Kalum Lake Hotel (c.1920s)
George Bryson Cobb built this structure on the south end of Kalum Lake* to serve as a travellers’ hotel. Typically, his guests were drawn from the many miners and prospectors moving up and down the valley. Amenities were basic: coal oil lamps lit the rooms and the toilet was outdoors. In the autumn of 1925, George Cobb sold his land to Everett and Ethel Dix, who had recently arrived from Michigan. The Dixs then operated the house as a wilderness lodge–catering mostly to American anglers and hunters–from 1925 until 1933. The hotel did not have a formal name: it was known simply as the “Cobb House” or “Mr. Cobb’s House”.
DIX’S DANCE HALL (c.1920s)
This structure, originally located adjacent to the Cobb House at Kalum Lake, was purpose-built* as a dance pavilion and was often used for Saturday night dances in the late 1920s and 1930s. Typically, local musicians would play the dance tunes of the era or, on occasion, recorded music was offered using a wind-up Gramophone. The hall was a popular venue: it was not uncommon for dance-goers to arrive from Terrace on the back of a flatbed truck, notwithstanding the long and dusty ride. People relied on each other for entertainment in “the old days” and, in the process, developed a strong sense of community. The hall was constructed by Everett and Ethel Dix and their daughter Vivian, popularly known by her nickname “Dixie”.
FRED HAMPTON BARN (c.1912)
Fred Hampton built this barn on his pre-emption north of Terrace. The English immigrant had ambitious plans for a market garden on the 160 acre (65 ha) plot. Unfortunately, after completing the barn, he realized the land was almost exclusively alluvial clay and therefore unsuitable for agriculture. As such, Hampton abandoned his farm within a year. The pre-emption system, made law by the Dominion Lands Act, was a federal attempt to assert sovereignty by encouraging the settlement of men of British and European descent. The Skeena Valley, occupied by the Tsm’syen for thousands of years, was considered empty* at the time.
* The sense that the land was “empty” was due to a number of factors including a misunderstanding of seasonal living patterns on the land by local First Nations people; social, political and economic chaos within the Tsm’syen communities as a result of introduced infectious diseases against which the Indigenous people had little or no immunity, and explicitly racist government policy.
Tom Conroy Homestead (c.1914)
Land policy of the early 1900s was meant to establish a permanent colonial presence on the landscape. As such, the development of new farms was actively encouraged by the government*. To that end, settlers could legally occupy–or “pre-empt”– Crown land in order to establish their homesteads. The land was free.
However, a plan of improvements (clearing fields, building barns, etc.) had to be undertaken before legal title was transferred to the new owners. This program to populate the Skeena, Kalum and Lakelse valleys (among others in the province) with settlers who owned the land they farmed was generally considered a success.
* Governments of the day did not acknowledge Indigenous land claims: as such, the resolution of these claims in ongoing.
Bruce Johnstone Cabin (c.1921)
This cabin, originally a horse barn, was built as a later addition to the hot springs hotel opened by Bruce Johnstone in 1910. Earlier, Mr. Johnstone had pre-empted the land around Lakelse Hot Springs in anticipation of the proposed Kitimat-Omineca Railway running past his property. Instead, the railway sold its charter to the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway which re-routed the line to Prince Rupert. In spite of that, the hotel/spa attracted significant numbers of visitors–many from the U.S.–who arrived to enjoy the promised health benefits of the odorless hot springs water. The facility closed c. 1936 in the midst of the Great Depression. At Heritage Park this cabin now houses our forestry exhibit.
BELWAY MINING CABIN (c.1910)
In the late nineteenth century a number of prospectors searching for gold made their way into the Skeena Valley. Over time, they surveyed many of the local creeks and found “colour” in several of them*. The first claim was staked in 1893: this was followed by a minor gold rush. In most cases these early gold-seekers were transient individuals interested only in precious metal. However, their mere presence brought about a heightened awareness of the Skeena, Kalum and Lakelse river valleys which eventually attracted settlers wanting to move here permanently. This cabin, typical of many in the area, was constructed by Joe Belway’s mining company.
LINEMAN’S CABIN (c.1919)
This structure was built to house maintenance workers on the Terrace-Anyox branch line of the Dominion Telegraph. The line was erected in 1910-11 and operated until 1936. The first telegraph wire in the north west was strung in the early 1860s by Collins Overland Telegraph Co., a subsidiary of Western Union. They were generally spaced approx. 20km apart along the telegraph as an attempt to give workers a sense of companionship coupled with privacy.
THE TRAPPER’S CABIN (c.1930)
In the early years, trapping provided seasonal employment for a number of Terrace residents. Typically, these men (and a few women) sought beaver, otter, marten, lynx, wolf, mink, weasel, squirrel and skunk. Animals were harvested during the cold months when pelts were in the best condition. Ultimately, the local fur trade employed far fewer people than mining, agriculture and forestry but nevertheless, for those involved, it provided a much-needed source of cash. This cabin was built by a local trapper named Paul Shulte, and most of the artifacts inside were originally his.
Back Shed
Purposefully built to house our larger artifacts, including old vehicles, riverboat artifacts, and other industrial artifacts. Designed to resemble Terrace’s early sawmills.
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