Greenwood is home to some of the most well-preserved period architecture in British Columbia. Our turn of the century past can still be enjoyed today in the many wonderful Victorian era homes, commercial, and public buildings scattered throughout the city.
From 1897 to 1907, many commercial buildings were raised to house the hotels, offices and retails shops needed to support the community springing up from the mining boom. At that time, Greenwood was the economic hub of the Boundary region, with more than 100 business enterprises in operation.
Although a number of buildings standing today were built to replace those destroyed by fire early in the century, a wonderful collection of original structures still stand, refurbished and maintaining their Victorian era character.
Read more from the Greenwood Heritage Walk
Greenwood was just one of dozens of mining towns which sprang up in the boundary country of southern BC in the late 1800s and early 1900s. This would have been one of the earliest buildings to have been built in Greenwood that still stands. The first tenant was the aforementioned Morellos Frazee, who operated a grocery store and bakery out of the building for many years.
201 S. Government - The Frazee Block c.1897
(Greenwood Fire Hall)
This building is a fine example of the common construction in mining boom towns at the turn of the 19th century. Such buildings went up as quickly as possible, often within a month using locally obtained materials. Morellos Frazee was the first tenant who ran a bakery and grocery store. This was #10 building during the internment years of World War II and in 1942 14 families lived in the building. When the original schoolhouse burnt down on New Year's Eve 1951 the bottom section was used for temporary classrooms.
From the Greenwood Heritage Walk
The Frazee Block
Interment Building #10
Built around 1897, this is a perfect example of one of the most common methods and styles of construction in mining towns at the turn-of-the-century. Buildings went up as quickly as possible, often within a month, using locally obtained materials.
During the internment years of the Second World War the Frazee Block became Building #10. In the basement was a bathhouse. Laundry sinks were installed on the first and second floors. When the original town school burned down in the early 50s, it became a temporary school.
Today the Frazee Block is home of the
Greenwood Volunteer Fire Department. At the original 1898 firehall on Long Street (since destroyed by fire) firefighters used hose carts and hook-and-ladder trucks. The fire bell, which is on display at City Hall, was part of an elaborate town-wide alarm system. There was even a fire hydrant downtown.
From the plaque on the building
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