In this week’s Throwback Thursday, our weekly dive into the Prince George Citizen archives, we start with the arrival of Prince George’s first phone booth 100 years ago.
Referred to as a “pay station,” the telephone company installed the device in the lobby of the Prince George Hotel. It’s a “convenience which should be appreciated,” the Citizen stated.
This was actually back page news in the March 6, 1924, edition of the Citizen. A long writeup on the farmers convention in Vanderhoof, starting on page one, jumping to page three, and finally wrapping up on page seven of the eight-page paper, was the dominant story of the week.
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Thrilling news for Prince George on the front page of the March 9, 1964, edition of the Citizen.
“$60 MILLION PULP MILL ANNOUNCED,” shouted the top headline.
Noranda Mines, through its subsidiary Northwood Mills Ltd., plans to build a mill to produce 500 tons of bleached pulp daily, the story stated.
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“Cheeky streaker jogs down Third,” was the headline to the story accompanying a front-page photo 50 years ago on the front page of March 8, 1974, edition of the Citizen.
It was -1 F or a chilly -18 C at the time.
“Wearing only a black ski mask and sneakers, the streaker appeared to be young and well-built as he sprinted past stunned onlookers, laughing and waving his arms.
“He was loudly cheered as he rounded the corner onto Brunswick Street, dodging traffic and nearly colliding with a pedestrian crossing the street with an armload of bread.
“Saleswoman Patricia Myrbo saw the whole thing from the window of Saucy Sue’s, a women’s clothing store on Third Avenue.
“’He sure had a lot of guts,” she commented.
Other bystanders were less impressed.
“What’s the world coming to? I just don’t know what to say,” Pat Van Somer told Citizen reporter Bill Graham. “I thought Prince George would have more class than this.”
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Plenty of news in the March 8, 1994, edition of the Citizen about the future of Prince George that applies to this day.
The front-page photo was an aerial shot of the Prince George Regional Correctional Centre under construction. It was still 18 months away from completion at the time. The cost? $31,168,723.
Above the photo was a story about city council deliberations about allowing development of 223 residential lots west of St. Lawrence Heights and across from Southridge Avenue.
And on the sports page, there was a story about the latest talks underway to bring a Western Hockey League team to Prince George to serve as an anchor tenant for “the new, $16 million multiplex arena, which is expected to be built here within two years.”
Rick Brodsky, owner of the Victoria Cougars (and the team that would become the Prince George Cougars) said he was eager to speak to the City of Prince George about what it wanted to see in the proposal.
The Prince George Citizen archive can be found online at pgnewspapers.pgpl.ca.
