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In the church's early years, the building lacked plumbing and running water. It was heated by large wood burning heaters on first and second floors, in addition to the wood-burning cookstove in the kitchen. Unfortunately these stoves were unable to heat the space as well as the congregation would have liked, and in the winter they shivered throughout services. Heat control was an ongoing issue in the summer as well as the building roasted in the Okanagan sun. Children attending bible school in the summer recalled suffering through the preacher's long lessons, which often went overtime, while trying to pay attention despite the oppressive heat.
The building's architecture, while distinctive, created an unfortunate issue for funerals. Caskets containing deceased congregants had to be carried up the steep stairs to the second floor by struggling pallbearers. Due to the steep angle required to maneuver the casket up the stairs, the assembled congregation often heard a dull thud as the body slid to the bottom of the casket. One can only imagine the effect this must have had on the mourners.
By the mid 1960s, the building's life as a church came to an end, and the Peachland Municipal Offices moved in temporarily while they waited for the construction of a new municipal hall at 5806 Beach Avenue. While this situation was temporary, it did leave an important legacy. The women working in the offices refused to work in a building lacking adequate indoor plumbing and running water and a toilet was installed for their use.

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One of the major figures in the history of the Okanagan fur trade was German-American businessman, investor, and merchant John Jacob Astor. He began amassing what would become a considerable fortune through the fur trade, before diversifying into real estate investments and by smuggling opium into China, eventually becoming the first multi-millionaire businessman in the United States. His role in the fur trade began in the Great Lakes region, forming the American Fur Trade Company, under the umbrella of which he organized the Pacific Fur Co. Traders. His company founded the first American settlement on the Pacific Coast in 1811, which would bear the name "Fort Astoria."
For traders based in the eastern United States and the Great Lakes, reaching the Pacific Coast and the mouth of the Columbia River was no easy feat. There were two options - sailing around South America’s Cape Horn, then going north to the Columbia River (today, the location of Astoria, Oregon) or going across the continent and passing through the dangerous Rocky Mountains. Once the fort was established, they had a simple question: How do we get furs from Fort St. James (which was in modern day northern British Columbia) to Oregon, where they can be shipped to European markets? The Fraser and Columbia Rivers each composed significant legs of the journey, but a long stretch in the middle would have to be traversed by land.
The Fur Brigade Trail, as it would come to be called, began at Fort Alexandria (about 60 km south of present-day Quesnel) and ended at Fort Okanogan in Washington State, where the Okanogan River met the Columbia. In 1812, traders from Fort Astoria founded Fort Kamloops and began trading furs in the region, and in 1814 a group had wintered at the head of Okanagan Lake and had acquired a good collection of furs by the spring. By 1824, the entirety of the Fur Brigade Trail was established along the western side of the lakes in the Okanagan Valley. Much of the trail followed ancient routes used by the First Nations, referred to by the Syilx (Okanagan) People n̓ q̓ aq̓lx̌aqas, which means "the trail Indigenous people walk."
A "brigade" was composed of hunters, cooks, packers, rangers, and fur traders leading as many as 300 horses, each carrying up to 80 kg of pelts. The brigade also had to carry all of the goods they needed for sustenance and trade. During the course of a journey, a few hunters went ahead of the bulk of the brigade to obtain fresh meat, and prepare the next camp.
The trail passed through Peachland, where it wound down from Shingle Creek to Garnet Valley passing through the bulk of modern-day Peachland. It likely ran a little above the thick lakeshore brush, around the level of Renfrew Road. A common stop was at May Springs, which was just below the intersection of Princeton and Somerset Avenue. It crossed Deep Creek at Antler’s Beach and Trepanier Creek near Lambly Park.
The Chronicles of Peachland writes about how this return to the lakeside must have been a relief for the traders, "One can easily imagine how welcome a swim in the lake would have been after the hot dusty trail from Shingle Creek, Garnet Valley, and down over the mountain to Deep Creek."¹ Anyone who has experienced the searing Okanagan heat would likely agree.
In 1846, the Oregon Treaty was signed, establishing the border between the United States and British North America. This treaty situated the southern portion of the Trail in U.S. territory. Due to this, the existing route was abandoned in favour of an all-Canadian route, which went from Fort Kamloops to a Canadian distribution centre at Fort Langley. The trail had a brief resurgence after the onset of the 1858 Cariboo Gold Rush when American prospectors streamed up to the Caribou through any route possible, but this Gold Rush soon petered out and the trail once again slowed.
When Peachland’s founder, J.M. Robinson got his first lot in the area in 1902, the old trail would still have existed, the precise route it took through the community has unfortunately now been lost.

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In The Chronicles of Peachland, early resident Olive B. Clarke remembers how central the little school was to the community, "In the earliest days, the little one-roomed school (white, not red) was really the centre of our lives. It sat in the middle of a gravel bed and everywhere one looked there was gravel, gravel, gravel. We held church services and Sunday School in that little building, saw our first Christmas tree, and took part in the Christmas concerts where I gave my first 'recitation.' After the concert, Santa arrived and gave each of us a net bag filled with candy, mixed nuts and an orange, and we were completely happy!"¹
Clarke also writes about a sweet memory surrounding the school's first teacher, C. G Elliot. "In 1906-07 after the Orange Hall was built, Miss Emily Kennedy taught some junior classes there. Mr. Elliot often asked one of us to take a note to her. Little did we realize we were cupid's little helpers, because the next year they were married and lived there many years before moving to Edmonton where both taught for some years."²
When the new four-room school was built in 1908, the Anglican Parish purchased the Little Schoolhouse and St. Margaret's Anglican Church held its first service the day after Boxing Day. It was consecrated three years later and served the congregation until 1995, when it was transferred to the District of Peachland in return for a portion of Brandon Lane.
After a century in the community, volunteers began work to restore the old building. In 2001, the Peachland Little Schoolhouse Society was formed and one of the first priorities was to raise the building and install a proper foundation. The building also had its electrical rewiring redone, and the front door was relocated to its original location in the centre of the building. The gravel described by Clarke was a thing of the past, but they continued to beautify the lot with new landscaping around the building, creating the lovely garden space that now surrounds the school. Today, the building is used as a venue for small gatherings and displays.
The Peachland School at Beach Avenue now functions as the community's visitor centre and art gallery. The community is especially proud of its maternal bat colony that resides in the attic of the building. Every year, mother bats spend the spring and summer in the building where they raise their pups. The people of Peachland are exceptionally grateful for these bats and their role in managing mosquitoes. If you are lucky enough to pass by the building near dusk, you may catch these unique mammals taking flight for their nightly mosquito hunts.