Chinook Motel Crowsnest Pass ~50 Years Apart

The subject in today’s Then & Now is the quaint-looking Chinook Motel, Sentinel Alberta, in the scenic and historic Crowsnest Pass. With Crowsnest Mountain a backdrop, we’ll first look at it in the 1960s, thanks to an old postcard image sent in by a reader, and then again some fifty years later. You know, to see what’s been static or changed over the years.

The business was operating at the time of the original image capture, but long closed, and with much of it gone by our visit. It’s recalled as a cold and blustery day, with a bone-chilling -35c windchill, but that stupidly didn’t stop the BIGDoer.com crew. We get the shot no matter what! Haha! Even we admit the things we do are sometimes questionable and whoever captured the original had much better conditions than us.

The Chinook Motel, sometimes referred to as Kerr’s Cabins, after the family that owned it, or early on advertised as Chinook Cabins, opened in the early 1950s. The location, alongside the #3 or Crowsnest Highway, assured a steady stream of customers. As was popular at the time, accommodations were individual cottage units and cute little log ones at that. There were ten in total and looking close we can see six and part of the seventh in the “Then” photo.

The motel didn’t last long and by early 1970s closed. It’s suggested a sawmill across the highway (so just behind our shooting position), a dirty, noisy, unsightly affair built after the motel, was perhaps responsible, over time at least, for killing off the trade. No one wants that outside their front window and it’s easy to see how that could impact business.

The sawmill is no more and the site today now an empty field, with nary a trace left of what once stood there. The business operated from the 1960s to early 2000s and at the end called Atlas Sawmills.

After the Chinook Motel closed, some of the cabins were moved to another part of the Pass and used as rental accommodations. Exactly where, how and when it not known, however. The structures, we’re told, remained in place well into the 2000s at least, but what happened to them is similarly a mystery.

A single cabin, as you can see, remains at the Chinook Motel site and it looks like some sort of small living quarters. A guest house perhaps?

Outside the obvious – the now gone cabins, western-themed highway sign adorned with elk horns and wagon wheels, and what appears to be a totem-pole back there – what remains of the Chinook Motel looks much as it was. The house, the one remaining cottage, the shed on the right, although painted up differently now, are otherwise little changed from this angle.

Speaking of wagon wheels, there’s a smaller one visible in the Now photo, far in back and by the remaining cabin. It’s perhaps a hold over from the motel period and that has us thinking about what else remains from that time that we can’t see.

The scenery is little changed but as you know nature move more slowly. The rolling hills in behind, with windswept pines (in the Pass, the steady “breeze” is a constant) and Crowsnest Mountain are all pretty timeless. Still the trees on the site are a bit taller.

The Then photo is a scan of an old postcard sent to us by a reader who wished to remain anonymous and that’s no problem. While there is no date on the card, a few elements can help us make an educated guess.

For example, the blue car seen in front of the first cabin is clearly a mid-1960s model (we have benefit of a larger original to get a closer look). Looks almost like a Studebaker. The Canadian flag flying in front of the third cabin is the pre-1967, pre-Maple Leaf “Red Ensign” and further helps establish a date. The postcard must be from the period stated.

The following information is seen on the back…

Chinook Motel – 10 fully modern, large and small housekeeping units. Quiet surroundings, reasonable rates. Store. Spring water. Open April 1 to Nov 15. No. 3 Highway, 4 miles west of Coleman, Alberta – Your Hosts: Mr. and Mrs. James R. Kerr. Printed in the USA.

G. Morris Taylor is credited as the original photographer and by looking online one can see he was a busy fellow! His name is seen on many postcards and art photos of the period.

Spring Water? Interesting. That’s rather curious but no mention is found of this in any records searched. None at all.

It became common practice for motels to issue postcards as cheap promotional items and these were freely distributed to guests. Nearly every motel in the old days, it seems, had some printed up and today they’re a fun collectable.

From a telephone directory ad of the same era…

Chinook Motel
10 Modern Units with Kitchens
4 Miles West of Coleman on No. 3 Highway — Jas. R. Kerr

A Chinook is a warm, dry eastward blowing wind, common to the area and most of the Southern Alberta Front Ranges. They’re welcomed in winter in most circles, but do have some down sides. Ice is one.

We’re often asked how we line the Now shots and it’s done simply using a grid system. The process makes use of select unchanged background elements as reference points within the Now frame and that usually assures decent results. At least for the ones you see here! Still, it’s a challenging process and the odds are daunting. For every one we posts, there others that just didn’t work out.

In this one we should have shot a little lower to better line up the access road, but otherwise the background worked well. Our photos are from 2015 and this post is a rework of an earlier one, but respun and with up to more up-to-date info. We thought of reshooting it, since we’re in the Pass a lot, but like to brag how tough we are given the horrid conditions that day, so they stay. Haha.

We’re always looking for Then & Now subjects so heed our call. If you have an old photo or postcard showing a street scene, historic building, or a motel like this, so an image of something that still exists in some form today, send it to us. Please. Pretty please! We’ll revisit the site, shoot a similar image, and post the results here along with a small historical write up on what’s seen. We’ll give you credit too.

Know more about the area: (new tab): Crowsnest Pass Alberta and of the post card photographer G. Morris Taylor Photographer.

They’re saying…

”…If you love our history this site is worth exploring” Brian Holt.

More like this…
Downtown Castor Alberta (Cosmopolitan Hotel).
Sleepee Teepee Blairmore Alberta – and it’s also in the Pass.
Stettler Then & Now: Heartland(er) Motel.

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

Date of adventure: 1960s (original) and December 2015 (Team BIGDoer).
Location: Crowsnest Pass, Alberta.
Article references and thanks: Book – Crowsnest and its People, Dale Kuta and Medicine Hat & District Genealogical Society.

The Chinook Motel Crowsnest Pass ~50 years apart.

Spectacular Crowsnest Mountain.

One cabin remains.