A diverse and wet group of historical enthusiasts and curious locals gathered together at the Nakusp Museum on the afternoon of July 19 to prepare for the advertised historical walking tour of Nakusp.
Museum attendant (and summer student), Jillian Koftinoff welcomed the group on behalf of the Nakusp Museum and assumed her role as tour guide, leading the way to Broadway Street just as the morning downpour began to slack.
The tour visited three locations; Home Grown Market & Juice Bar, Meritxell Books and the Treasure Trove, conveniently located kitty corner to each other at the corner of 4th Ave and Broadway. At each stop Koftinoff shared an avalanche of historical facts regarding the buildings that house their current business, including detailed information on the variety of owners or tenants and the shifting village context dating back to the early 1920s.
This was the first tour of its kind organized through the local museum and was inspired by news of successful historical tours being conducted in Revelstoke. Nakusp Museum chairperson, Sharon Montgomery, directed Koftinoff to research local buildings and choose three as the subject of the proposed tour.
“I was really interested in the history of these three particular buildings and there was a lot of information that I could access”, Koftinoff explained regarding her choices.
Koftinoff is a student of the University of Victoria and is enrolled in her final year of Gender Studies. “I grew up here” she muses, “and I am still surprised at how much there is to learn through the museum.”