Remembering 'Old Kelowna'

Captured a life time ago, a photograph of two siblings Dorothy and Charley Bubb sitting outside the Kelowna Train Station became the spark for a conversation about preserving this city’s history.

The photo taken back in the 1920’s was of Kelowna resident Shona Harrison’s grandmother, and it was that photo which prompted Harrison to start a Facebook page titled ‘Old Kelowna’ this past July.

“Everyone in Kelowna, in terms of my family and friends, were enamoured with these images and started making all these positive comments about them- ‘where did you get them?’, ‘oh my gosh isn’t that neat’, and it just really blossomed from there.”

Starting with old family photos, Harrison began to build the social media page, she soon came in contact with former Kelowna resident Doug Cook who had access to museum archives and had hundreds of historic Okanagan photos himself that he couldn’t wait to share with the Facebook page.

“Some (pictures) are from the British Archives, we have a lot from the Kelowna Museum, from the BC Archives, newspapers and a lot of personal submissions from people who have been looking through old documents and find photographs that they send to us,” says Harrison.

She and Cook are looking for more personal photographs as the site grows, to make a more intimate connection with those who lived in Kelowna.

“This is not only looking at the history of the buildings but at the people themselves. I think it would be really fascinating to have some of those pictures shared on here so we can get a sense of what it was like to live in those times, the buildings can only speak so much to us.”

Harrison says she has over 1,000 photos that are either on the page or are in the process of being uploaded, and there are more than 5,500 likes for Old Kelowna in just four months.

While maintaing the site can be tedious volunteer job for Harrison and Cook, they both believe it is an important piece in keeping the sense of community alive.

“I think that understanding our roots and knowing where we come from is so integral to understanding where we are going,” says Harrison. “Kelowna doesn’t have a whole lot of history in terms of accessibility to those documents.”

Not only does Harrison care about understanding the past, but she also hopes to preserve it. As a board member of the Heritage Society, Harrison wants to make  Kelowna’s history a serious discussion in the looming municipal election.

“There has been such out cry about the post office, that particular building and a lament for it, and for some of the other buildings that have been taken down,” she explains. “I’m hoping that from this (Old Kelowna) we can move past just merely talking about it, and start putting things into action and start saving these buildings.”

As ‘Old Kelowna’ continues to grow, others in Okanagan communities are looking to do the same. Harrison says a woman has contacted her about starting a ‘Vintage Vernon’ page and will soon be asking for historic pictures from the North Okanagan.

If you have photos you would like to share with Harrison and Old Kelowna, click here to check out the Facebook page and message directly.

Photo: Contributed