New online project charts Prince Rupert's stories of the past

A new online historical review
is starting to explore some of
Prince Rupert's past

For those with a love of history and an interest in the past of Prince Rupert and the North Coast there's a new online project worth taking a look, one that offers up a promising possibility of bringing some of the colourful personalities of history to life.

Heritage Prince Rupert debuted last month, a quiet launch on the Internet from Susan Marsden of the Museum of Northern British Columbia that so far offers two glimpses into events of days gone by.

The first an introductory article from Marsden herself, which takes us to earliest days of the founding of Prince Rupert and tales of Mrs. Beesley (formerly Ms. Bailey) who recounts her days tending to the duties of the Bailey Bakery of Knoxville one of the tent communities of Prince Rupert in 1908.

The second of the debut articles, which comes from Bruce Wishart the long time chronicler of the North Coast, he mixes a little current events with the storied and in this case controversial past, as he explores the background of the Shimizu and Nishikaze families in the region.

It was a story which gained some renewed interest following last months dedication ceremony at the Federal Building on Second Avenue West in the wake of the cherry tree incident of earlier this year.

Over the years there have been many books written to chart the past of the North Coast from the volumes of Dr. Large, the many many books of the Phylis Bowman catalogue and the more recent efforts of Dr. Hick who has brought the city's connection to the railway and the port together in two volumes.

There have been many others as well, including a very thorough review from the Prince Rupert Archives, many of which you can find at the Prince Rupert Library.

One of the many books in recent years that have charted some of
the history of Prince Rupert and area

Three years ago a  tentative step towards recalling some of the region's history was launched with The Optmist, which featured twitter snapshots as well as home page, however the entries slowed and the final update came in December of 2015.

The new Heritage Prince Rupert project, based online will give North Cost residents and those from beyond who are curious about the region access to the rich history that is that of Prince Rupert and the surrounding area.

The soft launch of the project was announced Friday,  through the Museum of Northern British Columbia Facebook page, which also issues a call for submissions from those that may wish to contribute to the online chronicle.

There's no indication as to how frequently the project will be updated but hopefully as the project finds its feet, the updates will be frequent, with so many stories to tell, it would seem that the project could have a good run ahead of it.

You can track the updates to the website here.

More notes on the Museum of Northern British Columbia can be found from their Facebook page.

For more items of interest on Community events on the North Coast see our archive page here.