Photograph shows the front view of the store in Whaletown, the Whaletown Trading Post. A woman in a red sweater is looking at the bulletin board. This is a postcard printed in the 1990s, from a photograph taken by Doug Alderson, Jalmar Olson's son-in-law and Judy Alderson's father.
Photograph shows the front view of the store in Whaletown, the Whaletown Trading Post. A woman in a red sweater is looking at the bulletin board. This is a postcard printed in the 1990s, from a photograph taken by Doug Alderson, Jalmar Olson's son-in-law and Judy Alderson's father.
Photograph shows the church of St. John the Baptist in Whaletown. An old car is parked in front of the picket fence of the Rectory, at the left. Note there are no hydro or telephone poles or lines. This is a postcard printed in the 1990s, from a photograph taken by Doug Alderson, Jalmar Olson's son-in-law and Judy Alderson's father.
Photograph shows the church of St. John the Baptist in Whaletown. An old car is parked in front of the picket fence of the Rectory, at the left. Note there are no hydro or telephone poles or lines. This is a postcard printed in the 1990s, from a photograph taken by Doug Alderson, Jalmar Olson's son-in-law and Judy Alderson's father.
This collection consists of photographs of Jalmar Olson, his house and garden in Gorge Harbour, and Whaletown. Textual records include a hand-written account of J. Olson by his grand-daughter, Judy (Alderson) Gerwing, and a photocopy of a letter to J. Olson from the Meteorological Division of the Dept. of Transport (Small fonds box 1-18).
7 photographs : b&w ; 10 x 15 cm
3 photographs : colour ; 15 x 10 cm
1 file of textual records
History / Biographical
Jalmar Olson (Apr 30, 1869-Feb 29, 1964) was born in Sweden. He emigrated to Canada in 1906 and moved to Cortes in the 1930s. He had a house and garden in Gorge Harbour at what is now 509 Whaletown Rd. Olson was a Weather Observer for Transport Canada until 1949, when he moved off-island for health reasons.
Custodial History
Donated to CIMAS by Judy Alderson Gerwing, the grand-daughter of Jalmar Olson, Sept. 27, 2013.
Scope and Content
This collection consists of photographs of Jalmar Olson, his house and garden in Gorge Harbour, and Whaletown. Textual records include a hand-written account of J. Olson by his grand-daughter, Judy (Alderson) Gerwing, and a photocopy of a letter to J. Olson from the Meteorological Division of the Dept. of Transport (Small fonds box 1-18).
Karl Triller (September 30, 1928 - February 27, 2022) was born in Hungary and immigrated to Canada as a young man in the early 1950s. He worked in northern Ontario for a couple of years before moving to BC, where he worked as a baker and cook in forestry camps.
He married Elizabeth Wolf in 1956 and they had four children: Margaret in 1956, Rudy in 1958,Terry in 1960 and Fred in 1962. Around 1964 they settled in Courtenay,and Karl worked for Safeway for the next 16 years. Karl and Elizabeth divorced in the late 1970s.
Karl took early retirement at the age of 52 and moved to Cortes Island. He had always loved castles, and the granite rock of his property on Manzanita Road was the perfect place to build one. He designed, built and furnished a five-story, eight-bedroom German medieval-style castle of cement blocks over the course of 12 years. The castle featured eight bedrooms, a large dining hall, and a dungeon in the basement. The castle opened for business in the early 1990s, serving as a bed-and-breakfast and a venue for banquets and parties.
Karl took an active part in community life, and was crowned King of Cortes in Dec 2000. His duties included leading the Cortes Island Day parade and presiding at community Christmas dinners.
