hi thanks for joining us today we're discovering ashcroft
and we're going to start by looking at the ashcroft museum let's go and explore
the ashcroft museum and archives contains a collection of artifacts dating back to the
early 1900s and ashcroft's glory days the museum is housed in the dominion building which was
constructed in 1917 as ashcroft's post office to replace the one that was burnt down in the 1916
fire it was originally a wooden structure but then got bricked over in 1933 in 1934
at various times the building also housed the telephone and telegraph offices and was for a
while a customs house in 1980 it was officially turned over to the village of ashcroft and the
museum and archives opened in 1982. ashcroft was founded in the 1860s during the caribou gold rush
by two english brothers clement cornwall and henry cornwall in 1865 the cornwall brothers
took out the first homestead in the valley and began to use the land to graze cattle and grow hay
the brothers had originally come to search for gold but after hearing the stories of failed
gold miners they decided to found the town instead selling flour to packers and miners
traversing the cariboo road that ran along the west bank of the thompson river
in 1872 large landslides unearthed good veins of coal in the area
george finney and his partner charles mcnickle were the first to try and mine that coal in 1888
finney continued to mine small quantities for local residents right up until his
mysterious disappearance in 1900 on october 15 1880 another large
landslide occurred in the black canyon just a few miles south of harper's mill
the thompson river was completely blocked above the slide the river rose to about a depth of 65
feet the site of the village of ashcroft itself was covered in 16 inches of water
after 41 hours the dam created by the slide gave way and the river resumed its normal flow
this is the original sign that was placed at the site to show where the high water mark had been
in 1884 ashcroft continued to grow when the canadian pacific railway built tracks through
the area ashcroft was the northernmost point on the line before the tracks swung eastward towards
kamloops with the railway connected to the old caribou road this became a great jumping-off point
for travelers this advantage allowed ashcroft to continue to thrive even after the gold rush ended
a number of immigrant workers were attracted to the area
some of them originally worked on the construction of the cp railway or were searching for gold
and some stayed in town to start businesses
and many of those immigrants started to work the land growing potatoes and tomatoes
if you're interested you can check out our video on the ashcroft chinese cemetery
which also explores the history of these migrant workers and the contribution that
they made to the construction of the canadian pacific railway
once the railroad was constructed ashcroft replaced yale as the gateway to the caribou
in fact ashcroft was promoted as the poor man's route to the yukon in an effort to entice some of
the 200 000 would-be miners who were expected to head north for the klondike gold rush
the first school in ashcroft opened in 1886 in a converted log bunk house
originally it was the drunk tank for the old ashcroft hotel
but got refitted with new windows and desks a few years later the government opened an official
schoolhouse in a large two-story building which would later become the community hall
teachers were subject to strict restrictions that would keep them
from any behavior activities that were unseemly for their position
here a few of the rules for teachers dated 1872 men teachers could take one evening each week
for courting purposes or two evenings a week if they went to church regularly after 10 hours in
the school teachers could spend the remaining time reading the bible or other good books
any teacher who smoked used liquor in any form frequented pool halls or public halls or got
shaved in a barber shop would give good reason to suspect his worth intention integrity and honesty
rules for female teachers were even more strict here are a few of them from 1915.
you may not travel beyond the city limits unless you have permission of the chairman of the board
you won't marry during the term of your contract you may not dress in bright colors
and you may not smoke cigarettes and under no circumstances may you dye your hair
contrary to these regulations ashcroft actually had a thriving social scene and
earned a reputation for being a very progressive town one of the buildings originally constructed
as a town hall became the opera house which attracted performers from all over north america
and literary readings and music recitals were popular pastimes in the days before
radio and television came along a promotional brochure from 1909 extolled the town's virtues
it read ashcroft is easily one of the most important towns in the interior of british
columbia the town has a prosperous and industrious appearance with its many ranchers shipping cattle
and farmers unloading wagons and produce consisting chiefly of famous ashcroft potatoes
the town is equipped with all modern conveniences three churches flourish a public school two good
hotels and two general stores including one of the largest in the province ashcroft has excellent
electric light and water service a volunteer fire brigade and a board of fire wardens a branch of
the british bank of north america is established here and the medical and legal professions
are likewise aptly represented by a resident doctor two legal firms and a county court judge
the town also boasts an up-to-date newspaper the ashcroft journal which gives reliable information
and contains all the mining and agriculture news of this rich section of british columbia
but all too soon ashcroft's heyday came to an end at 7 pm on thursday july 6 1916
fire broke out in the second story of the ashcroft hotel a brisk wind caused flames
to spread from building to building and consume the entire business section of town
flames spread quickly and in the end the fire destroyed an entire five blocks of the city
including the entire chinatown the only reason the flames stopped was that there were no more
buildings in its path the estimated damage from the fire was half a million dollars
that great fire of 1916 signaled the beginning of the end for ashcroft
the construction of the pacific great eastern railway to the north
and the arrival of motor vehicles meant that ashcroft was no longer needed as a supply town
today ashcroft continues to be an inviting stop for travelers
whether it's to see a glimpse of history preserved in ashcroft's historic buildings
or to explore the more artistic side of ashcroft and its beautiful mosaic walk
thanks for joining us today to explore the history of ashcroft and the ashcroft museum and archives
hope you can join us again for our next adventure until next time it's time to