The party-goers went home long ago but an invitation to a 1938 soirée at the Commodore Cabaret in Vancouver could shed some light on the history of the caretaker’s house at Old Orchard Park in Port Moody that makes it worthy of addition to the city’s heritage registry.
The invitation — in an envelope with a one-cent stamp postmarked Feb. 15, 1938 and received in Ioco the next day — was discovered in ductwork when repairs and renovations were being done inside the cream-coloured house at the west end of the park. It’s addressed to “J. Cornwell Esq. Imperial Oil Co. Ioco BC.”
That’s significant, said Dave Ritcey, the president of the Port Moody Heritage Society.
John Cornwell was the son of Bill Cornwell, who lived at 319 4th Ave., in Ioco, and both worked at Imperial Oil. That means the home where John was living at the time of the party for Vancouver Customs and Excise staff could also have once been a company house that was built at the refinery site in 1914 or so, then moved to the Ioco townsite in 1921. Sometime after that, it was moved again, to its present location on Alderside Drive, below the Old Orchard community hall.
When, exactly, that move happened is one of the mysteries of the house’s history to be unraveled, said Jim Millar of the Port Moody Station Museum.
Most of the wooden houses from the Ioco townsite have been lost to history, some are in disrepair and a couple are still in good shape and being lived in, although in different parts of the city, Millar said. To discover another that dates back to the original collection of 15 cottages built at the refinery site for its managers would be a boon to the city’s heritage stock, Ritcey said.
There are some physical signs of its origins as well, Ritcey said.
“The basic form is exactly what you saw in Port Moody from 1910 to 1915,” Ritcey told The Tri-City News. “It doesn’t really belong on Alderside.”
Millar said he’ll comb the museum’s archives for old photographs and newspaper articles that may shed light on the house’s history and its journey to Old Orchard. Getting the resources of PoMo heritage commission on board will also help, after city council approved an email from Ritcey about the possible significance of the found invitation be forwarded to the commission for further investigation.
And while getting the house added to the city’s heritage registry likely wouldn’t save it from future efforts to tear it down or extensively alter it in some way, Ritcey said making the community aware of its possible historical value makes it less likely it will face the same fate as many of its predecessors.
Ultimately, he said he would at least like to see some sort of sign outside the nondescript little house so visitors to the park, and bike path and playground users can learn of its place in Port Moody’s history.
