Description of Historic Place

The S.S. Moyie is a late nineteenth-century steam-propelled sternwheeler located on the south shore of Kaslo Bay on Kootenay Lake in British Columbia. She has been in dry dock since 1958. The additional structures of the S.S. Kuskanook Saloon, the Mirror Lake Post Office, the miner's cabin, the caboose and visitor centre, as well as the historic collections located throughout the site are included on the Kaslo Community Heritage Register.

Heritage Value

The S.S. Moyie is valued because she is the oldest intact Canadian-built passenger sternwheeler, and because of the significant role played by such vessels in the opening up and development of the interior of British Columbia. The heritage value of this site resides in its historical associations, in the physical properties of the vessel itself, and in the collections of historical items and artifacts housed within the vessel.

Value is added to this historic place by the presence of several structures that represent the importance of transportation, communication, and mining in the early twentieth century in the Kootenay region. The S.S. Kuskanook ladies' saloon, built in 1906, emphasizes the importance of passenger travel and symbolizes the increased need for sternwheeler transportation on Kootenay Lake at that time. The Mirror Lake Post Office, with its original mail slot and small scale, demonstrates the communication methods of the 1900s in the Kootenays. The miner's cabin, built by Matt Oledo in 1906, has value because it illustrates the living conditions of prospectors in the area and contrasts with the conditions present on the sternwheelers. The caboose is valued because it represents the connection of goods and passenger transportation between railway and sternwheelers. The visitor centre provides valuable context and information, and contributes to the welcoming atmosphere of this historic site.

Source: Village of Kaslo

Character-Defining Elements

Key character-defining elements of the S.S. Moyie include its:

- location next to Kootenay Lake
- original massing, scale and proportions, surface materials, colours, hull configuration, and interior and exterior elements
- surviving working-life components of the vessel's fabric, including the hull, superstructure, propulsion and auxiliary systems, external components such as smoke stack, paddle wheel, hog posts and chains, capstan, interior layout, and fittings
- features typical of steam-powered lake vessels, including a shallow-draft, wood-sheathed hull, a lightly built superstructure, and a single, stern-mounted paddle wheel 5.9 meters in diameter with 17 buckets
- four rudders
- composite hull construction, consisting of steel frames to which wood planking is bolted
- propulsion machinery, including the locomotive-type boiler and two single-piston high-pressure horizontal engines
- collection of historical items and artifacts

Key character-defining elements of the S.S. Moyie site inlcude:

- S.S. Kuskanook Ladies' Saloon and all original components
- Mirror Lake Post Office
- miner's cabin built by Matt Oledo
- caboose
- visitor centre