Two heritage properties were recognized by the City of Quesnel at the council meeting on Monday, June 10. Mayor Sjostrom and councillor Brisco presented a plaque to recognize the Leonard Farm to Darcy Henderson, who received it on behalf of West Fraser Mills. The Cariboo Hotel was also recognized.
There has been an establishment called the Cariboo Hotel on Front Street since 1878 when Mrs. McLaughlin purchased the building that James Kerr and Dan Duhig had operated as a brewery and saloon. In 1887 Archibald McNaughton purchased the hotel. He had traveled overland from Montreal to the Cariboo goldfields in 1862 and later published an account of his journey. He served as the Land Assessor and Collector for the District from 1863 – 1884 and in 1887 was the post master for Quesnel and the manager of the Hudson’s Bay Company store. John Strand and Telesphore Marion purchased the business in 1910. They tore down the original building and constructed the New Cariboo Hotel, a three storey structure with many amenities and 34 rooms. In September 1916, fire broke out in the Empress Theatre located in the expanded hotel. It spread rapidly and destroyed eight buildings on Front Street, including the hotel.
Telesphore, Marion’s general store, was the only building in the block to be spared, so he concentrated on his business. John Strand, who had come to the Cariboo in 1892, worked as a contractor and carpenter, fur trader and had mining rights. He rebuilt the hotel after the fire. He also built Quesnel’s first hospital, the Catholic Church and the sternwheeler, Quesnel. In 1920 William and Clara Pearson purchased the hotel. They added a basement to create additional rooms in 1925 and installed an engine to power electric lights in 1927, selling electricity to other business in the area until the Quesnel Light Heat and Power Company was established. A beer parlour was added in 1933 and indoor mini-golf was a notable enhancement during this period. In 1989 – 90 the building was renovated, creating the current Western Heritage style façade and fewer but more spacious accommodations. Throughout its history, the building has been the site of a popular bar and, for the last quarter century, a beer store.
The Leonard Farm, located on Two Mile Flat, has been designated for its complex of farm buildings that were situated on the property in the 1920s. Charles and Mary Leonard purchased the property in 1917 and gradually made improvements when there were no other employment opportunities. Charles worked at Reid’s sawmill, as a farm labourer, hauling freight and building roads and ferries for Public Works. The earliest structure is a small cabin which originally was an assay office built on Carson Avenue and was moved to the property to serve as a first home. A barn was built in 1920, with the assistance of Bert Tatchel whose well-equipped box of carpenter’s tools is now on display at the Quesnel Museum. It is a large two storey square structure, built with coast fir and “v” joint siding, with a characteristic gambrel roof.
The ends of the barn have large sliding doors into the second story loft and there are three large windows down each side of the barn on the lower level.
Two years later, in 1922, the family was able to construct a large two storey wood frame farm house. It features a steep gable roof with a cross gable on the front and back sides for a central window that allows extra light to enter the upper storey. The covered front porch spans the width of the main house and there is a one-story wing on one side.
From the 1920s to the 1970s the Leonard Family operated a dairy business and sold milk and butter to the residents of Quesnel. The farmhouse provided accommodation to Charles and Mary Leonard, their five children and two nieces.
The property is now owned by West Fraser Mills. The barn has been restored and is used for meetings and private functions. The farm house provides overnight or short term accommodation for company employees and the cabin is often rented during the summer by forestry students. Although the site is now a busy industrial complex, the grouping of farm buildings has been preserved to provide an important reminder of its earlier history as both the home of a family who made a significant contribution to the development of our community and as an agricultural facility that supplied Quesnel with an essential staple.
The buildings also provide a surviving example of the workmanship of Bert Tatchel who built many early structures in Quesnel.
The city initiated the Heritage Plaque program in 2010 to recognize properties which are deserving of particular recognition due to their historical or architectural significance, their state of preservation and their contribution to the streetscape. The properties are selected by members of the citizen’s advisory committee who helped develop the Quesnel Heritage Register. These two buildings join 11 other properties already marked with bronze heritage plaques.
– submitted by Elizabeth Hunter, Quesnel Museum and Heritage manager