History greets you at every turn. Use the guide to see our Heritage Moments.
History greets you at every turn. Use the guide to see our Heritage Moments.
Before the Waskesiu Liquor Store and Mall were built on this property, there were several buildings which served various purposes over the years. A small cottage served as the laundry facility for the Pleasant Inn across the street. The flat roofed building in the above photo housed the M & K Plumbing shop operated by Kernaghans who also had the Northland Motel next door. At other times, this same building also housed a hardware store, Ella Mae's Boutique for clothing, and a giftware store like Outrigger (photo below).
It was a common occurrence for people to work in several different businesses and, indeed, to own different businesses as time passed. Businesses often sold to people who already owned other businesses here. Also, a building could be repurposed for anything from a restaurant to a clothing store to a hardware store. For example, Ella Mae Cook was employee in several enterprises as well as her own over the years. In Waskesiu Memories, Volume III, she writes,
“I spent twenty-one summers at Waskesiu in various capacities, working in clothing and crafts, and hairdressing. (During the winters, I took a beauty course.) My apartment was beside the Beauty Parlour….
"Esther Kernaghan had the Motel to the south of my shop. After living in Victoria, I thought it would be nice to make a little rock garden like there, so one spring I was working away at it. I had trouble getting dirt and rock, but eventually made a mound. My garden started to grow! There was a door in the Beauty Shop side that didn’t go anywhere, but it had a window. One day I looked out the window/door and saw a sign beside my garden, in big letters: “Here Lies Ella Mae. – Oh No, It Cannot Be- It is a Rock Garden You See!” It must have been done in the night as the rock garden was between the Motel and my shop. We had a few good laughs over that!”
Archival images property of Parks Canada/Prince Albert National Park.
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