1950's

1950

  

• The new Campbell River Elementary High School opens.

 

• Campbell River gets a second wharf.

 

• The Argonaut Mine goes into operation.

 

• Students from the Campbell River Indian Reserve begin attending local public schools.


Campbell River Elementary High School
   

1951

  

• Campbell River's first chain store, Overwaitea, opens for business.

 

• Dr. Noel Bathhurst Hall opens Campbell River's first clinic.

  
   

1952


Elk Falls Mill, MCR 3218

(click to enlarge)

• Elk Falls Mill begins production.

• The announcement in 1950 that a paper mill would be built at Duncan Bay came as no surprise. The Elk Falls newsprint machine was one of the largest in the world at the time.  An expansion in 1956 saw the installation of a kraft pulp mill followed by a log sawmill and a combination kraft/newsprint machine (No. 2) in 1957.  Elk Falls produced the world’s first ‘noodle pulp’ and was the first mill in Canada to produce pulp from sawdust. By 1988 Elk Falls employed almost 1400 people, their combined salaries totaling more than 60 million dollars. It was, by far, the major force driving Campbell River’s economy.

1953

  
• Railway logging comes to an end in Campbell River.
 
   

1954


Campbell River and District General Hospital,

MCR 9569

• Willow Point and Campbellton schools are constructed.
 

1956
• St. Patrick's Catholic Church replaces the chapel in the basement of the soon-to-be abandoned Lourdes Hospital.
 

1957

• Population of Campbell River: 3,000

• The Campbell River and District General Hospital opens.

• The town's first sewer system is installed.

• A second newsprint machine and bleach plant are constructed at Elk Falls Mill.

   

1958

  

• B.C. marks the 100 year anniversary of the crown colony of mainland British Columbia.

• Campbell River gets television service.

• The Ripple Rock explosion eliminates one of the most notorious marine hazards on the coast.

• The new Community Hall is completed.  Built largely with donated funds and volunteer labour, the project was 10 years in the making.

• The Campbell River Historical Society is formed.


Ripple Rock explosion, MCR 12148

(click to enlarge)
   

1959

  

• Campbell River's airfield is constructed in a mere 90 days.  The 4,500 foot dirt runway is cleared by logging operator Dave Crawford with is D8 'cat', assisted by a volunteer team of boy scouts, business men, housewives and striking IWA loggers. 

• The post office moves into a newly constructed Federal Building. 

• A new seaplane base is established on the Tyee Spit after the Island Air float in front of the Willows Hotel is washed away in a storm.


Opening of the Campbell River airfield,

MCR 10601