A New Photo Archive

Good news for digital history buffs: the Saanich Archives have placed a big chunk of their photographic collection online. The search function is occasionally whimsical (an entire category devoted to "menageries"?) but effective, and it leads to all sorts of interesting images that haven't been seen widely before. At left is the Cadboro Beach Hotel, on the site of today's Gyro Park, after it was destroyed by a spectacular fire in August 1931 (index# 2007-171-003).