Where Is The Similkameen News Leader Now?
by W. George Elliott
July 2026 will mark ten years since the last issue of the Similkameen News Leader was published and the storefront location closed. As one of just a few independent weekly newspapers operating in British Columbia at the time, it essentially blazed its own trail for most of its 18 years.
Some Background
The News Leader was established in 1997 by the mother-daughter team of Dawn and Sharon Johnson. The first issue published was dated January 1, 1998. The company had writing, editing, advertising, and technical staff over the years. In 2000, I was hired on as the Advertising Sales Manager, but my duties expanded far beyond just selling advertising.
In the first couple of years of my employment, I learned ad layout, page layout, and I designed print ads after I sold them to clients (sometimes even just “building” an ad and cold calling a client who immediately purchased the spec ad I had just made). I also learned a lot about how the business operated.
I bought the News Leader in 2004.
I could go on and on about the good times, the bad times, and just fill a lot of space here. Instead, I think it may be more interesting to local historians if I asked this question:
Do you know the different locations the News Leader had over the years?
In the short lifespan of the paper, it had a total of 4 different storefront locations. Here is a closer look at each of them.
#1-195 Bridge Street
This was the original home of the Similkameen News Leader. The building sat at the corner of Bridge Street and Fenchurch Avenue (across from the Leisure Inn Restaurant) with the News Leader office tucked at the “back” of the building, if you viewed it from Bridge Street. Our office faced Fenchurch Avenue, and the exact location of it was where many will remember Round The Corner Restaurant was. The site is now (at the time I’m writing this) an empty lot which will eventually become home to a residential/commercial complex built by Princeton & District Community Services.
161 Bridge Street
About a year after I started working at the paper, we moved. The hidden-from-the-main-street location was becoming an issue, and we found a suitable storefront not far from where we were. It was great to have a storefront facing Bridge Street and easy access from both the street and sidewalk for customers. However, the stay was short-lived as a company from out-of-town bought the entire building and we had to move once more. The 161 Bridge Street location was known for years as the old Valley First building. We moved as Lordco Auto Parts was coming to town, and wanted the entire building. We had only been using half of it.
105 Vermilion Avenue
The next “home” for the News Leader was on the other main street downtown. It was a small, awkwardly shaped space, but it was plenty big enough for the newspaper. Only we couldn’t entertain many customers or clients there because it was cramped with all the computer stations and printing gear. What I remember most about that storefront was that it got brutally hot in the summer and had no parking out front. Today, it is the location of the Sunflower Gallery.
226A Bridge Street
When I took over the day-to-day operations of the News Leader, the first thing I did was move the business. I had a space on Bridge Street next door to the CIBC Bank that was part of one of the busiest blocks of businesses downtown. I signed a long-term lease with the landlord, and we opened the doors. The spot generated a lot of foot traffic, and there was plenty of parking out front. To me, it was the perfect storefront location. I reasoned that the block, which had a pharmacy and bank at one end, and a post office at the other, was going to be active. I was right. We stayed there until I closed the business in July 2016. The location has since been home to a pawn shop and is currently home to a hair salon. The address has also changed. It is now 214A Bridge Street.
Princeton Museum Archive Website
As the News Leader was closing, I donated copies of each weekly issue of the paper to the Princeton Museum. There were 948 issues, and the Museum eventually digitized them all in 2023. They can now be accessed online here: (link). This is, in all reality, the final resting place for the News Leader. There are no more moves, no forwarding addresses. It stays where it is.
The funny thing is, often I will think about these former locations of the News Leader at sometimes the most odd times. For example, as the building was getting demolished earlier this year to make room for the forthcoming PDCSS building, I thought about where my work station used to be when the foundation of the building was all you could see after demolition.
When I park downtown and happen to find a spot near the front of the CIBC Bank, it reminds me that I used to park there for years when the paper was located next door. I guess some things just stick in your memory.
I hope this short walk through the various locations of the Similkameen News Leader brought back some memories for you, as it certainly did for me. I will also add that although it will be ten years on July 26, 2026, since our last issue was printed, it doesn’t seem that long ago to me, as I still get residents stopping me at random and telling me they miss the News Leader.