Step back in time… to 1912 at the Court House on Wednesday afternoon

Wednesday, May 2, marks a special moment in Revelstoke’s history. That’s the day 100 years ago when the cornerstone was laid for our beautiful Court House and the City is planning a special ceremony at 4 pm to mark that occasion. It should be a big deal now, and it certainly was one in 1912 as you can see here. What a crowd! Hundreds and hundreds of people gathered to witness the laying of the Court House cornerstone. Photo courtesy of the Revelstoke Museum & Archives

By David F. Rooney

Wednesday, May 2, marks a special moment in Revelstoke’s history.

That’s the day 100 years ago when the cornerstone was laid for our beautiful Court House and the City is planning a special ceremony at 4 pm to mark that occasion.

Parks and Recreation Department programmer Meghan MacIsaac said the programme closely mirrors the original from 1912.

Building a grand and proper court house was then — as it still is today — a big deal. It signalled that a community had grown enough in size, wealth and importance to warrant the expense (about $164,000 at the time) of a proper seat of justice. If you doubt that, think back just a few years when the province was seriously thinking about closing the Revelstoke Court House and transferring all judicial proceedings to other communities. Revelstokians were horrified and the City negotiated a deal with the province that kept the Court House open for business. (Please click here to read Revelstoke Museum Curator Cathy English’s history of the court house.)

“There will be dignitaries and officials invited as well as grandchildren of locals from that time (who played a role in the original ceremony),” she said.

“Some of these family members include Helen Grace – granddaughter of T.W. Bradshaw who was the CPR freight agent and was secretary of schools in Revelstoke. Another family coming the Kernaghans – John Kernaghan was a well-known local builder in town in 1912.”

MacIsaac also said that, in keeping with what happened in 1912, the Grand Master of the BC and Yukon Masonic Lodges had also been invited. It was the grand master of the day, Francis Burd, who officially laid the cornerstone. However, the current

Mayor David Raven, members of Council, CAO Officer Tim Palmer, Government agent Erich Breitkreuz from Salmon Arm, the Community Band, our local Rocky Mountain Rangers Cadets, plenty of school children and representatives from Revelstoke’s assortment of fraternal societies.

Please click here to view a copy of the original 1912 programme.

Please click here to view a copy of the 2012 commemoration programme.

Although it was, judging by the century-old photos of the event below, a day unmarred by rain, this year’s commemoration could be a little damp so please be sure to bring your brolly.

Here's a relative closeup of the event. Photo courtesy of the Revelstoke Museum & Archives
Here's a different view of the event. Photo courtesy of the Revelstoke Museum & Archives
This is a copy of the original programme that marked the laying of the Court House cornerstone. Please click on the image to see the full programme in PDF format. Programme courtesy of the Parks, Recreation and Culture Department

 

The programme for Wednesday's ceremony at the Court House closely mirrors the original dedication ceremony of 1912. Please click on the image to see the full programme in PDF format. Programme courtesy of the Parks, Recreation and Culture Department