THE KÜTNE READER

Here’s something that’s not confusing at all: the area across the Columbia River from Trail used to be split into East Trail and Trail East.

From 1927 to 1934, Nelson’s senior men’s hockey team changed names four times. Why? Finding out is proving more challenging than I expected.

Seventy years ago this month, a group of American Quakers arrived in the Kootenays, looking for a new home.

The last remaining portion of an early Nelson hotel is still standing in the middle of downtown.

It’s fascinating to see what changes the 2021 census captured compared to 2016, particularly in the West Kootenay/Boundary.

Britain’s most celebrated bomber pilot planned to start a veterans commune at New Denver in 1947.

In 1922, J.E. Annable built a store on Baker Street that was only six feet wide. What was in it and what happened to it?

Fire alarm boxes were part of Nelson’s urban landscape from 1903-80, but they were frequently mistaken for mailboxes.

When was the Chamber of Mines building in Nelson built? And what's up with the date on the tile in the sidewalk?

You would never guess that there was once a good-size home and extensive gardens at 75 Government Road in Nelson.

Five envelopes mailed in 1885 by a CPR camp cook working near present-day Revelstoke have sold at auction for nearly $7,000.

Keep your head down and you might spot the handiwork of an iron foundry that went out of business 80 years ago.

Here are two photos of the old Yahk police station/lock-up that I took on Aug. 11, 2004. This building has long since disappeared.

A derelict gas station at Wynndel has a fully-restored twin in Newtonville, Ont.

Long before Photoshop, postcard publishers were using airbrushes and other tools to alter images.

A Kootenay teacher was once offered a small fortune by a bride-to-be in Minnesota, sight unseen. Who was he and what happened?

The first purpose-built courthouses in Nelson and Revelstoke looked nearly identical, a matter of some architectural intrigue.

The 1918 and 1919 civic directories listed a Doukhobor beekeeping colony at Procter. Who were they?

A terrific, rare postcard of Ainsworth sold last month on eBay. Here’s a closer look at some of the buildings depicted.

A walk down some Trail and Nelson alleys reveals surprises in brick.