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Huble Homestead Historic Site is located on traditional Lheidli T'enneh keyoh.
Salmon Valley Post Office
This red log structure was built around 1918 and was home to Stearns and Gertrude McNeill. Originally from Nova Scotia, the McNeills saw a real estate pamphlet promoting the Salmon Valley and decided to try their luck out west. In 1912 McNeill rode to the end of the rail line in Tete Jaune. He then made his way down the Fraser to Prince George and worked as a reporter for the Fort George Tribune. Maude McNeill followed her husband to Fort George in 1913. By 1916 they had moved to a farm at Salmon Valley.
Stearns McNeill was the Postmaster of the post office for Salmon Valley, which he operated out of their home from 1924 until 1943. His wife Maude taught school for the area children and ran the government library out of their kitchen.
The residents of Salmon Valley, Summit Lake, and Giscome Portage found the post office to be a convenient stopping point on their way to Prince George for supplies, which was up to an eight hour trip by horse and buggy for some settlers. The house passed through several owners after the McNeills left in 1950.
The residents of Salmon Valley, Summit Lake, and Giscome Portage found the post office to be a convenient stopping point on their way to Prince George for supplies, which was up to an eight hour trip by horse and buggy for some settlers. The house passed through several owners after the McNeills left in 1950.
In 1983 the Giscome Portage Historical Society were approached to save the Salmon Valley Post Office from destruction. On October 29, 1983 a volunteer work crew of Society members documented and deconstructed the building. The building lay in storage until the fall of 2000 when it was reconstructed on the Huble Homestead Historic Site where it is now set up as an interpretive center for the Giscome Portage Trail. Today the Salmon Valley Post Office houses interpretive information about the Giscome Portage Trail, and is used during winter events at the homestead.
In 2017 the Salmon Valley Post Office was repainted in its historic colours in order to maintain and preserve this heritage building for future generations. Supported by the Province of British Columbia through the British Columbia | Canada 150: Celebrating B.C. Communities and their Contributions to Canada grant program, the work will help protect the building from the elements of our northern climate for years to come.
