Author Jan Peterson has learned a couple of important facts about Nanaimo after years of researching its past: The Harbour City is one resilient community and it has an incredible history.
Peterson recently finished her trilogy about the history of Nanaimo with Harbour City: Nanaimo in Transition - 1920-1967. She will celebrate its release at the Nanaimo District Museum on Oct. 21 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
"It's really a celebration of all three books," Peterson says.
Her first two books in the trilogy are Black Diamond City: Nanaimo - The Victorian Era and Hub City: Nanaimo 1886 -1920.
"It's not as though I'm not going to write any more books," she says chuckling. "But I thought the centennial year was a good place to stop the history of the city."
"If I were to continue on from '67, it would be much more recent history and I think I'll leave that for someone else to work on."
She wouldn't have as much fun trying to find the information either: It would have been too easy. One of the things she enjoys most about writing history is the research.
Research means digging into dusty archives and far corners of museums, talking to the descendants of our pioneering citizens or talking to the people who used to toil in this city's coal industry.
Before she started her trilogy, she spent eight years researching the history of the Harbour City.
Peterson says she's amazed at the way Nanaimo has been able to cope with disasters and changing economic factors during its history. A number of superb leaders guided this city through some very trying times.
"This city has been very fortunate, in that it has had a number of incredible mayors -- men like Pete Maffeo and Victor Harrison, even Mark Bate, right at the beginning," Peterson says.
The city's ability to overcome tragedy -- like the 1887 coal mining disaster that claimed the lives of some 150 men, followed in 1888 by another coal mining tragedy, where about 80 men perished -- is something Peterson can identify with.
"I had been working at the AV (Alberni Valley) Times and I became quite ill.
"I couldn't walk, I couldn't even talk but I could get to the archives. I thought if I could keep my mind active, my body would eventually get better."
One tragedy that irrevocably changed Nanaimo was the Chinatown fire in 1960. Though the city has had different Chinatowns since the first one was established in 1884, the community stayed together.
Most of the Chinese community moved to the north end of Pine Street in 1908. That community was destroyed by the 1960 blaze and was never rebuilt. The city has not had a Chinatown since, as the Chinese community integrated with the dominant European-based Nanaimo citizens, says Peterson.
"After the Chinatown fire, the Chinese community just sort of spread through the entire population. It wasn't as concentrated as it had been. I'm not sure, from a cultural aspect, if this is entirely good."
Another thing she realized about the city, while doing her research, is just how important music has been to this community. In fact Bate, the city's first mayor may have gained recognition among many in the community prior to his 1875 election win, as the leader and co-founder of the Nanaimo Brass Band, which he started in 1873. That band continues today under the name of the Nanaimo Concert Band.
Peterson says she is not surprised Nanaimo seems to generate great jazz musicians, like Diana Krall or the Jensen sisters because music is part of the heritage.
Though she's sad to see the destruction or alteration of some historic old buildings in Nanaimo, such as the Malaspina Hotel, Pygmy Pavilion or Civic Arena, Peterson says she's not surprised.
"The city will just move on and evolve -- it always has and I think it always will."
WCordery@ nanaimodailynews.com