Queens Bay church marks centennial
by Greg Nesteroff - Nelson Star
posted Apr 28, 2015 at 1:00 AM
One of West Kootenay’s most picturesque churches is turning 100. The aptly-named St. Francis-in-the-Woods, tucked in the trees just off Highway 3A in Queens Bay, is today a community centre, used for weddings, memorials, dances, craft fairs, exercise classes, parties, and other social events.
Construction on what was originally called All Hallows Church began in 1914 on land deeded by the Bashford family. A history compiled by Haroldine Copp says Harry Scott Lauder was “chiefly responsible for its design and construction.”
Hubert Mahood donated cedar for the foundations from his property, a considerable distance from the site, while Nelson merchants donated most of the other building materials.
Nearly everyone in Queens Bay was involved somehow: prominent residents like the Aylmers, Attrees, Symonds, and Porteus family all helped provide for it, while Stephen Hollingworth handcrafted the altar, font, and pews in his mountainside workshop.
Electricity arrived [in 1938], but the church continued to be heated with a huge stove.
Rev. William Edington, who arrived in 1956, recalled the stove “used to get red hot and then it would start to waltz. I am sure if it had not been wired down it would have traversed the whole length of the church. The last time I saw the old tin stove from Queens Bay it was resting in the ravine behind the church, after many years of faithful service.”
The Queens Bay Residents Association began talking to the Anglican Diocese about acquiring the building and eventually bought it for $1 on the promise it would never be sold to anyone else — if the association ever folds, the property reverts to the church.
The building underwent extensive repairs. “About 1999, we really went to town,” Nancy Corrin says. “The floors and front porch were rotting. It’s not supported underneath very well. People crawled under that space and insulated the floor.”
Master cabinet maker John Burton made new moldings where needed, closely matching the originals, while the porch was pulled up, the altar area redone, and the building rewired. In 2000, the former church officially reopened as a community hall.
From The Nelson Star