The history of the Hillcrest area of Whitehorse, Yukon


		The history of the Hillcrest area of Whitehorse, Yukon A Guide to Whitehorse The History of Whitehorse Dateline: March 9, 2013. Last update: February 13, 2023 1948 November 26, 1948: Work was started on fifty new Air Force homes to be completed next summer. The new subdivision is located across the Alaska Highway, adjacent to the airport. Hillcrest had its own post office, called RCAF Station Whitehorse from 1954-1966, then the name was changed to Hillcrest on October 19, 1966. Located on the Alaska Highway in a separate building supplied by RCAF, it was open and staffed part-time. It closed on July 31, 1968, following the closure of CFB Whitehorse on July 1st. See more information about the Hillcrest post office here. 1950 Government aerial photo, 1950 - click on it to greatly enlarge it. 1956 The Whitehorse Star - Thursday, February 16, 1956 Recent approval has been received from RCAF Edmonton HQ for the naming of all the streets in the RCAF married quarters community known as Hillcrest. This community is located on the west side of the highway opposite the airport proper and is the home of many of the RCAF married personnel here in Whitehorse. The community of Hillcrest is made up of 165 homes, 29 occupied by officers and the remaining 136 by NCOs and airmen. In addition to these homes a further 39 airmen and their families reside in the Standard Oil area, a little remote from Hillcrest. Like any small community in this country, Hillcrest residents govern their own social habits and the development of playgrounds, etc. They arrange outings and picnics. Last year three enjoyable trips on the Tutshi were made from Carcross. All this is accomplished through a duly elected mayor and councillors from each ward. The present mayor of Hillcrest is jovial Warrant Officer Aubrey Haines, who, after serving three years with the army joined the RCAF in the fall of 1939. Contrary to much belief these and army residents do not live in free houses supplied by the government. Rentals are based on the rank of the occupant rather than on the house he lives in. The lowest paid married airmen pays $108.50 monthly and this rent applies to all airmen and NCOs up to and including warrant officers second class. A WO1 contributes $119.50 for his house; flying officers and flight lieutenants pay $127.50 with squadron leaders adding $130.50 for their rentals. The station commander, a wing commander, pays $143.50 monthly rental. By any man's standards these figures can hardly be adjudged as "free houses." If anyone chooses to move out of these married quarters and live elsewhere his pay is increased by the amounts indicated. In general the standard of living comforts are similar in all houses, and the same furnishings are placed in officers and airmen's homes. Any normal crockery breakage is replaced by the occupant at his expense. Dalton Trail In line with the practice of naming RCAF community streets with names of significance to its geographical area, our streets bear names such as Dalton Trail, Kluane Crescent, Sunset Drive, etc. In addition street signs and house numbers have been prepared. The latter have been placed on all the houses. All this is done through the Hillcrest Community Council without any expense to public funds. The community is not a closed area and anyone wishing to drive through it may do so. All residents ask is that drivers remember the speed limit is 15 mph for good reason, there are 260 school-age children and 150 under five years of age, most of whom play near their homes, and parents want them to continue to live. Two playgrounds are developing but they are not yet complete as it takes time and residents' money. Two new welcome additions to the community are the beautiful new chapels. The Protestant one is in use now and it is expected Catholic chapel will see services by about the end of February. They are situated near the highway and adjacent to Hillcrest Drive, the main access road. Already noticed that some friends from the DOT married quarters area and from the federal housing area are coming to services. While it is not intended to draw people from attending their downtown churches, the chapels are open for worship for any who live in the immediate Upper Whitehorse area. 1961 April 6, 1961: The Hillcrest community gets its own section in The Whitehorse Star. "Hillcrest Highlights" appeared in 19 editions, with the final one published on January 30, 1964. See a 1963 copy below. 1963 Government aerial photo, 1963 - click on it to greatly enlarge it. The Whitehorse Star - Thursday, June 6, 1963 Click on the image to read a larger copy in a new window. 1968 The Whitehorse Star - Saturday, January 6, 1968 The Canadian Forces base at Whitehorse will be officially closed on the first of July. Official word was received by Squadron-Leader B. A. Laurin Friday. The station's closure was first announced in August, 1966, at which time Frobisher Bay, NWT, Churchill, Manitoba, Coverdale, N.B. and Ladner, B.C, were also included in the move to consolidate Department of National Defence facilities. At that time, it was expected that air force personnel would be posted elsewhere at the end of 1967 or early in 1968, and no further information has been available until this weekend. The change in service policy at that time was to affect about 225 members of the RCAF, a total of 800 people in service families and dependents. In addition, about 70 permanent civilian and 15 part time employees were included. It could not be learned officially whether this number remains the same, but it is understood that the station had been operating at full strength. The Whitehorse station has been in operation for 20 years and its personnel have become an integral part of the community. Actual operation of the Whitehorse airport has been the job of Department of Transport for the past three years; RCAF activities have been limited to operation of the radio site nearby. Official description of the Air Force function here is as follows: "To collect data in support of research into equipment and techniques employed in long range radio communication, with emphasis on problems encountered in northern latitudes. Some of the equipment and methods used are classified and must be restricted to an area in which personnel not directly concerned are denied access." The Whitehorse Star - Thursday, April 25, 1968 DISPOSAL METHOD FOR HILLCREST HOUSING STILL UNDECIDED. These are some of the Department of National Defence houses in the Hillcrest area which are to be disposed of by July 1st, according to Northern Development Minister Arthur Laing. The details of how they will be offered to the public are not yet known, but members of Crown Assets Corporation are expected to arrive in Whitehorse in May to set up purchase procedures. Shown, at the top, are the single and double officers' houses. Second from the top are the Steelox buildings (duplexes) and the lower two pictures are the bungalows and two storey houses. There are 75 Steelox units and 90 houses involved. The Whitehorse Star - Thursday, July 25, 1968 The line forms at the Elks Hall early Monday morning, August 5, when 126 former air force houses go on sale to the public. The 87 single family dwellings and 39 semi-detached houses vary in size from two bedroom bungalows to four bedroom two-storey homes. They vary in price from about $24,000 down to about $12,800. A small cash payment and 25 year mortgage will be sufficient to move 165 families up to Hillcrest by September. Prices vary for each building, because of differences in construction, condition, equipment and so on. A complete price list (including taxes for each piece of property) is on its way from Prince George CMHC office and will be published in The Star next week. So will application forms for interested buyers. J. C. Hadden of CMHC made the announcement here Wednesday and is working closely with local CMHC representative Len Gross on all the details of the sale. Also here were three officials of CADC; Roger La Plante, general manager of the crown corporation, from Ottawa, his assistant Greg Glynn and Charles Gow from Calgary. Their special interest in the Hillcrest project is disposal of the furnishings for the homes; 25 sets of which have been retained for sale to home buyers as complete units. The remainder will go on sale at the end of August together with equipment from the air base buildings such as office , kitchen and transport divisions, in job lots to wholesale bidders. Future of other buildings at the former air base is still uncertain. CADC is investigating suggestions for disposal of the two chapels, warehouses, recreation centre, greenhouses and so on but nothing definite has been decided, Mr. La Plante told The Star. To give prospective buyers a chance to see the homes before bidding on them, an Open House is planned by Mr. Hadden next weekend on his return from Prince George, showing one of each of the four main types, probably Saturday Aug. 3 from 4-8 p.m. and Sunday Aug. 4 from 2-6 p.m. Sets of the furnishings will also be on display. Heating costs are not obtainable, but one service family kept track of the amount of oil used for a two bedroom bungalow and it totalled $240 for a year. Representatives of the Crown Assets Disposal Corporation who are in Whitehorse this week in connection with the Hillcrest sale have also arranged for sale of the complete furnishings from each of the former Air Force houses. Furniture, linens, china, cutlery etc - the complete requirements of the household - have been removed from the houses but stored as complete group units, It is expected that the applicant for the house will be given first chance to buy the complete unit, for under $1,000, and if he does not wish to buy the furnishings, they will be disposed of on the public market later. The above article also includes financial information about purchasing (a minimum 5% down payment was required), mortgage payment samples with interest at 8.75%, and a map of Hillcrest with house types marked. 1971 May 25, 1971: Yukon Territorial Council meets May 26 for a special session to put into effect the municipality of Metropolitan Whitehorse. A previous plebiscite approved the amalgamation of Whitehorse, Hillcrest, Takhini and Porter Creek, (from the Carcross cut-off road to the Takhini River on the Mayo Road) rendering Whitehorse the largest municipality in Canada.

.