News Leader News
POLICE REPORT SUCCESS WITH DRUG CRACK DOWN
Princeton RCMP has just completed a very comprehensive and lengthy drug project which ran from December 2005 to March 2006.
During this project over a dozen local area residents, plus several out-of-towners, were arrested and charged for various drug offenses including possession, possession for the purpose of trafficking and production of a controlled substance.
During the project 17 people were also arrested and charged for impaired driving.
"This project involved the execution of several search warrants on a number of homes within the community," says Princeton RCMP Detachment Commander Sgt. Kurt Lozinski.
During this project police netted several large quantities of marijuana, cocaine, ecstacy, methamphetamine, steroids and money. The project also identified a group of people within the community involved in child pornography.
"This project required a tremendous commitment from every police officer," Lozinski says.
"As part of our commitment to 'safe homes and safe communities' every member volunteered a great deal of their own time."
Dealing with all aspects of drug activity is the Princeton Detachment's number one priority.
"With the continued help and support from the community we can continue to address these problems and predators with incarceration or displacement out of our community."
Anyone with information pertaining to drug activity is encouraged to contact the Princeton Detachment at (250) 295-6911 or CrimeStoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.
THE 'REAL' STORY BEHIND THE HOTEL
by Nick Mills - Operations Manager Princeton Museum and Archives
The first hotel built in Princeton was a rooming house built and operated by a Chinaman called Ah Tuk. It was a log building on Bridge Street, close to the Tulameen River. All that local history has to report is that it stood until it fell or was pulled down. It is believed that Ah Tuk was one of a number of Chinese that left Town and were attracted to Granite Creek following the Gold Rush there in 1885.
The Wallace House is generally regarded as the first hotel to be built in Princeton and occupied the space where the Fields building stands today.
It was a large two-story building, built by Jim Wallace in 1899 it cost of about $10,000 and when the building burnt down on March 12th, 1911, much of the stock and furnishings were rescued from the flames.
This was known as the Princeton Hotel and was the original building of that name in the Community. An Austrian, Yoza Djekovic, known to everyone as Joe the Austrian, lost his life in that fire which it was believed started in a cupboard where candles were kept for the convenience of guests.
Jim Wallace was a colorful character in the early history of Princeton; he died here on March 18th 1928.
Then came the Jackson House, another log building, erected in the spring of 1899 by John Henry Jackson almost on the exact site of the present day fire.
Jackson was born in New York. After some years of living in Montana he moved to Nelson, BC, in 1849. There he met George Aldous and came with him to Princeton in 1898. They were partners in many mining ventures, but in 1906 he sold his Hotel to Al Manley and Pete Swanson. Jackson then opened a store in Tulameen that he sold to Joe Schubert who ran it until 1928. Aldous, together with his partner Jack Budd - the friend of the infamous George Edwards alias Billy Miner, built the first Tulameen Hotel in Princeton on land now occupied by Curves Ladies Fitness Club. It burned down in 1904.
When Al Manley and Pete Swanson bought the Jackson House in 1906 it was renamed the Great Northern Hotel after the railway that was pushing its way up the Similkameen Valley from the United States. Swanson, a Swede by birth, bought Manley out in 1910 and became the sole proprietor.
On Friday March 1st, 1912, fire struck again and destroyed the famous landmark. This time the loss was estimated to be in the region of $17,000.
The Princeton Hotel, as today's local residents knew it, was opened on December 1st, 1912.
Pete Swanson and Alex Broomfield became partners in the construction of what was originally planned to be a timber-framed building, but upon Broomfield's insistence it was built of a red brick, shipped into town from the Idaho Brick and Lime Company.
It was in 1906 that Broomfieldhad been partners with Bill Garrison in a Midway livery business and had first driven Swanson, then a Midway hotel owner, to Princeton. It was from that meeting the partnership first flourished.
And so it was, with little fuss or ceremony the Princeton Hotel, construction of which had only begun in April of that year, first opened its doors for business on December 1st, 1912.
The original register showed that one Sam G. McCelland, traveler for Smith, Davidson and Wright, was the first paying guest, although under the same date an entry also read John D. Rockefeller - New York!
The Hotel consisted of forty modern rooms and the block also included a Bank of Montreal, Doctors Offices, Tobacco Store, Sample Rooms for Commercial use and Dining Rooms. In 1985 the owners changed the accommodation, modernizing to 12 rooms and 12 suites. From the day it was opened the Hotel was licensed, except during the period of prohibition from 1916 until 1929.
In July 1914, Pete Swanson passed away and Alex Broomfield became the sole owner and in 1929 he appointed Roy Curran to manage the Hotel.
On Wednesday May 17th, 1930, an electrical short circuit was cited as the cause of a fire that severely damaged the Princeton Hotel. It was at 4:00 AM the blaze broke out, but although the damage was contained to the southwest corner, water damage was extensive. It was discovered by a Mr. Nicol Thompson who at that time was one of the best known mining figures in BC, who along with Manager Curran lost a few personal items, but all personnel exited the building safely.
The Bank of Montreal quarters were damaged by water and were temporarily abandoned; the Bank was forced into doing their business elsewhere in improvised premises. The stationery and confectionary store had most of their stock and fixtures damaged by water also, whilst the Princeton Cafe, immediately under the hotspot, was completely washed out. The Town's telephone exchange, run by the BC Telephone Company, also situated under the burning part, was put in jeopardy. The damage was eventually repaired and the Princeton Hotel continued in business. In view of current events it is interesting to quote the newspaper and the May 8th edition of The Princeton Star - "The fire was difficult to combat. While the excellent structure of the building, and especially the brick walls, held the flames it diverted them between the walls and under the roof and it was necessary to break through the plaster to get at it. The heavily tarred roof sent back clouds of dense and nauseating smoke which was very trying for the hose men."
In March 1945, Alex Broomfield sold the Princeton Hotel to a Robert Hunter of Vancouver, who in December of that same year sold it again to Mickey King and Charles Reda, both of Vancouver. During his short period of ownership Hunter and his wife had been resident at the Hotel and having sold, departed to the warmer climate of California.
Under the headline Princeton Progresses in February 1949 it was reported in the Similkameen Star that besides a new Cook's Store was being planned, comfort was to be enhanced for patrons at the Capitol movie theatre, Robertson's Cleaners now had a green neon sign outside its premises (!), there was news about two of Princeton's Hotels.
The first item said that the new owners of the Tulameen Hotel (It had been rebuilt after the 1904 fire) had taken no time in remodeling the old landmark, but the second and more important Hotel news was that the Princeton Hotel had recently opened a new wing and now with the added elegance was considered one of the best appointed hotels in the interior of BC. Finesse is the finest and in excellent restful taste with luxurious imported carpets, the latest in plumbing, the very best in beds and linen and all steel furniture.
The downstairs quarters had been remodeled sometime previously.
On August 11th, 1971 the Hotel was purchased by G and T Ventures and Don Glover was appointed manager and others were involved in part ownership at this time.
It was November 1980, that a young couple sold their Orchard in Cawston, taking a gamble and with help with $170,000 worth of finance Steve Brodie, his then-wife Carole, and their six children moved to Princeton to take on the new challenges that the Princeton Hotel had to offer them in the following 25 years.
The rest, as they say, is now history.
