One hundred fifty-second in an alphabetical series on West Kootenay/Boundary place names
Playmor Junction, at the intersection of Highway 6 and 3A, is one of the more recent additions to local toponymy, dating to 1968.
It takes its name from Playmor Hall, a dance venue first mentioned in the Nelson Daily News of May 10, 1941: “Attention dance fans: Reserve May 23 and 24 for the gala opening dances at Alex Powell’s new large ‘Playmor’ now under construction near South Slocan.”
Further ads touted “British Columbia’s newest large dance palace. Located one mile south of South Slocan, where Nelson, Trail, and Slocan highways meet … Large smooth mirror-like maple dance floor — comfortable seating accommodations — acres of parking grounds.”
Alex Powell was a professional dancer and taught ballroom and exhibition dancing classes before he and wife Laura built Playmor Hall.
Between May and October, dances were held nearly every Saturday, and sometimes Fridays, from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. On holiday Mondays, Playmor would host “mid-nite frolics” from 12 to 3:30 a.m.
The entertainment was a combination of local acts and — thanks to Powell’s contacts in the US — touring bands. The list of notable names who performed there is long, but included Bobby Curtola, Bobby Vinton, Buddy Knox, Dal Richards, and Gene Pitney.
On April 6, 1946 the hall burned down, but the following year the Powells re-built on the same site.
Alex Powell’s death in 1967 of a rare form of bone cancer ended Playmor Hall’s golden era. It was later used as a furniture warehouse and bingo hall and today it’s Covenant Church at the Junction.
The name’s origin is no more complicated than a compound of play and more, minus the last letter.
Frequently misspelled Playmore, or even Playmour, the name has since been given to the road that goes by the hall and adopted by several businesses, including Playmor Storage, Playmor Woodworks, and Playmor Power Products.
It has also been used elsewhere in many other ways, sometime spelled Play-Mor or Pla-Mor, from a 1920s music store in Florida to a 1940s Kansas City hockey team, to present-day product names for RVs and swing sets. There’s even another Playmor Hall in San Antonio, Tex. Lastly, and very appropriately, a local big band calls itself Playmor Junction.
The first use of Playmor Junction was in a Nelson Daily News ad of Nov. 29, 1968 for Parkwood Trailer Sales (later known as Playmor Mobile Homes). Proprietors Walt and Val Hill probably coined it.
In 1986, the BC geographic names office officially recognized Playmor Junction as a community. It’s now used interchangeably with South Slocan, which we’ll look at separately in this series.
Previous installments in this series
Applegrove, Appleby, and Appledale revisited
Bakers, Birds, and Bosun Landing
Bannock City, Basin City, and Bear Lake City
Bealby Point (aka Florence Park) revisited
Boswell, Bosworth, Boulder Mill, and Broadwater
Brooklyn, Brouse, and Burnt Flat
Camborne, Cariboo City, and Carrolls Landing
Carmi, Cedar Point, Circle City, and Clark’s Camp
Carson, Carstens, and Cascade City
Christina City and Christian Valley
Cody and Champion Creek revisited
Champion Creek revisited, again
Columbia City, Columbia Gardens, and Columbia Park
Crawford Bay and Comaplix revisited
Dawson, Deadwood, and Deanshaven
English Cove and English Point
Forslund, Fosthall, and Fairview
Fort Shepherd vs. Fort Sheppard, Part 1
Fort Shepherd vs. Fort Sheppard, Part 2
Gladstone and Gerrard, revisited
Hall Siding and Healy’s Landing
Hudu Valley, Huntingtdon, and Healy’s Landing revisited
Inonoaklin Valley (aka Fire Valley)
Jersey, Johnsons Landing, and Jubilee Point
Kootenay Bay, Kraft, and Krestova
Kuskonook (and Kuskanax), Part 3
Labarthe, Lafferty, and Longbeach
Makinsons Landing and Marblehead
McDonalds Landing, McGuigan, and Meadow Creek
Meadows, Melville, and Miles’ Ferry
Mirror Lake and Molly Gibson Landing
Montgomery and Monte Carlo, Part 1