Relive the memories: Arrowhead

Arrowhead a century ago was a bustling town. Now there are just a few ruins left on land. The town vanished beneath the waters of Upper Arrow Lake Reservoir after the Hugh Keenlyside Dam was built. You can relive the memories of Arrowhead through the Revelstoke Museum's special Memories of Arrowhead presentation on Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 7 pm. Photo courtesy of the Revelstoke Museum & Archives

By David F. Rooney

If you grew up in the long-drowned town of Arrowhead or are fascinated by the few overgrown ruins that remain on land then you won’t want to miss the inaugural session of the Revelstoke Museum & Archives’ new series, Memories.

Featuring Sherriann VanGoor and others who grew up in the town that once existed south of Revelstoke, Memories of Arrowhead will describe the way our forebears lived, worked and played. The Memories of Arrowhead presentation will be held at the museum on Wednesday, Jan. 20, at 7 pm.

For those people who don’t know about it, Arrowhead is a former steamboat port and town at the head of Upper Arrow Lake. It was submerged beneath the waters of the lake after the Hugh Keenleyside Dam was built at Castlegar.

There are different version of the reason the town was named Arrowhead. One says it was because at was situated at the head of the Arrow Lakes. Another version claims it relates to the finding of arrowheads in the ground during construction of buildings in the area, left from an ancient battle between native peoples. Another version says that it is because of the arrowhead-shaped appearance of the lake from high ground in the vicinity. The Arrow Lakes themselves were named after Arrow Rock, a large cliff-side pictograph shot through with clusters of arrows, again relating to an ancient battle (in this case known to be between the Sinixt and Ktunaxa peoples, that stood above the Narrows, the fast-flowing channel connecting Upper Arrow to Lower Arrow Lake.

Although it is long gone, former residents and people interested in the history of the place are connected through Facebook. You can fine the Arrowhead group page at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=49975167868.

Here are a few images of Arrowhead then, and now:

This was the main street of the now-vanished community of Arrowhead as seen in the summer of 1957. Photo courtesy of the Revelstoke Museum & Archives
This was the main street of the now-vanished community of Arrowhead taken in 1959. Within a decade these buildings like virtually all of the homes and businesses in the town would be gone. Photo courtesy of the Revelstoke Museum & Archives
The Arrowhead School in 1906. Image F-02394 from the Royal BC Museum, BC Archives, courtesy of the Arrowhead Conservation Society
An entrance to the basement at the southwest corner of the school, under where the external stairway to the second floor had been. Variations in the colour and texture of the concrete suggest that this doorway and the low wall to the right were later renovations. Horizon Heritage Consulting photo courtesy of the Arrowhead Conservation Society
Marker placed at the cemetery in 1967. It is slightly askew due to erosion. Horizon Heritage Consulting photo courtesy of the Arrowhead Conservation Society
The remains of a wire-wrapped wooden water pipe. Horizon Heritage Consulting photo courtesy of the Arrowhead Conservation Society
Row of five Sugar Maple Trees (Acer saccharum) planted at Arrowhead along Cook Avenue. Photo courtesy of the Arrowhead Conservation Society

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