Looking for photos of Extension Village.

[Bunky]

If anyone has any photos of Extension Village I would love to see them.
I grew up running around that area in the 70's and would love to see how it looks now. Thanks.

[riverrat]

I'd also like to see Extension photos, as I've never been to the place.
For me, it's a place I know to be down a road on the right as I drive out to the Nanaimo River. What's the place like now? When did its heyday end? Is there stuff for people to check out?

[Bathtub in Bohemia]

I went to elementary school there... is the two-room schoolhouse still in use? It was a great place to ride bicycles around; all the coal slag would pack down and make for great trails. Having the old convenience store up there helped as well. I feel like an old fart, but we used to able to buy a bag of chips and a bottle of pop for 25 cents.

[Bunky]

I also went to school there in hthe early seventies. And your right about all that coal slag. If you look on Google Earth you can actually see the big coal hill. We used to try to drive our cars up it! And I loved that old store by the school. If I remember correctly it was run by two ladies who had one HUGE cat. We used to go down to the lake at the bottom of the hill and go log jumpin, we always got wet. And swimming at Second Lake in the summer you were sure to get The Itch! From all the dead cedar logs in the lake.
We used to go sneak into old Doms barn and make forts and he would always catch us and chase us out with his pitchfork. And back then we used to go up on the ridge and jump the crevice that everyone now refers to as the Abyss. Man that was a crazy good place to grow up around at that time. Chevy II's everywhere!
The chips and pop for twenty five cents sounds about right so maybe we went to school there about the same time. Ya never know!

[riverrat]

That DOES sound like a cool place to grow up!
Hey, are there any stories about the Abyss? I once heard about a dog that fell down there and ended up being found at the river - is that total hooey? Has anyone gone down there?

[yogi bear]

Another former Extensioner here...attended Extension Elementary back in the early 70's
and never moved too far...(Harewood) The school's still there although it's boarded up and getting in pretty rough shape, there hasn't been classes there for about five years since the new school in Cinnabar Valley opened. As for the Extension General store, it's still there but it's used as a residence and a home based dog walking business called "U Dog"... I remember the two ladies, Olga and Lydia Corsini and the big cat too...and the 25 cent chips and pop : )
going a few years back, to the mid 60's does anyone remember digging for artifacts in the old Chinatown at the far ens of the ballfield? I remember going there with my older brothers and being "amateur archeologists" digging up old clay jugs...wonder whatever happened to them?

Cheers,
Al

[yogi bear]

Re Dom's barn...
Alas, it's no more......Dom's barn got torn down about ten years ago by his nephew who inherited it and built a home nearby...I worked haying for Dom (Armanasco) with my brothers back in the seventies, and man for a scrawny 13 year old was that tough work...but fun...my older brother drove the tractor and loved "dumping the clutch" to see if he could knock me off my feet as I had to ride the hay wagon and stack the bales...
Yeah, it was a great place to grow up......

Cheers,
Al

[riverrat]

going a few years back, to the mid 60's does anyone remember digging for artifacts in the old Chinatown at the far end of the ballfield? I remember going there with my older brothers and being "amateur archeologists" digging up old clay jugs...wonder whatever happened to them?

Welcome, Al!
Was that in Extension, where you dug up the artifacts?
I went out a couple times to the old Chinatown and dump between Hecate and Pine (just last year I think, in 2004 or 2005). There are pictures here.

[yogi bear]

Yep, it was Extension....
Extension was apparently quite the burg back in the early 1900's (the mines closed around 1934, I think) Although most of the miners "commuted" from Ladysmith, many decided to live closer to the mine , against the wishes of Vancouver Island's favourite robber barons, the Dunsmuirs, who owned the mines.
My Grandad and two of my uncles toiled in the Extension mines, my Dad was too young to work in the Extension mines, but his first job was working at the South Wellington mine near Scotchtown...
As for pics of Extension, best places are the BC Archives website and for an up close and personal, I hear the Black Nugget Museum in Ladysmith is worth a look although I haven't had the opportunity....
By the way, thanks for this forum, it's a lot of fun : )

cheers,
Al

[North]

Yogi was right on the $ about the BC Archives. Loads of good stuff there. I've probably grabbed over 200 pics there of dif places & events that intrest me.

Here is a link to a BC Archives page with some Extension pics.

I'd have posted some pics but... they're kinda touchy about their copyright stuff.