This sweeping panoramic view of Trail, taken from the zinc stack at the Trail smelter in 1925, offers a rare window into the city’s industrial roots.
The image, captured by one of the Hughes brothers, is part of a remarkable collection featured in the Hughes and Carpenter exhibit, available online at trailhistory.com through the Trail Historical Society.
The Hughes Brothers — Robert Jaffray (1888–1953) and Leslie Cameron (1889–1948) — were among the earliest photographers to document life in Trail.
Born in London, England just a year apart, the brothers arrived in Canada between 1916 and 1920.
After a brief stay in northern Ontario and a move west to Edgewood, Robert eventually settled in Trail, where he opened a photography studio.
Leslie joined him a few years later.
Their shop at 1358 Cedar Ave. became a local hub for photography enthusiasts.
In addition to studio portraits and commercial photography, the business sold Kodak Eastman and German cameras, movie equipment, greeting cards, and artist supplies.
A modest apartment sat above the storefront, where the brothers lived and worked.
Robert later moved to Vancouver to open a new studio in Kerrisdale, while Leslie remained in Trail with his wife Hildred.
In 1945, the couple sold the business and relocated to Nelson, where Leslie passed away three years later.
Robert died in Vancouver in 1953.
Long after the shop closed, a trove of prints, negatives, and panoramic photographs was discovered in the basement of the old building.
Today, these images form an invaluable part of the city’s archives, capturing the development of the smelter and the evolution of Trail from a young industrial town into a thriving community.
The 1925 photograph featured here is just one example of the Hughes Brothers’ legacy, a legacy preserved and shared by the Trail Historical Society.
