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LOOK BACK: Logging camp cookhouses

Take a peek at Alberni Valley history with the Alberni Valley Museum
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Two cooks stand at the ready in a camp kitchen at either Franklin Division or Great Central Lake, sometime between 1946-1956. Written on the back of the photograph is “Part of the kitchen, the head cook is in the foreground. It is always spotless.” This photo is one of 24,000 in the Alberni Valley Museum’s online archives, accessible by the public at https://portalberni.pastperfectonline.com. (PHOTO PN07465 COURTESY ALBERNI VALLEY MUSEUM)

The most important part of a logging camp operation is arguably the cookhouse. Feeding hundreds of hungry loggers means everything must work like clockwork, and the cook staff wasn’t usually large.

This historical photo is either from the Franklin River or Great Central Lake cookhouse—the photo does not definitively identify which camp it’s from, but the timing between 1946 and 1956 may place it at Franklin River. A subsequent photo, PN07466, has a broader view of Second Camp B at Franklin River and mentions the cookhouse.

This is one of 24,000 historical photos contained in the Alberni Valley Museum’s digital archives. Photos are accessible to the public at https://portalberni.pastperfectonline.com.



Susie Quinn

About the Author: Susie Quinn

A journalist since 1987, I proudly serve as the Alberni Valley News editor.
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