Old Kelowna
Richter Street Kelowna, BC, Canada

Dollar day bargains in old Kelowna circa 1918.

A great 1970's aerial shot kindly shared with Old Kelowna by Bruce Brown. The old People's Food Market is in the centre of the photo with Gordon Ave running left to right.

Entrance to the Okanagan Zoo off Hwy 97 close to where the Real Canadian Superstore is now located. Family photo from Deborah-Ann Yvonne Miller whose parents owned the zoo.

Postcard picturing what the school bus looked like for some Okanagan school children during the 1920's. This bus was from the Vernon school district. Image from the SFU Library Digital Collection of postcards http://digital.lib.sfu.ca

Postcard titled "Landing Stage and Lake, Kelowna, B.C." shows the S.S. Sicamous with the Aquatic Building and Grandstands in the background. Circa 1920's image from the SFU Library Digital Collection of postcards http://digital.lib.sfu.ca

1990's postcard of Kelowna's old floating bridge. Image from delcampe.net

Winter 1925 view of the Kelowna to Vernon highway (now Hwy 97) alongside a frozen Wood Lake (this part of the old highway is now the Pelmewash Parkway). Greater Vernon Museum and Archives photo #1356

Thanks to Betty Elliott (via Brock Tully) for sharing this blast from the past with us! Photo is off the back of a record from Brock & friends coffeehouse and was released back in 1977 (Private Pressing). The album of folk music was titled: Brock & Friends Coffeehouse: A Birth Of Friendships/ A Growth Of Music. Who else enjoyed a bite to eat and a coffee along with some live folk music back in the 1970s?

Thanks again to Robin Hemmet for this share of an Old Kelowna postcard image. The postcard shows the toll booths that were located on the west side of the old f...loating bridge which was the first of its kind in Canada. The tolls were in place from the bridge's opening in July, 1958, until April 1, 1963 and helped pay the cost of construction which was $7.5 million. See more

Looks a lot different today!

Facing a Christmas/Holiday season like no other in our lifetimes, we pause to reflect on what Christmas was like when Father Pandosy arrived in 1859. Thanks to reporter Carli Berry and her timely article about Father Pandosy’s first Okanagan Christmas, we can do that.

This is a repost of an awesome 1953 family photo from Donna Hagel-Eathorne. Pictured are her dad Jim and his brother Peter in front of their business - the Hage...l Brothers Garage. Everyone's favourite fish & chip joint the Shady Rest is in the background to the left (note the stairs up to their rooftop patio). Thanks again for sharing Donna! See more

A favourite spot for many folks over the years!

1928 view to the south from Westside Road with the ferry docks visible in the center of the photo. Image from the City of Vancouver Public Archives.- http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/ 2014 Google street view showing similar view.

What was your favourite Chinese food restaurant when you were growing up in old Kelowna?

This wonderful share from Alison Patenaude dates back to the late 1920's and shows the small refreshment stand at the Westside (Westbank) ferry dock. On the building there are signs advertising the Royal Anne Hotel (hard to make out all the wording but some of what the sign says: Kelowna - Two Blocks From Ferry, Ladies Rest Room, Free Garage), Turret Cigarettes and the Willow Inn. Thanks for sharing this great old Kelowna photo with us Alison!

Thanks to Jim Loseth for sharing these pics of his grandfather Wilfred Farrow of Farrow's Corner Supply Grocery (pic is 1949) which was located at 2801 Pandosy Street. The car his grandfather is proudly standing with was a 1959 West German made Auto Union 1000S which was the immediate predecessor of Audi as it is known today. We love seeing these family photos of old Kelowna!

Some of your shopping choices available in old Kelowna.

Shopping for deals at Kelowna's Super-Valu in 1971.

Peachland's "downtown" as it looked in the 1910s.

Thanks as always to Steven James for sharing this great aerial look at old Kelowna circa 1930!

#FlashbackFriday takes us to the 1940s and this view from the foot of Bernard Avenue.

Let's take a flight down south to Penticton in the early 1960s.

Lots of fun was had up at Last Mountain!

Mission Creek where it empties into Okanagan Lake 1948-2014.

We are sure a few of us have experience with climbing picking ladders.

Happy Thanksgiving to all our fans and followers! 2020 has given us unprecedented challenges but we still have much to be thankful for!

#ThrowbackThursday is this view of Kelowna's Bernard Avenue looking west. Postcard from the mid 1920's with a postmark of 1928 available on ebay.ca 2015. Kindly shared by Fred Fleck.

What's your favourite fruit stand memory?

Thanks again to Marcel Houde for sharing this reminder of one of our favourite memories!

Wonder if we will see ice on the lake this year?

Another great spot for memories on Bernard Ave.

Who else took their swimming lessons at Cold Sands beach?

Who else remembers shopping at Meikle's Department store at the corner of Bernard Ave and Water Street? (current location of Blenz Coffee)

#WaybackWednesday takes us shopping during the 1960s at the Super Valu at 555 Bernard Ave!

Image at top is aerial view of Rutland from 1946 showing Hwy 33 (left to right at the bottom of the photo) and the old Rutland airstrip. Belgo Elementary now sits over top part of the old airstrip. Google Earth view for comparison is from 2017.

Who else remembers this family attraction from the west side?

#FlashbackFriday takes us to Kelowna's City Park and this view of the totem pole that used to grace its grounds.

This is what Westbank's waterfront looked like in 1925!

Thanks to Joe Harder for sharing this hand tinted postcard showing Long Lake and Coldstream District from the late 1920s - early 1930s. Officially the name Long Lake (Kalamalka) was adopted on the 11th of January, 1922, and it was changed to Kalamalka Lake on the 7th of February, 1951. Kalamalka Chronicles

#ThrowbackThursday takes to the air for this 1960 view of our fair city.

Any KSS grads from 1964 out there?

Bicycle, horse and (or) buggy or (if you were rich) one of those new fangled automobiles... these were your choices if you didn't want to walk in those early days. Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Truly a different look at Coldstream's Kal Beach! Vintage Vernon BC Kalamalka Chronicles

Any Old Kelowna member know the history of the old car wreck in Myra Canyon at Galloping Trail and Fairlane Trail? Let’s help out FOSS.

1960's postcard from the Kenogan Court Motel. Back in the 1950's most motels were know as auto courts. The following info is from an interesting Daily Courier a...rticle by Robert M. Hayes: "Kelowna had several auto courts, including: Franklin Auto Court, Kenogan Auto Court, Lakeshore Auto Court, McCarthy Auto Court (Rutland), Orchard City Auto Court, Pendozi Auto Court, and Red Top Auto Court. Several of these auto courts were located on what is now Gordon Drive, west of the Capri Centre mall." see the whole article here http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca//article_4a092f4a-2c39-5 Image from auction site delcampe.net See more

#WayBackWednesday takes us to 1958 and one of the sights you would see on a trip down to the Lower Mainland via the paved Hope-Princeton Highway, which was completed in 1950.

All aboard the Kettle Valley Railroad!

KGH as it looked in the late 1940s.