A Vernon woman recently found a collection of photographs from her great-grandparents, showing the construction of the Hope-Princeton Highway in the late 1940s.
Elsie-Rae Skinner posted the photos on the Facebook group, Old BC: The Way It Was.
She noted that there is a picture in the collection showing one of the former Japanese internment camps used during the Second World War, when Japanese Canadians were relocated from their homes.
Between 21,000 and 22,000 Japanese Canadians were forcible relocated starting in early 1942 and throughout the Second World War.
The Tashme Internment Camp west of Hope and a network of road camps were set up along the Hope-Princeton highway during this time.
“I know that there is a lot of history we might not be so proud of tied to the early construction of the Hope-Princeton Highway, but I figured it would be interesting sharing some of these photos of the later half of the highway,” she said.
She asked that others who have similar photos of the construction of the highway share them in the comments section of her post.
A comprehensive collection of the pictures can be found online at https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1611ZpQ8od/
