Needles Past

Needles, B.C. (Narrows in the novel) was merely a connecting point for the ferry run that crossed the two Arrow Lakes at their narrowest spot. It was a roadside community with a one-pump gas station, a general store and a mini hotel. It would have been nearly impossible to count the town’s houses –Ten? Twelve? They were almost all surrounded by dense evergreens, on the side of a steeply ascending mountain. The little green schoolhouse where I taught grades four, five and six, was directly above the town, accessed by a circuitous narrow dirt road. No typical pathway ascended that steep mountainside.

Needles General Store

Needles Ferry Landing

Needles Garage and Needles Hotel

There must have been a sense of time almost standing still in 1951: the ever-increasing post-war industrial growth hadn’t affected that community. Not then and, as it turned out, not ever.
How I wish I could have gone there just once more before the Keenleyside dam waters rose up and vanquished that entire complex micro heritage! And said hello just once more to those kindly faces, etched into my memory.

The photos were made available through the courtesy of Milton & Rosemarie Parent: Arrow Lakes Historical Society