Moyie Fire Hall - Moyie, BC - Photos Then and Now on Waymarking.com

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Moyie Fire Hall - Moyie, BC

in Photos Then and Now

Posted by:  T0SHEA

11U E 584822 N 5460249

Along Highway 3/95 in the tiny village of Moyie, this fire hall, built in 1907, has been unused for the majority of its life.

If it weren't for a Catholic Priest named Father P.N.J. de Coccola, there may never have been a St. Eugene Mine, and if there had never been a St. Eugene Mine, there might never had been the town of Moyie.

It was the Father, anxious to generate income for his mission, who encouraged the local natives to bring him samples of any shiny minerals they may find in the area. It was one “Pielle” Tête de Fer (or "Ironhead") who produced a promising sample. Led by the native to the hill above what is now Moyie, the Father, James Cronin, a Spokane-based developer, and Pielle each staked claims on the ground. The claims proved to be very rich and Pielle and Coccola shortly cashed out, selling their claims for $12,000. The Father used his share to build St.Peter's church in Moyie and to build a hospital.

The St. Eugene mine erected on the claims proved rich enough that a town soon developed and by 1900 reached a population of 1,000. The St. Eugene began operations in 1897 and the railroad reached Moyie in 1898, ensuring prosperity for the foreseeable future.

In 1907 the St. Eugene Mine was described by the Canadian Department of Mines as being "...the most important silver-lead mine in Canada.". Output from the mines had peaked by 1905 and dwindled each year until the mines' closure in 1913. This, of course, devastated Moyie, which quickly shrank to a small fraction of its previous size. During the years of their operation, the St Eugene and others on the mountain produced a total of 115,000 tons of lead and 167 tons of silver.

Moyie today is a sleepy little retirement town with a general store, a pub and restaurant, a nice little museum, and not much more. It does, however, still possess some important heritage buildings, one of which is the fire hall.

Built just after the town's zenith, the little wood framed fire hall was apparently already abandoned by 1955 and, in the photo, looks like it had already been abandoned for some time by then. A guess would be that it was abandoned in the 1930s, possibly even earlier.

Commissioned on September 20th, 1907, the 34 foot tall bell/hose drying tower was added two years later. Notice that the fire bell still hangs in the tower. Later photos show that the building had been restored sometime between 1965 and the present, but sufficiently long ago that it is again in need of restoration, or at least another coat of paint.