For history buffs, the 153 Mile store is one of the nation’s treasures. There are few like it. It opened in 1900 on what is now the Patenaude Ranch and the building and over 3,000 stock items have been frozen in time since it closed in 1963.
The historic store is in the news again as there are plans afoot to move it to the 108 Heritage site. I have mixed feelings about this.
A few years ago Williams Lake council made plans to move the building and its contents to Pinchbeck Park overlooking the Stampede Grounds, and establishing a Heritage Park there.
Those plans fell through, and the acquisition of the store fell off council’s agenda. I’m really delighted the 100 Mile and District Historical Society has taken on the task of preserving the precious store and ensuring the public will have access to it, but part of me nags that it could have been here.
The Williams Lake district doesn’t have an historical society.
We have the Cariboo Chilcotin Museum Society but that isn’t quite the same thing.
A museum focuses on the specific history of somewhere or something and acquires and exhibits appropriate artifacts.
An historical society usually has a wider reach. For instance Williams Lake began with the gold rush but it has always been known more as a cow town, and while our museum doesn’t ignore the gold rush, it focuses more on the ranching history.
Whatever. The 153 Mile Store needs to be where the public has access, and if it can’t be here, certainly the 108 Heritage site is an appropriate home for it. Our loss.
Williams Lake has been lucky, so far, in avoiding disasters, like floods and wildfires. We’ve only had heat or nasty smoke to complain about.
READ MORE: Historic gold rush-era 153 Mile Store to be moved to 108 Heritage Site
READ MORE: HAPHAZARD HISTORY: The great Cariboo road controversy
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