Jasper will never be the same town it was in past years, and it continues to change. No one can attest more to these changes than longtime residents who have witnessed and experienced Jasper’s evolution over time. Some stories and memories are recorded below, but this is a small representation of numerous recollections from Jasper’s many senior residents. Everyone has stories to share, each as important as the next. Uncover more of Jasper’s history by visiting the Jasper-Yellowhead Museum and Archives, or hear it firsthand by having conversations with the numerous and knowledgeable seniors that help make up this community.
Saskatchewan-born Glenda Cornforth set her feet down in Jasper for the first time as a young girl in 1936.
“My father was in the railway and that’s what brought my family to Jasper,” she said. Since then, Jasper has evolved from being much more than a railroad town. “When I was growing up, most of my classmates’ fathers were employed by CN.”
Jasper became busier and more tourists ventured here in vehicles once the Icefields Parkway opened year-round and the road to Vancouver opened. With this change, tourism accommodations also increased, like hotels and motels, she notes.
The pipeline installation during the 1950s was a “big thing for the community because it brought more people here.”’
When Cornforth entered adulthood, Saturday night dances at Spero’s Dance Hall on Connaught Drive were the place to be. Dances were also held in the summer up at Pyramid Pines Dance Hall, where locals would boogie until after the sun set.
Even though TV didn’t exist yet, there were plenty of outdoor activities to occupy Jasperites.
“I remember downhill skiing as a teenager and we rode our bikes to Lake Annette for swimming.” This happened until the swimming pool was built in the early 1950s. “It was Olympic-sized with all these diving boards.”
The pool was a welcome break from the blue lips Cornforth and her friends would get from the lake’s chilly water.
“The other thing that was really awesome was when they built the high school,” she adds. Before Jasper Junior/Senior High School was constructed, all students attended the same school.
Another memory Cornforth has, though she can’t recall the year, was when the light plant caught fire and burned down. “It was February and my husband was in the Jasper Volunteer Fire Brigade,” she said. “We couldn’t heat our homes and didn’t have any lights or way to cook, so we cooked on the back step on the camp stove.” Luckily the weather was warm, “it could have been much worse.”
Jasper hasn’t changed much when it comes to its friendly residents, said Cornforth. “The community always pulls together and is very caring.”
“I just look at the people who have touched my life while I’ve lived in Jasper, that’s what I remember,” said Ken Rice.
“When I first moved here I didn’t know a soul, and Jasper welcomed me and treated me wonderfully.”
Rice arrived in Jasper 32 years ago from Fort Saskatchewan and cherishes fond memories of many residents here.
“One person that inspired me to stay in Jasper was [retired park warden] Bob Barker,” he said. “I have a lot of respect for him. [As a warden] he was to the book and even gave his mother-in-law a parking ticket at the Super A.”
He also appreciates Mary Hilworth, who “has dedicated her time to seniors and to bettering the community”, and retired Anglican minister Davide Prowse, a knowledgeable Jasper historian who taught Rice much about the town.
These individuals, plus more, have instilled him to pay forward kindness by volunteering in the community. “I thought I could do something good for Jasper [in return for] the people who have been so good for me.”
Rice also recalls a close encounter with a creature that wasn’t human. He used to enjoy spending time on a little island on Majorie Lake, One time when he ventured out, he saw a grizzly bear in the distance with a fish in its mouth.
“It was a wild and beautiful sight. Then I got scared and ran all the way back to town.”
Running away was a bad idea, he said, because Barker later told him that running from a grizzly bear is an invitation for it to follow.
“I was lucky that this one decided not to go after me.”
The 2003 Syncline Ridge wildfire is an event that he won’t forget, either. “I just remember seeing flames lighting up the sky.”
Jasper has seen its fair share of change, thanks to its close-knit community and the Park’s scenery, Rice said he couldn’t imagine living anywhere else.
Born in Jasper in 1936, Tom Reed has witnessed 76 years of changes in town.
“I was only away from Jasper for one summer,” said the soft-spoken resident, who is a retired CN conductor.
“Jasper has been a good place to live,” he said of his reason for remaining in his hometown and carving out a life.
Looking back, “things have changed quite a bit.” The town has grown throughout the years, both commercially and in population. And as time moves forward, the cost of living has also risen, he notes.
Many of the memories he chose to share are of outdoor activities and adventures.
“On Saturdays and Sundays we used to ski to the ski hill.” On occasion, he and his friends would hitch a ride with someone if the road was suitable for driving. Some years later a bus service began to shuttle people back and forth, he said.
For the most part, driving places wasn’t as common even a few decades ago as it is now, he adds. “When I was younger, we walked just about everywhere,”
Reed recalls other icy winter memories like skating and curling.
When Lake Edith froze, he used to glide over it with his skates. A curling and skating rink used to be located where the new joint school facility is being constructed, he said.
One time during a bonspiel he got pretty damp from curling on ice that was covered by a thick layer of water.
When the snow melted, he enjoyed grabbing a fishing pole and heading out to nearby lakes.
“I’ve fished a lot of lakes, even some that people don’t even know about,” he said with a smile.
One of his favourite places to fish in the park is Celestine Lake, which is located east of Jasper off Highway 16. Celestine Lake, however, was not home to the largest catch of Reed’s fishing adventures.
The biggest fish he caught was a 10.5 lb. rainbow trout in Leech Lake. “It was the only one we caught that day.”
