and operated the North Bend Butcher Shop. It was located across the road from Coveney's General Store and next to the town's Barber Shop. While some North Bend families had meat orders shipped in from places like Lytton, my parents bought all their meat from Butcher Green. I recall that the shop's floor was always covered with a couple of inches of sawdust. There was a large cold storage unit containing huge blocks of ice -no doubt originating from the CPR "Ice House" in town.
    Like at the General Store, most North Bend families  would run a monthly account with Butcher Green. I suspect that even in the midst of the Depression Years, with most men working for the CPR in North Bend, neither the General Store nor Butcher Green had too much difficulty with settling their accounts with North Bend families at the end of each month.  
    I don't recall how Butcher Green travelled from his ranch to the Butcher Shop each day during the summer months. However, how he made the trip in the snowy winter months is vividly impressed on my mind. He would make this trip on an old caterpillar-type tractor slowly towing a large wagon-like sled. This sled had particularly long runners protruding out of the rear and the cause of the daily excitement for young boys during the non-school winter days.  We would wait at the edge of town awaiting Butcher Green and his tractor and then leap on the rear protruding runners for a free ride to the Butcher Shop.
    All this was before the aerial ferry, bridge and the new access road to both. In those days to get to Green's Ranch, one went south along Government Road (now Chaumox Road) turning left down Old Post Office Road past the Yearley's house. At the foot of Old Post Office Road and before crossing the tracks, you turned to the right past the Indian Reserve and on to Green's and Allen's Ranches.  
    Butcher Green's shop was part of a small, compact commercial area in North Bend during the 1930's comprised, in part, of the Butcher Shop, Barber Shop, General Store, United Church, Stevenson's Lunch Counter, CPR Hotel, Mount View Hotel, Repeater Station, CPR Station, etc. I'll attempt to write about North Bend's commercial centre in a future article. (I'd like to hear from any readers who may have lived in North Bend in the 1930's: "billem@islandnet.com".