UNBC Facebook project helps keep Cassiar's history alive

The former residents of the northern B.C. mining town of Cassiar are keeping its spirit alive with the help of a University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC) history project that made extensive use of social media.

Shortly after closing its doors in 1992, the Cassiar Asbestos Mining Company donated nearly 2,000 banker's boxes to UNBC full of files and old photos documenting the history of the town and its people.

The historic treasure trove included dozens of photos with unidentified buildings and people. And with the town's residents now dispersed across Canada, what would be the best way to track down the missing information?

UNBC head of archives and special collections Ramona Rose and third-year student Meghan Heitrich created the Cassiar album project and uploaded the images onto the UNBC library's Facebook page in June 2010.

The results were overwhelming - over following year they received 335 comments on 111 photographs with only four photos generating no feedback.

"But we got much more than that," Rose said. "Cassiar residents live all over the map now, but they feel connected to that time and place.

"It was interesting to see a new, self-regulating community spring up on our Facebook album. We initiated many discussions and were able to collect a lot of valuable data."

Herb Daum of Powell River was born and raised in Cassiar and worked in the mine and at the mine's garage.

"Now that my hometown has been bulldozed and burned to the ground, I and many other Cassiarites no longer have roots," said Daum, who administrates the online community's website and Facebook page.

"The website and group are our common ground and virtual community and Rose's efforts have been much appreciated. Our community got really involved in the project and it was good to relive memories and contribute to the history of B.C."

Cassiarites have a reunion planned in Penticton in 2012 and Daum is asking all former Cassiarites including those from Clinton Creek YK, who moved to Cassiar after their mine, too, was shut down, to check in at www.cassiar.ca.