The three major buildings used to house the interned Japanese Canadians were the Kaslo Hotel and the Langham Hotel, as well as St. Andrew's United Church, which served as a sanctuary for them beginning in 1942. It is likely that other buildings, no longer extant, may have housed the internees, as well.
The
Langham Hotel, now known as the Langham Cultural Centre, is the only hotel built during Kaslo's boom years that has survived. In the interim it has been, among other things, a bank, a bottling works, and a lumber office, and presently serves as a museum and a cultural centre. During World War II it provided housing for interned Japanese-Canadian citizens. By the mid 1970s the building was derelict and in danger of demolition, but was rescued at the 11th hour and restored to its present splendour.
The Langham Hotel is now viewed as a "
monument to the Japanese Canadian internment that occurred between 1942 and 1946 in Kaslo". Part of the second storey has been given over to a small museum recounting the story of the internment of Canadians of Japanese descent during the second world war. In the museum are many story-boards, photos and texts which relate the story, as well as a small amount of artefacts pertinent to the locale and the era.
Built in 1896, the original
Kaslo Hotel was considered very grand for its time. Kaslo was a bustling community of 5,000 residents with gold, silver, and lead mining. The community had a brewery and several saloons. Over the years, the busy mining and logging industries declined, as did the population of Kaslo. The hotel fell into disrepair and closed in the 1920s, and then was acquired by the village for non-payment of taxes. It was utilized from 1942 to 1945 as accommodation for Japanese-Canadian internees being relocated from western British Columbia. At one point, about 200 individuals, including many children, were housed in the deteriorated structure. The hotel burned and was razed in 1950.
A new Kaslo Hotel was constructed and opened in 1958 on the original site overlooking Kootenay Lake. It operated continuously, changing its name to the Mariner Hotel in 1981. The hotel was closed for extensive renovation in 2006, and opened again to guests in early 2009 as the Kaslo Hotel.
Built as a Presbyterian church, Robertson Presbyterian Church,
St. Andrew's United Church was completed in 1893. Renamed St. Andrew's in 1900, this remained a Presbyterian Church until 1925. In that year, with
Church Union in Canada
St. Andrew's United Church, part of Kootenay Presbytery, was formed from the union of St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church and the local Methodist church.
Dating from 1893, Kaslo's oldest church was built with donations and volunteer labour under the direction of Rev. D. M. Martin. Rev. Martin worked his claims during the week and came to Kaslo on weekends. The interior of the church was completed and the bell was installed in 1896. The Presbyterian congregation joining with the Methodist Church became St. Andrew's United Church in 1925. It welcomed the Japanese Canadians in 1942 and they held regular services in Japanese under Rev. Shimizu.
From Nelson - Kootenay Lake
INTERNMENT OF JAPANESE CANADIANS
In February of 1942, during World War II some 21,000 Canadians of Japanese descent, living on the B.C. Coast were stripped of their civil rights, uprooted and interned by the Federal Government. Their properties, businesses and community facilities were confiscated and sold without consent. While most were later forced to disperse across Canada, some 4,000 were exiled to Japan.
These innocent and loyal Canadians did not pose a threat to national security but were victims of racism and political expediency.
The loss of rights lasted until April 1st, 1949. four years after the war was over when Japanese Canadians were finally free to return to the coast.
Various "ghost towns" in the B.C. Interior, such as Slocan and Sandon, were selected as internment centres. Approximately 12,000 Japanese Canadians were sent to this area to be confined in hastily constructed, substandard dwellings for the duration of the war.
New Denver and Kaslo also became internment centres. 'This building, abandoned in 1912, was used to house Japanese Canadians.
May this plaque stand as a memorial to the courage and faith of Japanese Canadians who endured and overcame the injustices of the 1940s.
August 6, 1988.
From a bronze plaque at the Langham Cultural Centre
Kaslo Internment Site
Description of Historic Place
Kaslo is a small community in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia, located approximately 70 kilometres north of Nelson on the west shore of Kootenay Lake, within the Regional District of Central Kootenay.
Heritage Value
The Village of Kaslo has historic, aesthetic, spiritual and cultural value as an enduring record of its association with the Japanese Canadian internment between 1942 and 1945 during which families were uprooted, their rights as Canadian citizens removed, and their possessions taken and sold.
With internees arriving in early 1942, Kaslo is important as one of the internment camps situated in re-purposed former Kootenay mining towns located outside the 100-mile coastal restricted zone. Over 22,000 Japanese Canadians were incarcerated in camps during World War II after being forcibly uprooted and dispossessed through a federal order-in-council administered by the BC Security Commission. Internees began arriving in Kaslo in the spring of 1942.
The use of abandoned former mining town buildings for housing internees in Kaslo illustrates the need to find remote buildings that could be used as housing as quickly as possible. Fifty-two buildings were leased by the BC Security Commission, including the Kaslo Hotel and the Langham Hotel, most of which were in decrepit condition and needed considerable renovation to be habitable. Conditions were dormitory-like and without cooking facilities, and with internees often living in basements.
As with other internment camps, Kaslo is significant for the integration of the internees with the local population. While propaganda encouraged suspicion of the almost 1,000 new residents, which during the time of internment was two-thirds of the local population, the town was able to adapt. Thirty acres of land were set aside for a garden to be maintained by Japanese Canadians, and the Security Commission and The BCSC and Provincial Game Department stocked the lake with fish and provided work in wood cutting, construction, maintenance and gardening.
Kaslo is significant for being the location of the offices of The New Canadian, the only newspaper permitted for Japanese Canadians. The influential publication documents Japanese Canadian wartime experiences first-hand, it was anti-racist and pro-justice and it championed the postwar fight for justice and redress. A lifeline to the Japanese Canadian community, it provided news of friends and family members scattered across the province.
Reacting to the provincial government's refusal to be responsible for the education of the uprooted children, Kaslo is notable for being the location of the first organized school. To Japanese Canadians, who attach great value to education, the situation was alarming, but solved through citizen organization and resourcefulness.
Kaslo has historic value for the still-existing buildings related to internment, including the Langham Hotel and St. Andrew's United Church. The Langham Hotel is important to Kaslo because it is the only one of the hotels erected during the mining boom and bust era that still exists in its original form. It stands as a monument to the Japanese Canadian internment, particularly through its use as the Japanese Canadian Museum. Formally opened in 1993, the museum keeps alive the stories of the Japanese Canadians, and acts as a commemorative space for the Japanese Canadian families who lived there during the war time.
St. Andrew's was constructed in 1893. Because many of the internees were members of The United Church of Canada, the internees felt right at home and felt safe. The church people in St. Andrew's were considered compassionate, open, helpful, welcoming et al to the internees. A brass plaque which is affixed at the door of St. Andrew's recognizes the church as being a sanctuary for the interned Japanese-Canadians beginning in 1942.
Like all internment sites, Kaslo has the ability to evoke the memories and stories of the Japanese Canadians who lived there, assisting with the education and understanding about what happened in B.C. during World War II. Recognition of each internment camp acknowledges Japanese Canadian struggles, tenacity and resilience.
Character-Defining Elements
Not applicable
From Historic Places Canada