Tuesday, 17 June 2014

Chemainus

This is a small town which had one industry: logging.  And when the lumber mill closed down at the end of the last century, the town had no further employment.  Some enterprising resident had the idea of painting the town's history on the side of the buildings and so a tourist attraction was born.


Here again you find references to the First World War in a far away country, but there is plenty of local information as well.


This shows the work of the lumber yard and the railway which took the finished planking away.  The logs were all floated in by river and that still goes on.


The Paintings are incredibly detailed for outdoor murals, but they are regularly retouched by their original artists.  This one shows the local store which was run by a Chinese man who obviously was into free enterprise and lived long enough to retire to his homeland.  Some 20th century relations with the Chinese and Japanese have not been so cordial.


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