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Historic buildings destroyed by fire
March 27, 2008, Sandon, B.C. - Two buildings in an historic Kootenay village in southeastern B.C. are in ashes after a fire in the town was once called the Monte Carlo of North America.
March 27, 2008
By The Canadian Press
The Tin Cup Cafe in Sandon, and the property known as Dr. Gomm's house burned to the ground last week but heroic efforts by volunteer firefighters kept the flames from spreading to two other buildings across the street.
The fire occurred just weeks before a heritage group is due to assess the remaining historical sites in the preserved and restored ghost town just east of New Denver.
That review is part of a Central Kootenay Regional District application to turn the Sandon area into a regional park.
During the height of the silver rush through the Slocan valley in the 1890's, Sandon boasted 29 hotels, 28 saloons, three breweries, one of the largest red light districts in Western Canada and a population of more than five-thousand people.
Falling silver prices ended Sandon's glory but it remained as a nearly-intact ghost town until devastating floods in the 1950's wiped out most of it old frame structures, including an entire street suspended over Carpenter Creek. (CJAT)
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