R. J. Haney Heritage Park ~ Volunteers

~ Our Feature Volunteer ~

When District of Salmon Arm staff were looking at cramped storage space and an accumulation of 97 years of property tax records, they turned to the Salmon Arm Museum. Over a two-year period several truck loads of documentary artifacts, the written records of who paid land taxes from 1906 to 1980, were transported to the Salmon Arm Museum for safekeeping.

Volunteer Allan Wilson quickly catalogued the first batch of records, but the tax assess- ment rolls were filed by folio number and difficult to decipher. Understanding the provincial filing system is usually left to the Land Titles Office and businesses involved in real estate or property transfers. Once the records were catalogued, there was a major problem. If a researcher wanted to know the history of property ownership and they had the folio number for 1980, for example, they could trace a property through the records. Having a twenty year old folio number was the key. Needless to say, few researchers came equipped with that information.

Later in the same year, another District of Salmon Arm gift was entrusted to the Salmon Arm Museum. The tax assessment rolls filed alphabetically! Volunteer Liz Murdoch soiled and catalogued the rolls. She quickly realized the value in this gift. People who owned property in Sahnon Arm could be traced. Those who lived out of town were given legal addresses ... the pre-emption number which identifies where a property was located in Salmon Arm. Unfortunately; addresses for taxpayers within the Corporation of Salmon Ann only had "Salmon Arm" as their written address. In 1905, everyone knew where everyone else lived. Just plain "Salmon Arm" was a mailing address!

Having access to the yearly records was still a little cumbersome. When a researcher was looking for a relative, for example, trying to establish years of residency in Salmon Arm, they were escorted down to the dim museum basement to look through the rolls, year by year. Then along came a willing and capable volunteer. Anthony Arcand agreed to donate his time, once a week, doing computer entries at the Salmon Arm Museum. Anthony was familiar with Microsoft Access, likes database management and quickly adapted to the customized museum program.

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Volunteer Anthony Arcand

To date Anthony has entered over 2500 records, spanning the first five years of Salmon Arm property tax assessments. When he finished the first book, Anthony thought he'd completed the job. It was only then that museum staff let him see the extent of the records in storage and he realized he was going to be busy for a very long time. To his credit, after viewing the number of rolls, Anthony cheerfully accepted the ongoing task.

Researchers in the Archives of the Salmon Arm Museum have already consulted Anthony's database. It is a quick and easy way to access the information. Knowing that the records will be used far into the twenty-first century is all Anthony is concerned about. He's doing a valuable job with little reward. Thank you Anthony!