Skip to content

Mayor Stibbs’ papers return to Nelson

Papers belonging to one of the city’s longest serving mayors that were found in a Seattle antique shop last year returned home Saturday.
34960westernstarIMG_0018
On Saturday


A collection of papers that once belonged to former Nelson mayor Norman Stibbs has returned home.

Brian Knecht found them in a Seattle antique store last year. A former Nelson resident with family here, Knecht recognized the significance of the find and snapped it up. He turned the collection over to the Touchstones Nelson archives Saturday.

The material includes scrapbooks and ephemera from Stibbs’ tenure as mayor between 1938-46, telegrams from the famous and not-so-famous, early Nelson maps, plans for a never-built series of tourist cabins, and a very cool 1946 program for the midsummer curling bonspiel — with a miniature broom attached.

Stibbs still holds the record for longest consecutive service as Nelson’s mayor at nine years, a mark present mayor John Dooley is poised to tie at the end of his present term. However, Stibbs had to be re-elected nine straight times to attain that mark, since terms were only one year in those days. He was acclaimed four times.