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Town site
Circa 1905
Upper Keremeos, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, Canada

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Not counting the Hudson's Bay fort, there have been four different town sites bearing the name Keremeos. George Kirby came to Keremeos in 1898. More accurately, he came and started the town of Keremeos. Kirby came to Canada, from England, in 1892. At the invitation of his brother Stanley, he went to the Mission at Kelowna, and from there to Fairview, where he worked as a bookkeeper at the Stemwinder Mine. He left in time to avoid the typhoid epidemic when it broke out there.

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Kirby's store
1890-1910
Upper Keremeos, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, Canada
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Credits:
Keremeos Museum

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Taking up a large tract of land at the base of Shuttleworth Creek, Kirby sold lots for a town site. However, the location was less than ideal, since the land was swampy; in 1900 the town was shifted a short distance across the valley to Upper Keremeos, so named for its higher elevation.
This settlement was quite a good size. As well as Kirby's store, which housed the post office, there was the Innis Palace Livery barn, Sam McCurdy's butcher shop, Pete Bromley's smithy, Bullock-Webster's real estate office and the Barcelo Hotel. There was also a bakery, a land office, the community hall, and the school.

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Sam McCurdy in his butcher shop along with George Cawston
Circa 1900
Upper Keremeos, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, Canada

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Kirby did not escape the typhoid entirely; he and his four daughters - Violet, Louise, Marguerite, and Mildred - all came down with it when the epidemic struck Upper Keremeos. His wife, Frances, helped with nursing during this time. To add to the trouble, their young son George, born in 1901, found matches and burnt the store down. His fire insurance having expired, Kirby added on to his house, turning it into a hotel.

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The original Kirby Hotel
1912
Upper Keremeos, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, Canada
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8

The old coach road from Penticton to Keremeos
1910-1930
Green Mountain Road, British Columbia, Canada
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The first Welby stage, a three-seat democrat
1902
Green Mountain Road, British Columbia, Canada
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10

Shortly after the road to Nickel Plate Mine was put through, Green Mountain Road was connected to Horn Lake Road, making a link with Keremeos. While the freighters usually stayed overnight, stage passengers would stop for lunch at L.A. Clark's Green Mountain House, and then continue on to Keremeos to spend the night, before catching another stage to Hedley. W.E. Welby ran the mail stage for a few years, starting in 1902. Haliburton Tweddle also had a stage that ran three days a week; he took over the mail contract after Welby.

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Welby's "Flyer" stagecoach, preparing to leave on its run to Penticton
1912
Keremeos, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, Canada
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Tweddle's stage at Inglewood Ranch
Circa 1912
Keremeos, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, Canada
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Tweddle and several others took advantage of the heavy mining traffic through the valley by building hotels and stores near where F.X. Richter's Inglewood Ranch house stood. This town site, Keremeos Centre, had the large Central Hotel and livery barn, jointly owned by Tweddle and his partner, Jim Reith, Richter's Hall and general store, Inglewood Supply, and also the blacksmith shop of Pete Bromley.

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The First Central Hotel, which burned down in 1902
Circa 1902
Keremeos Centre, Similkameen Valley, British Columbia, Canada