This photo from the Alberni Valley Museum, dated 1910, shows Bishop’s Store in Alberni. The store was owned by Charles Frederic Bishop, who later became the first mayor of Alberni.
According to historian Jan Paterson, Bishop—originally from England—settled with his family in the Beaver Creek area in October 1886. The first C.F. Bishop and Son dining room and bake shop opened on Johnston Road in 1898, and other stores followed over the years in Alberni, Port Alberni and Sproat Lake.
In 1913, Bishop became the first mayor of Alberni.
“During his time in office he helped establish the first high school for the district, as well as providing a site for a new firehall for Alberni,” says Peterson in her book The Albernis: 1860-1922.