Downtown Castor Alberta (Cosmopolitan Hotel)

We’re in downtown Castor Alberta and armed with an old image to be used in another BIGDoer.com Then & Now comparison. Standing roughly on the same spot where the original photographer did about a 110 years ago, we’ll look into what’s the same (a little) and what’s changed (a lot) in this compelling scene. The Cosmopolitan Hotel is the most noteworthy element connecting the two eras, but otherwise, there’s not much present today that was present then.

Castor goes back to 1910 (that’s when he railway arrived) and today has a population approaching nine hundred. Or something around that and it appears the various governmental bodies cited rather disagree on the actual figure. Agriculture is big out this way and many folks in some way connected to the land.

Castor is a sleepy little place and the word “bustling” never once used to describe it. Not that it’s bad thing, and from our big-city perspective, it’s rather appealing. No noise, no hustle, no bustle and just an easy going kind of feeling…we’re jealous.

Our view across time is of 50th Avenue (originally Grand Avenue, we think) and looking in a southeasterly direction. There’s no date given for the old photo, but by channelling Detective Columbo and a bit of deductive reasoning, we can uncover clues. There’s two and with certainty we can say the image is from later in the summer or fall of 1911 or sometime the following year. Read on…

Everything looks new, so we know it’s the early days, but there’s a couple elements that helps narrow it down further. The photo is a postcard published by “GL Brown Druggist” and a quick search shows the business only existed for a couple years soon after the town was founded. By late 1912 the company had been sold and the name changed.

Second, we can see a tattered poster advertising the “Al G Barnes Big Top & Wild Animal Circus” and it shows a date of June. Research confirms the troupe visited Castor that very month in 1911 and further helps narrow down the time of the then capture.

Postcards like this were a good advertising premium of the era and widely distributed. Interestingly Brown’s store appears in the old capture but it’s well in the background and roughly located somewhere in behind where the green-roof structure is in the now photo.

The building that Brown occupied remained a pharmacy under different owners into the early 1920s when it burned down. A replacement structure got built one lot over and today is a pharmacy museum that we should visit some time.

We can make out the names of some businesses in the old photo and they include a wide range of differing firms. There’s CA Bower Jeweler (written in US form with one L) on the left and on the right R Spratt & Company – the People’s Store, a bakery, Castor Realty and further back, the Merchant’s Bank. The rest of the signs are illegible due to odd angles or too distant to see and that’s even at full magnification.

It appears most of these firms only lasted a few years, but records in that regard and from the time, are scarce. The Merchant’s Bank become a Bank of Montreal in the 1920s.

A big fire in the mid-1920s changed the appearance of downtown Castor and many buildings on the left side in the now photo, were lost at the time. This included the National Hotel and it’s said the blaze originated from behind that building and deliberately set. Other buildings in downtown went up in flames at various other times, and with each the view changed again.

The Cosmopolitan Hotel features prominent in both photos and closed recently after more than a century in business. The cornice, finials and other architectural features seen in the old pic have been removed or covered over. It’s not the classic building it once was, but it did survive this long. One can’t help wonder what the future holds in store for the venerable old building, but given its vacant state, that outcome may not be one that’s rosie.

Cosmopolitan: an air of worldly sophistication…yeah, in Castor (he said smiling). It was a popular name for digs in the old days and we counted dozens of hotels in the province (thanks Henderson Directories) once called the Cosmopolitan (or Cos for short). There’s one in this post and it’s still in business: Historic Hotels Crowsnest Pass.

It’s possible the “All the Above” building appears in both photos but we can’t say for certain. It does seem to match up in dimensions, however, although if the one and the same, it’s been altered. If not, it sits on the lot of the bakery place mentioned earlier.

We wonder if that blue place in the foreground has any elements of the “People’s Store” building inside? Maybe they chopped off the top floor or something? It does match the width of the old building, and in the height of the first floor.

We can’t make out if this building in Castor (see: Jessie’s – Royal Cafe – Golden Crown) appears in the old photo but it would have been far in the distance, on the left side, and maybe not seen. It may not have even been built yet and that’s certainly a possibly too.

There’s a few people, men mostly, milling about in the old photo and most are congregated out by the National Hotel. Drinking buddies? Some appear to be watching their photograph being taken and looking towards the shooting position. A lady accompanied by a dog is seen crossing the muddy street and as well, a group of horse-drawn wagons are concentrated in that area. Not a car is seen, but they remained uncommon in these parts until later that decade.

A second lady is seen on the far left on the boardwalk and in full Edwardian style garb. Big hat, parasol and velvet handbag? Check. Heavy flowing dress, a bustle, corset, bloomers, and perhaps several other layers of unmentionables? Check! It all looks comfy and cool and fitting for such a happening place. Or not.

We saw pretty much no one on out visit and had plenty of time to capture our photo while standing there in the middle of the road.

The “Then” photo comes thanks to the University of Calgary Archives and used with their blessing. Their collection has been a source of many T&Ns here lately, but also know we accept contributions from readers. If you have an old image of your copyright in your collection, or a public domain postcard like this and think it would work well applied this way, contact us and we’ll fill you in.

It thrills us to know we’re standing about where the original photographers did long ago and time travelling like this a rush! Castor: French or Latin for Beaver.

Know more: (new tab): Castor Alberta.
Castor Alberta.

They’re saying…

”You guys are awesome sauce!” Peter Schoenfelder (this is our most favourite comment ever!)

Elsewhere in town…
Jessie’s – Royal Cafe – Golden Crown.

More like this…
Downtown Viking Alberta (w Harry Palmer).
Downtown Bawlf Alberta.
Stettler Then & Now: Heartland(er) Motel.

Something to say and no one to say it to? Go here: Contact Us!

Date of adventure: early 1910s (original) and May, 2022 (Team BIGDoer).
Location: Castor, Alberta.
Article references and thanks: Town of Castor, UofC Archives, CirusHistory.com and Geoffrey Lester.

Downtown Castor Alberta about 110 years apart.

Is this little building in the old photo?

The Cosmopolitan Hotel certainly appears in both.

In business over a century but recently closed.

Brown’s Drug Store.

Circus poster details.

Many people and wagons in back.

One of two ladies seen.