Dunster General Store History

The Dunster Post Office began in December 1915 in the house of the first postmaster, George Hall. He lived on the farm now owned by the McNaughtons, according to History of Dunster, which notes, “Amusing stories are still alive of those days, when it was possible to send an order for groceries, possibly for a post camp that fed two dozen men and after many a day of waiting and frustration find the original order letter in the incoming mail. Such things, however, could hardly be surprising in a house teeming with children, pigs and what not.”

Per the BC gazetteer, in 1921, Mrs. A. McDonald (Postmaster list gives name as Mrs. Alexander McDonnell) took over the post office, moving it into the log building constructed by her husband, Alec McDonald, opposite the railway station. The History of Dunster says, “When Mr. Alec McDonald sold his farm and built the house and store opposite the railroad station he took the post office over and moved it into the store.”

Accounts differ, with some saying a store has been located on this site since 1918, but the above indicating that it was perhaps as late as 1921.

The History of Dunster recounts earlier days: “Three times a week the mail train came through on [sic] the evening. This gave occasion for gatherings of all the local crowd at the store and post office. Sometimes the train was late, perhaps hours late, which meant plenty of time for visiting among neighbours, for exchanging news and for gossiping generally. When the train came through it was an exciting moment, a link made with the outside world, a fleeting glimpse of modernity. Then came the mail, sorted and given out the same day. By and by the crowd dispersed, some drove home with horse and buggy, others walked or rode horseback, teams of oxen could even be seen occasionally.”

We don't know at the moment (help us out if you know) when the store building at the left of the above photo was built. Yellowhead Pass and Its People (see images 536 and 537) is clear about when it burned, however. Eric Norum was working at the store in 1954. "Eric and his two daughters slept in a bedroom over the store, and one night they heard a crackling sound downstairs. The store had caught fire and it burned down very quickly. Eric and his family escaped safely and he was even able to save the piano, which he pushed out onto a snowbank." John Haan, one of the owner's sons, told us that the store caught fire because the floor had been oiled/varnished that day, and the heat from the wood stove set it on fire. It may have been too much for Robert Haan, the owner at the time, to take, as he resigned as Postmaster on 17 March 1955, and Eric Norum was the acting Postmaster for a couple of weeks until Eva Sargent took it over.

The feed warehouse at the right of the above picture was subsequently converted to the main store, and additions were built for storage and housing. In 1972, Claude and Lilly Hill bought the store, and named it Hill's General Store. Claude brought in two old CN bunkhouses to serve as feed storage sheds, and built the store up considerably.