 Walking Tour of Cumberland United Church, Carol Clemens photo
Historic Neighbourhoods The quartet of village walks take visitors on a Main Street time trip and three strolls through distinct historic neighbourhoods. The brochure provides richly detailed historical background and vintage images every step of the way.
Downtown Strolls Main Street - the most central and important of the tours - covers downtown, an easy itinerary that readily incorporates pauses for coffee and lunch, a little shopping and a pint o'suds at the village's favourite watering hole. Interpretive plaques provide detailed historic info at every stop. And while at it, take note of the street's benches: They're replicated coal bins cut in half.
Waverley Hotel Main Street begins at the Waverley Hotel, built in 1894 and issued its liquor licence in 1896. The Waverly was central to a brutal slice of history as coal miners rebelled in the "Big Strike" of 1912-1914 and the imported police force was compelled to pay three times the going rate for accommodations. Today's tourists, lunching on fish and chips in the hotel's pub, aren't about to go on strike.
Cumberland Big Store & Royal Bank History rests behind every facade: Cumberland's liquor store stands on the site of three vanished hotels that prospered in Cumberland's time as a full-fledged city. The Cum"berland Big Store, now joltingly painted in bubblegum pink, was a general and dry goods store for 97 years. The Royal Bank was a victim of the Great Fire of 1944. When flames refused to quit, the original building was blown up with 40 sticks of dynamite.
Vintage Haircut Cameron's Salon & Barber, a junk emporium-cum-unorthodox barber shop, invariably delights visitors. Drop in for a real haircut in an unreal setting or to gawk at the suspended bicycle, Chinese paper lanterns, old 78 rpm records, antique cameras and a mannequin in a top hat.
Cumberland Collectibles Cumberland Collectibles was once the property of Tommy Nakanishi, who operated a prosperous hardware shop and bicycle repair until his property was seized in 1943 as part of the disgraceful pre-WWII purge of the country's Japanese Canadian population. The Cumberland Museum is, of course, a must. Plan to spend an hour or two probing a colourful past and the people who coloured it. Llo-Llo Theatre The Art Deco Ilo-Ilo theatre was built in 1914 as an opera house, complete with 500 seats and a basement dance hall. It was the home of the Cumberland Symphony Orchestra - amazingly, Cumberland had that kind of past - and then a movie theatre until 1968. Ilo-Ilo is a Japanese word for variety. Its name came from Japanese construction workers who raised the facade. Plans are currently afoot to restore the building to its former glory.
Down Camp & Little Jerusalem Tour The Down Camp & Little Jerusalem tour takes visitors to the original town campsite, the 1890 manse built for mine managers and VIPs of the day, the doctor's house built the same year, 12 rental houses built by one Harry Hamburger and other 1890s structures.
Doctor's Row Tour The Doctor's Row tour covers the United Church and its 1978 pipe organ, genteel homes built for the town's doctors, the old hospital where nurses were paid $10 per month and the "Pest House" for patients with communicable diseases.
Firewood Heights & Bridal Valley Tour Finally, the Firewood Heights and Bridal Valley tour transports visitors past the fenced and gabled homes of the era's well-to-do. The humble Bridal Cabin on Bridal Alley represented an architectural strata built exclusively for newlyweds.
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