By G. Henning von Krogh
Von Krogh’s 168-page book is filled with histories of early hotels, schools, churches, and stores, plus boats and prominent personalities. In addition to the newspapers, he relied on fire insurance maps, photographs, and other sources to draw a picture of New Denver’s pioneer days.
The book has 173 photos, maps, and period advertisements, plus over 1,100 footnotes. It further features a list of early Crown grants and a series of the earliest town views, some rarely seen. The cover features a painting of New Denver in 1898 by an anonymous artist, donated to the museum in 2004 by former local teacher Hallvard Dahlie, who bought it at an auction.
New Denver, formerly known as Eldorado and Slocan City, was born during the silver rush that began in the fall of 1891 and boomed for a few years. Von Krogh’s histories mostly stop at 1904, when The Ledge departed for Nelson, although he tried to explain the ultimate fate of each building. He solved many mysteries, but others are still outstanding.
