153 Mile House: The Historic Cariboo Roadhouse and Store
For over sixty years, Louis and Clara Crosina, and later on their daughter Lil, welcomed customers at 153 Mile House. When the store closed after Lil’s death in 1963, the building and its contents remained exactly as they were on her final day. Today, the building offers a look into everyday life along British Columbia’s historic transportation route.
This series tells the story of 153 Mile House, the Crosina family who built the store, and the Patenaude family who continue to preserve the legacy of the store. In upcoming articles, you will discover how the 153 Mile House brought people together and forged lasting connections. It was more than just a store. The Crosinas built lasting relationships that survived over time. Customers would often mail their orders in ahead of time along with letters asking about he local news and gossip.
Those relationships continued even after some customers went off to war. For more than a century, the Crosina and Patenaude families carefully preserved their letters. Now they are being shared for the first time. The first group of letters comes from their customers and friends serving overseas during the First World War. Eager to remain connected to the Cariboo ranch, they sent letters home to the Crosinas at the 153 Mile Store.
153 Mile House
Where is 153 Mile Store?
153 Mile House is located in British Columbia’s Cariboo region, approximately 540 kilometers (335 miles) north of Vancouver and 15 kilometers (9 miles) south of Williams Lake. The nearby community of 150 Mile House is approximately a 7 hour drive from Vancouver. It was built here as part of the Cariboo Waggon Road during the gold rush. Yes! Waggon is spelled with two g’s historically such as the naming of the Cariboo Waggon Road.
These roadhouses provided many essential services for the travellers. They were able to enjoy a hot meal while their horses were changed and to spend the night while their wagons were being repaired, purchase supplies, and exchange news before continuing their journey north.
The Cariboo Waggon Road
During the Cariboo Gold Rush, thousands of prospectors, merchants, and travellers made the long journey north to British Columbia, Canada in the hopes of striking it rich. They followed the Cariboo Waggon Road, which was built in the 1860s to connect the Fraser Canyon with the goldmines in central British Columbia. With Lillooet as Mile 0, stopping houses were built along the route, each identified with their distance from the starting point. Today communities such as 70 Mile House, 100 Mile House, 150 Mile House, and 153 Mile House remain.
At one time roadhouses were all along the Cariboo Waggon Road, however very few are still standing today. One of the best preserved roadhouses is 153 Mile House, south of Williams Lake, British Columbia. It has been a stopping place for tired travellers, a family home, a working ranch, a general store, and the heart of a community.
Inside the 153 Mile Store – Credit: BC History Diary
153 Mile House Owners
Louis Crosina’s Journey to British Columbia
Louis Crosina left his home in Italy in 1882 at the age of 5 and travelled across the world to Yale, British Columbia. While in Yale, he tended to horses and worked for for Steven Tingley.
Clara Nobel and Life at 153 Mile House
In 1887, Louis married Clara Nobel, a teacher at Lac La Hache. The Crosinas lived along the Cariboo Waggon Road until they were given a plot of land through the Canadian’s pre-emption program. With this land, they made their home at 153 Mile House in 1903. After building their home they began to farm the land. As the ranch encompassed hundreds of acres, the Crosinas hired local First Nations people to help work the land. When they wouldn’t accept money, but instead asked for food, this was the beginning of 153 Mile House becoming a roadhouse.
Clara bought a scale and started cooking for the workers. In 1906, Louis built a bigger house which would end up becoming the famous roadhouse. Clara went from feeding the hired hands, to running a popular roadhouse that was known for it’s hospitality and meals. She ran a tight ship because if she was going to run a roadhouse, it was going to be as clean, efficient, and hospitable as possible.
As the years went by, the Crosinas continued to build on their land. Along with the two log houses they also built a barn, a blacksmith shop, and in 1914, the store that is standing today.
Changes for 153 Mile House
When transportation changed from horses to cars, the Crosinas shifted their focus. In 1939, they closed down the roadhouse.
Lil Crosina Takes Over the Store
Clara and Louis had four children: William, Alice “Lil”, Dorothy “Dolly” and Clara Isabel. Their eldest daughter Lil worked alongside them. When Clara passed away in 1936, Lil took over running the store. Lil made the made the customers feel like family, which we will see in the letters. The customers often refer to Louis and Clara as “Mother” and “Father”.
Peggy Patenaude Preserves the Store
In 1958, Lil stepped back and sold the ranch to Joe and Peggy Patenaude. Peggy Patenaude started working at the 153 Mile Store in 1958 with Lil. She was working when Lil Crosina suffered a heart attack and died behind the counter in 1963. Initially, they closed the store exactly as Lil had left it. They removed only the merchandise that would spoil. Otherwise it still looks like it did that day.
A few years passed and Peggy decided the store should open once more. Not the same as it once was, but now as a museum so to pay homage to the Crosina family.
The store is a blast from the past. Every corner is filled with items for sale. Boxes of shoes stacked to the ceiling, order forms piled high on the desk, and everything else you would expect at a general store.
By 1974, word of the charming store preserving the past spread. It became a place that hopeful teachers wanted to take their students. Once word got out that people could walk inside the store, groups came from all over the region for a tour.
In 2025, Alison Patenaude, Peggy Patenaude’s daughter-in-law, gave me a tour of the historic store. I was there as part of the British Columbia Historical Federation Conference. A group of historians in a store preserved in time…magical.
Stay Tuned
In the next few articles I will share the letters written to the Crosina family during WWI.
More to Read
- Gold Fever, Church Building, and Pioneer Life in Agassiz, BC (1896)
- The Early History of Harrison Hot Springs (Part 1)
- Settling Into Life in Agassiz 1896
- Crashes and Castles: William McRae’s WWI Letters (1917)
Editorial Note
The Patenaude family has carefully preserved the original manuscripts featured in this post at the 153 Mile Ranch. I transcribed the letters verbatim, retaining the original spelling, grammar, and punctuation to preserve their historical authenticity. To make the collection more accessible, I added editorial introductions and historical context that place the letters within the broader social and historical landscape of twentieth-century British Columbia.
