Quesnel Pioneer Cemetary

The earliest marked grave belongs to Thomas Brown who died May 10, 1878. When Louis LeBourdais passed away in 1947, he was buried outside the boundaries of the cemetery, respecting his request that he not be "fenced in" Please feel free to browse through the cemetery, and to take the Pioneer Cemetery Tour.

Cenotaph

The Quesnel Cenotaph was built to commemorate those who served and were killed in WWI, WWII, and the Korean War. Originally, this corner site held the Union Church. It was a small building, but served the entire Protestant community from 1898 until 1911, when it was sold to the Anglican congregation for $500 and moved to the trianglar shaped land formed by Kinchant St, Davie St, and the present day Moffat Bridge Approach. there, the Anglican community, in 1913, built a new, large church and clergy residence which were consumed by fire in 1923. A new church, St. John the Divine, was built two years later, in its present location, at the north end of Kinchant St.

Blacksmith Shop site

Where the Fraser River GM dealership now sits was once the site of Quesnel's many blacksmith shops. James Seymour, John Lyne, William Peebles, Wilkie & Co., and John Lazzarin are just some of the names of Quesnel's pioneer blacksmiths, some dating as far back as the 1860s. Before the automobile era, several livery stables also operated along here. Among the most successful were the Johnston Brothers. Between 1909 and 1922 they owned a number of stables in Quesnel; the Quesnel Livery, the Occidental Hotel stables, and the Cariboo Hotel stables. With the coming of the automobile to Quesnel, they established the Johnston Brothers Chevrolet dealership, which the family operated from 1922 until 1999.

First Municipal Hall site

Where Petro Canada now sits was once Quesnel's first Municipal Hall, built shortly after the town's incorporation in 1928. The Fire Bell (also on this tour) was also located on this site. In 1958, the second Town Hall was built on the corner of Kinchant and Barlow.

Former Cariboo Observer site

This was the location of the Cariboo Observer office from 1910 until 1924. After they relocated, the building on site became an important annex to the school. In the early 1930s, after it was no longer needed for a school, the building became home to the T.M. Owens Department Store, and remained so, with various additions until Owens retired in 1990 and the building was demolished. West of the corner, on the present location of the Quesnel Music store, was situated Elliott's Tobacco and Billiards, Howison's Hardware and Mrs. Hill's Ladies Millinery Shop, also circa early 1900s. The ever-important Masonic hall occupied the top floor of Elliott's.

Former boarding house

The current site of Season's House was the original site of G.B. Wright's residence of 1863. It became the Hudson Bay Co. Factor's residence in 1867 and much later, in 1919, a boarding house known as the Travelers Rest. Miss Sally Thompson, a spinster and owner-operator of the establishment, had many admirers who frequently brought her wild game and birds to serve at her table. In an age before electric refrigerators, Miss Thomspson found it hard to keep up with these gifts, and sometimes had to resort to burying the offerings in her garden.

Lower Front St

The empty lot next to the Hudson's Bay building held the Bank of British Columbia buiding between 1864 and 1866. Next to this structure was the office of Gold Commissioner Peter O'Reilly. When he was transferred in 1864, the building became Barnard's Express and Goudie's General Store. The lower end of Front Street held James Reid's sawmill and gristmill during the same 1870s era.

SS Enterprise boiler

This is the boiler from the first steamship to arrive in Quesnel. G.B. Wright launched this ship near Alexandria in 1863. The Enterprise was one of 12 paddle wheelers to travel the Fraser River between Soda Creek and Quesnel to haul miners, ranchers, businesses, and their supplies to the Cariboo. An information board, next to the Enterprise's boiler details a brief history of the machinery and of steamship travel on the Fraser River

John Strand Park

This small park is named to honour the Norwegian carpenter and construction worker, who built many of Quesnel's early buildings, including the Cariboo Hotel, Catholic church, SS Quesnel Sternwheeler and Quesnel's first hospital. This site, on the corner of Front St and Carson Ave, is also where James Reid built his large, fully stocked general store in the early 1870s. Reid had been a successful miner of the 1860s, and invested his wealth in the community of Quesnel. At one time he owned several businesses including the store, a sawmill, a flour/grist mill, shares in several paddle wheelers, and his own ship, the SS Charlotte. Reid was elected as a Federal Member for the Cariboo in 1881, and became a Senator in 1888. Following his death, a nephew, George Cowan, purchased the Reid store, and operated it as Cowan's Hardware. The building was one of many to perish in the disastrous fire of 1916, but was quickly rebuilt by Cowan, this time with clay bricks, made by the Quesnel Brick Company.

Occidental Hotel

Back in the very earliest days of settlement in 1865, this site housed the Occidental Hotel. During the gold rush, Quesnel served as a welcomed rest spot on the Cariboo Wagon Road and Hugh Gillis and Thomas Brown built the Occidental Hotel to cater to the comforts of weary miners as they made their way to the gold-rich creeks. The hotel was sold in 1907, to Edward Kepner of Seattle, who tore down the old building, and built Quesnel's first 4-story structure, containing 100 rooms. The new hotel boasted a large, well appointed dining room complete with bar and billiard table. Unfortunately this beautiful building was also consumed in the fire of 1916, and was not rebuilt. Edward Kepner was ruined financially, and returned to Seattle. In 1922, a local businessman, William T. Ewing, bough the lot, and also the defunct Anglican Church boarding school which was built in 1913 and located on upper Kinchant St. Ewing moved this building down to the Front St site and in 1925, after much renovation, the hotel re-opened as the new British American Hotel. Just days after opening, Mr. Ewing passed away. A later owner, Percy Elsey, in 1930, renamed it the Quesnel Hotel.

T. Marion store site

The 1916 stopped just short of Telesphore Marion's store, which was situated in the parking lot next to the Cariboo Hotel. Mr. Marion, a French Canadian, built his general store in 1894, unique for being the first self serve outlet in the Cariboo. Sitting in a very high chair, he could watch his customers choose their groceries, ensuring their honesty with his constant view. Mr. Marion enjoyed being the first in Quesnel to acquire new and modern inventions. he owned the town's inaugural car, and the first gramophone, which he played for the enjoyment of the public from his second story balcony. In 1933, Alex Moffat purchased the Marion building and established the Northern hardware Store.

Wah Lee & Co Store

At the present site of Scotiabank, Chinese entrepreneur Wah Lee owned a combination of stores, restaurants, and rooming houses from 1867 to 1939. Wah Lee's nephews, the Keen brothers succeeded him, and this family continues to operate the business of Keen's Sports, on Reid St.

C.D. Hoy Restaurant and Boarding House

The first recorded businesses at this site were the Chuie Yen Bakery Laundry, Restaurant and Bathhouse. In 1910 Chow Dong Hoy purchased an adjoining store, and after making renovations and additions, opened it as the C.D. Hoy Restaurant and Boarding House. this building burned down in 1921, but Mr. Hoy immediately rebuilt. By the 1950s he had amalgamated his several buildings into one large department store, containing grocery, hardware, dry goods, and ladies wear sections.

C.D. Hoy residence

This house was built for C.D. Hoy, his wife, and 12 children. Of frame construction, with a full cement basement and many tons of plaster on the walls, it is one of the very few stately houses built during the depression era. Among his many other enterprises, Mr. Hoy was a gifted photographer, and his unique photos of Cariboo residents taken during the early 1900s have recently attracted international notice. You can see them in the Hoy photographic exhibit at the Quesnel Museum.

Government Building and Court

The Provincial Government offices and law courts were built in 1965. In earlier times the Richfield Court House in Barkerville held the Cariboo's important court cases. By 1912, the population of Barkerville had declined, and the law courts were moved to Quesnel. The first Quesnel Court House was built in 1914 on this same site, and over the years many famous cases have been tried here by prestigious judges.