Prince George/Fort George/South Fort George "Firsts"
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August 9, 1896
May 1910
May 1, 1910
July 1, 1910
August 1910
September 5, 1910
FIRST SCHOOL IN FORT GEORGE SECTION OPENS ITS DOORS AT SOUTH FORT GEORGE On Monday last the first Government school opened its doors to the children of this section, and the fact that sixteen names were entered on the roll during the first day of its existance shows how great was the necessity of such an institution here. The advent of this school provides one more primal necessities of a young city. Without educational advantages for children surely no town can be considered to be worthy of the name, and the fact that South Fort George now boasts of a school which is well attended and admirably presided over both by the principal and the board of trustees gives this place a vastly added importance in the estimation of those families which are settling here, and of the many more to come. The school is temporarily in charge of Mr. Cosgrave, a graduate of Princeton University, who volunteered to fill the vacancy until a permanent teacher could be engaged rather than see the opening date delayed. The board of trustees recently appointed is composed of Mr. A.G. Hamilton , Secretary; Mr. James Cowie, and Joseph Boyer, all pioneers of this section. The building at present in use for the school is on Fourth street, and is owned by Mr. Wiggins, of the Northern Development Company here. A proper school house will be built for permanent use. October 22, 1910
THE FIRST MAIL IN 1812 Speaking about mail and the evolution in transmissions after it arrives at South Fort George, it is not half as wretched as it was in 1812. Mark the date. This is no typographical error. It is simon pure in chronology. We want you to memorize 1812, because in the spring of that long ago year must be referred the very first long-distance transmission of a letter within the territory of British Columbia and beyond it. On 6th of April six couriers arrived from Fraser Lake, bringing a letter addressed to the manager of the Northwest Company at Stuart Lake by David Thompson, the explorer of the river that bears his name. The letter was dated Ilk-kayope Falls, Columbia River, August 28, 1811. It had taken exactly eight months and eight days to reach its destination, and had been carried by Indians of all the various intervening tribes, a wonderful example of honesty and of respect for written paper. Last year - 1910 - we had a monthly mail, with a supplementary one arranged and paid for by the residents of South Fort George. There were no ducklets in Central when we paid for the extra mail. At that time our correspondence was not subjected to a complimentary trip to the woods in order to gratify the whims of a corporation by allowing an empty townsite the privilege of advertising in their folders that they have a Dominion post-office. This winter we get a weekly mail, but the annoying little detail of taking it by our doors and returning it three and four hours later, when a little horse sense displayed by those who unfortunately are at the head of the service, would remedy the evil, passes understanding. And Ralph Smith and eastern politicians wonder why the Liberals make no advance in British Columbia. Yes, why. November 19, 1910
January 7, 1911
May 1911
July 1, 1911
July 1, 1911
October 7, 1911
November 11, 1911
December 23, 1911
January 20, 1912
March 12, 1912
September 21, 1912
NO. 16 FIRST AUTO TO COME IN OVER ROAD The first automobile - No. 16 - to arrive over the Blackwater road through from Quesnel, arrived here Tuesday. It was a "B.X." car, with the usual peacock red tint - the colors of the company. The sending of the machine through from Quesnel was due to the accident which befell the steamer "B.X." on Saturday of last week when the boat struck a rock six miles below town, at a spot known as the Hudson's Bay Gardens, and in consequence rendered unable to keep her schedule. E. Studebaker drove the car in and among the passengers was Superintendent Crisdale, of the Dominion Agricultural department, who is here in the interests of a proposed location for an experimental farm. Mr. Studebaker says the road from Blackwater is not a commercial proposition as yet. The number of ruts is so great that it is not possible to make over nine miles an hour. It is necessary to travel with low gear. From Blackwater to Quesnel, however, the road is better but he would not advise "joy" riders to undertake the trip. No. 16 returned Thursday at noon with four passengers. A stop for the night was made at Blackwater, and the trip resumed the following morning. There was a prize of $500 offered by the bush-leaguers in the Central townsite for the first auto to come over the road. Mr. Studebaker's pockets did not show any evidences of it on his departure. 1913
November 15, 1913
December 31, 1913
April 9, 1914
August 1, 1914
October 3, 1914
November 21, 1914
January 25, 1915
April 2, 1915
May 21, 1915
June 1915
June 11, 1915
September 1915
January 22, 1916
May 10, 1934
February 12, 1942
May 31, 1945
1952
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