Old Kelowna

10/15/2026

For those folks asking about the buildings near the foot of Bernard Avenue in our post yesterday... Here is a 1958 photo showing the Regatta Headquarters building, the Tourist Information Booth & old Kelowna Museum building which started life as the Willow Inn Tea Rooms (located beside the Kelowna ferry dock at Queensway).

10/14/2026

Please consider signing this petition to help save the permanent closing of the Historic O'Keefe Ranch. At Old Kelowna we see the immense value in build heritage and strenously believe O'Keefe Ranch should be preserved and operational.

https://www.change.org/save-okeefe-ranch

10/14/2026

The foot of Kelowna's Bernard Ave during the late 1940's early 1950's. Some great looking vehicles are parked along the street along with many memorable businesses in this screen capture from the Central Okanagan Heritage Week 2015 Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drp2meLNTas&feature=youtu.be)

10/14/2026

"House On The Hill" photo by Neil Thacker

“A small building, possibly an old fruit pickers cabin, that I have photographed before, captured on a morning trip a couple of weeks ago... Kelowna, B.C. (near Harvest Hill Golf Course)”

10/13/2026

Kelowna's Bernard Avenue looking east around 1905-1908. Image from photo listed on ebay.ca 2015

10/12/2026

Thanks again to long time Old Kelowna contributors Steven James and Fred Fleck for their many excellent photo shares with our group over the years!

Here is a little background on the first photo (shared by Steven James) which is from 1912 showing the Lakeview Hotel. Kelowna's Lakeview Hotel was built in 1892. At the time both the Lakeview Hotel and the Palace Hotel had the same rates which were: boarders paid $1.00 per day, tourists paid $1.50 a day and single meals cost.50 cents each. The Lakeview and Palace Hotels were outraged when the new Royal Hotel announced that their rates were: boarders $20.00 to $25.00 per month and meals were .25 cents per single meal, saying the Royal Hotel was a cut-rate operation and was bad for the town's image.

Fred Fleck shared the second image which is a postcard of Kelowna's Mayfair Hotel. The Mayfair Hotel started life as the Lakeview Hotel before becoming the Mayfair Apartments and stood on the present day site of the Caravelle by the Lake at 1585 Abbott Street.

10/11/2026

Foot of Bernard Avenue as seen from City Park, circa 1968.

10/11/2026

Wishing all the fans and followers of Old Kelowna a very Happy Thanksgiving!

10/10/2026

Thanks again to Steven James for sharing this great G.H.E. Hudson photo from 1912 of the Kelowna Canning Company with us!

10/10/2026

1910s photo by G.H.E. Hudson showing construction on the Myra Canyon section of the Kettle Valley Railroad. The KVR opened in 1915 and was abandoned in portions beginning in 1961, with the surviving portion west of Penticton seeing their last trains in 1989.

Much of the railway's original route has been converted to a multi-use recreational trail, known as the Kettle Valley Rail Trail, which carries the Trans-Canada Trail through this part of BC.