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Trail Blazers: Boys night out a century-plus ago

Trail Blazers is a weekly feature in partnership with the Trail Museum and Archives
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Gents, and one dog, are enjoying a night out in the Crown Point Hotel bar circa 1902. Owner Simon Petersen’s brother, Julius, appears here, centre, with the bowler hat, pool cue and spectacular mustache. Photo: Trail Historical Society

As the saying goes, “Age is just a number.”

Case in point is this incredible photo from the Trail archives that is nearing 120 years. Yes, the people in it have long been gone, but their joy in gathering for a glass or two of brew transcends time, given that Trail pub-goers are cheerfully gathering for drinks once again, albeit with pandemic restrictions still in place.

Nevertheless, Addison Oberg and Sarah Benson-Lord, from the Trail Museum and Archives, put much thought into relevant content for Thursday’s Trail Blazers series, as they do each week. And they fittingly decided this was the perfect image to use this first week of June.

“In an effort to celebrate the re-opening of our restaurants and bars, we thought this would be a fun photo,” began Benson-Lord.

“This group of gents, and one dog, are enjoying a boys’ night out in the Crown Point Hotel bar in 1902, nearly 120 years ago.”

The original Crown Point Hotel, Trail’s first, was built in 1895 by Simon Petersen and was a haven for the many single men flocking to Trail for work.

The three-storey building had 40 rooms, a dining room, and bar.

Trail Creek News, newspaper of the day, described it as “richly furnished from cellar to garret and would be an honour to a city ten times the size of Trail.”

Petersen hosted one of Trail’s earliest Christmases in 1895 and the menu of this celebration sits in the archival collection. [More on the menu in a later Trail Blazers feature.]

Read more: Trail Blazers, the roaring 20s to the war years

Read more: Crown Point Hotel to Crown Columbia, where it all began



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Sheri Regnier

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