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The history of Terrace has been intimately connected with the history of tran-

sportation in the Skeena

River Valley. In 1866 the S.5. Mumford, the first steam- boat on the Skeena River,’ was attempting to bring supplies up river for the.

- Collins Overland Telegraph y

Company. She got no further than the riffle in the Skeena Just south of Terrace. Here she made a cache of supplies to be transported by canoe and the Terrace area served its first function as a tran- sportation link.

By 1892 Steamboats were a regular occurrence on the Skeena and many set- tlements sprung up at convenient steamboat stops.

Among these were Eby’s Landing at the western

boundary of Terrace. Eby’s’

Landing boasted a blacksmith shop, store and hotel. To the east of town there was another steamboat stop, Thornhill’s homestead. It was from this pioneer that the present day community of Thornhill takes its name. ' Nearby was the little canyon where the present CNR and old Skeena River Bridge cross the muddy and

4aaa Lakelse

Children’s Wear. »

age 18, THE HERALD, Progress Supp. Tuesday, August 29, 1978

~ Our town th

often turbulent river. On the

Terrace side and slightly below the canyon another homesteader cleared land in 1905. His name was George Little. It was chiefly his energy and business en- terprises which were to sustain Terrace in its early

ears.

At this time, slightly after the turn of the century, the present site of Terrace was little more than a couple of steamboat stops betweon Port Essington, the port for the Skeena River and Hazelton, the head of steamboat navigation. The major settlement was Kit- selas at the lower end of Kitselas Canyon. With the building of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (later part of the CNR), which started in 1906, all this was to change.

Many speculators along.

the Skeena started toting up the imagined profits they would realize when they sold and to the G.T.P. Among these were the people at Eby's Landing who felt sure

that they would be chosen as:

the site for a station and yards, But George Little, the astute businessman that he

was, realized there were

Good selection of outerwear now in stock at

BEE’S CHILDREN’S WEAR

Sno Suits.....1 pe. and 2 pe, Sno Pants....Bib Front Coats....Jong and duffle for girls.

Jackets....for boys Raincoats for boys and girls.

Come and sea our “Back to school” Clothes

vette. a mts

TERRACE AS IT LOOKED fo the early pioneers

greater profits to be had from settlers than a cash deal from the railway company. In 1911 he gave the land to the railway company for their station and mar: shaling yards, much to the chagrin of the people at Eby’s landing.

At first the embryo town was called Littleton, but this name had to be changed as there already was a Post Office by this name in the East. Terrace, which takes its name from the benches cf land to the north of the town, rapidly changed. It was no longer two Riverboat lan- dings passed by eager miners, trappers and

_ homesteaders on their way. to the interior.

By 1914 Terrace boasted a sawmill near the present site of the Safeway store; a Poat Office and general sotre where the Co-op gas pumps presently stand; and hotel on the present site of the Terrace Hotel; a hall, now the Winterland General

Stewart B

2348 Thornhill

Store; a railway station, pool hall, real estate office and homes. In 1912 the streets

had been laid out; the main -

street, Lakelse Avenue, waS made 88 feet wide instead of . the usual 66 feet due to the insistance of the founder George Little, who also planted the trees an this

avenue in the Centre of town.” Many of the towns early -

residents were relatives of George Little who came from Ontario. In early days newcomers were cautioned not to criticize their neigh- bours to other residents as most of them were related.

At this time a Ferry,

located near the new Skeena

Bridge, connected Terrace to the Thornhill and Lakelse Lake area; a region which

was home for many pre-war .

homesteaders. However, with the G.T.P. Railway came the First World War to which Terrace sent roughly thirty able-bodied’ men, a

sizeable number for the

small community. For a

Ltd.

t

wh

- while the once quickening

tempo of the district was to Stagnate,. ©.

lt was during this decade that the school question was decided. Both communities, Kalum (Eby's Landing) and

“Terrace, felt they were

deserving of the honour. The vote ended in a deadlock 20- 20. A site was chosen roughly between the two com- munities. .

This is the present site of the School Board offices at the corner of Kenney and Highway 16. Many a student must have begrudged the decision of ‘their elders as they trudged unwillingly from the centre of town to school. os moe,

In 1921 the Bank of Mon-

-treal moved to Terrace and .

eventually located. at the comer of Lakelse’ and Kalum, the present site of the Northwest Sportsman. It was later closed ‘due to the Depression.

Tn. 1927 Terrace, a com- munity: of less than 30

rown Logging

635-3205

BY E.T. Kenney

o arrived in the area. (E.T. Kenney collection)

and a Municipal Council formed. It was during this period that the old Skeena River Bridge was built. For the rest of the decade Terrace subsusted on logging and a little farming as Terrace weathered the depression. So. far the community had survived extensive forest fires which burned through many parts of the present day com- munity in 1913 and a flood in 1936 which saw a least one Terrace house. floating down the wild waters of the swollen Skeena River.

With the coming of World War Two new life was breathed into Terrace. Many changes took place.

The army had a sizeable camp, many of the buildings are still being utilized today.

The most evident being the old Canadian Cellulase camp at the corner of Apsely and Lakelse and most fittingly, the Canadian Legion Branch which was - Company Headquarter offices. . .

The Skeenaview Lodge was built as a hospital for the ' wounded from the Aleutian

_ campaign of 1944. .

At this time the Terrace- Kitimat Airport was also built as ‘a forward base in

" case of. Japanese invasion.

The war also brought about the campletion of the Terrace-Prince Rupert Highway and Terrace’s second transportation link to the coast. Upon the exodus of the army Terrace fell heir to their water system.

However, the army's slay was not always a happy affair. It provided ex- citement too, in the way of the lithe known Terrace Mutiny. Roughly 3,000 troops refused to obey their officers when it was rumoured that they were to be sent over- Seas, : After the war, as British Columbia's industrial tempo increased, the economic pulse of Terrace also quickened, With the location ef the Woods Division for Columbia Cellulose in 1949 came many new jobs. The logs from the Kalum Valley

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