Events from 1949

City bus service began, under the management of by Harold Smith and using Trailway coaches. Service was offered initially between 7:30 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. Weekly garbage service was also introduced at that time.

City Council decided it was time to have a large aerial photograph taken of Prince George. They commissioned Aero Surveys to take the photograph and enlarge it to a four foot square format for display at a cost of $72.

In January, kiln-dried lumber was processed for the first time at Prince George Planing Mills. The product was destined for markets in Eastern Canada and the United States. Freight costs were substantially reduced as a result of the much lighter weight of the lumber.

By March, a consulting engineer arrived in Prince George to begin examining the feasibility of piping in natural gas from the Peace River region. Residents savoured the idea that you could "flick a lever and heat your home." The gas finally arrived in 1958.

Rotarians turned out in force during May to plant 60 trees along Vancouver Street. Their aim was to create a shaded boulevard for future citizens.

The Prince George Golf and Country Club opened its newly-designed course May 24 with President Hub King and Mayor Jack Nicholson presiding over opening ceremonies. The first ball was teed off by course planner W. H. Brinkworth. He was joined by Garvin Dezell, Jack Smedley and Lloyd Harper to make up the first foursome to play the course.

Throughout the spring of 1949, Prince George was a major employment centre. In one week, 188 men got jobs in the city. Men were arriving in the city at the rate of about 100 each week, looking for jobs. Soldiers returning from the war were drawn by the job prospects offered by the many sawmills (about 500) in the area around Prince George.

The Yellowhead Highway Association formed in 1936, representing merchants, hotels and sawmills who were all eager to promote the completion of an interprovincial highway. At the outset, their primary focus was the completion of the highway from Prince George to the Alberta border. The official opening of the route was celebrated on May 15 with automobile caravans from Jasper and McBride meeting mid-route.

In June, a fire that started in the engine room at the Rigler Brothers sawmill on Chief Lake Road destroyed the mill. Fire investigators suggested the $40,000 loss was caused either by a faulty waste burner or a dropped cigarette.

Central Airways began using Prince George as its base for charter flights and patrol work for the forest service. A Junkers Seaplane was brought to Prince George airport in anticipation of increased demand to service mining operations to the northwest.

On August 10, the Aluminum Company of Canada (Alcan) applied to the government of British Columbia for permission to use waters in the Ootsa Lake-Nechako region for the operation of their proposed $500 million aluminum plant at Kitimat. The project’s impact on the environment and its implications for farming and fishing in the region were of vital concern and the subject of community hearings.

During the second week in September, Mel Walls drove the first car across the newly completed section of the Hart Highway between Prince George and McLeod Lake.