Townsite
Facts and stats
By Heidi Sullivan
The Townsite is celebrating its centennial this year. Here some facts about the Townsite that you may or may not know.
- Powell River had the first Chartered Credit Union in BC. It opened in 1939 with total deposits of $48.30, made by local mill workers.
- Powell River had the first radio/telephone in BC in 1930 and the first dial phones in BC in 1921.
- Powell River had the first medical plan. The Employee Sick Benefit Society, was introduced by Dr. Andrew Henderson in 1910, with a deduction of one dollar from each man's pay envelope.
- Powell River's pulp mill is still the oldest operating mill in Canada. Building of the mill began in 1908 and the first roll of paper was produced in 1912.
- At that time, one in every 25 newspapers used paper from this mill.
- Built in 1928, the Patricia Theatre is the oldest continuously operating movie theatre in Canada.
- The highway through Powell River (Highway 101) and the Townsite, is the longest highway, stretching 9,312 miles (15,020kms) from Lund, through the Unite States, ending at Chile's south coast.
- St. Luke's Hospital was built in 1913 for Dr. Henderson, the first practicing physician in Powell River.
- Willingdon Beach, originally named Michigan Landing, was renamed for Governor General Lord Willingdon in 1927, after squatters were removed by the Powell River Company. Willingdon Beach then became a family park.
