Type Archives | Page 3 of 6 | British Columbia’s Black Pioneers

Plaque commemorating the arrival of the Pioneer Committee on April 25, 1858

The goal of the Pioneer Committee was to confirm that this British Colony was, as promised, a place where they could live without fear and live with equality […]

Courage, Hope, Anticipation, Confidence is reflected in the faces of these intrepid Black pioneers

These are a few of the men, women and children who had an indelible effect on Colonial B.C. and the future of British Columbia. Top L-R: Nancy Lester: […]

Willis Stark and the cougar (1900)

Willis Stark, known for his cougar hunting expertise, pictured here with one of his dogs, a gun and the cougar that he has shot on Salt Spring Island, […]

Willis Otis Stark as a young man (circa 1870, age about 18)

When his father, Louis, moved the family to another farm near Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, Willis Stark stayed on Salt Spring Island and kept the farm. His mother, […]

Gold at Leech River

This gold find at Leech River in Sooke by the Black-owned Industry Company caused great excitement. Leechtown was named after Lieutenant Peter John Leech of the Royal Engineers, […]

Mystery surrounds the death of Louis Stark

A rich coal seam was discovered under Louis’s Vancouver Island property; several interested buyers, including his neighbour Ed Hodgson, offered to purchase the land. Louis was happy farming […]

Marie Albertina Stark Wallace, age 98, author of “The History of the Stark Family”

Marie’s story about the Stark Family was published in The Gulf Islands Driftwood newspaper as an 11-part series in 1979-1980.

Marie and Louise Stark, youngest daughters of Louis and Sylvia

Marie Albertina (Wallace) Stark (about 23) and her sister Louise Edna (Wylie) Stark (about 11), circa 1890. Marie Albertina and Louise Edna were the two youngest children. Marie […]

Sylvia Estes Stark at middle age

Sylvia Stark moved to Cedar on Vancouver Island in the early 1870’s. She returned to Salt Spring Island in the early 1880s. She missed her neighbours and life […]

“I want them to know I am a working woman” Sylvia Stark age 96

As the population of Salt Spring Island grew, the story of Sylvia Stark became legendary. She was visited by numerous historians and photographers. “Although she is 96 years […]

Vesuvius (Central) School – Salt Spring Island’s First Schoolhouse (1894)

As the population on Salt Spring Island increased demands grew for a proper school and for financial support from Victoria. In 1864 permission was granted for a school […]

John Craven Jones, Schoolteacher, immortalized in 1972 mural

In 1972 Alfred Temmel, local artist created a series of 4 wall murals, painted in the Bavarian tradition on a wall at the Harbour House Hotel, Salt Spring […]