[16] Although, the proposed P&HB passed no closer than 20 miles (32 km) away,[17] the locality was a possible terminus for an unlikely branch line crossing the Fraser,[18] but no track ever eventuated anywhere.

[22] Warning prospective buyers not to confuse their 640-acre development with the syndicate's one three miles (4.8 km) away by rail from the planned station, the GTP began marketing their real estate.

[52] The unprecedented low water limiting navigation on the Upper Fraser (which beached steamboats)[53] made it impossible to transport steam shovels downstream in 1912.

Although tracks were supposedly laid across this bridge on 31 December 1913,[60] the discrepancy of having reached Mile 220 the previous day[61] probably indicates that mileage references in newspapers were sometimes approximations.

[65] When a collision demolished a fully laden Geddes lumber truck on the old highway level crossing in 1947, the driver escaped with only concussion and fractures.

[67] After passing trains had destroyed 100 head of cattle between Willow River and Aleza Lake during 1958–63, the CNR erected protective fencing.

[68] Passing in front of a moving train at the crossing, after failing to stop and properly check, a school bus narrowly avoided danger.

[117] A coroner's jury returned an open verdict on his death from a rifle wound inflicted by a person unknown,[118] but locals suspected murder.

The Harvies left around 1917 when Charlie sold his farm near the river mouth to William H. Fairis,[79][122] who became known for his fine hay, grain and vegetable crops.

[126] By the time the Royal Bank successfully sued him for failing to honour a promissory note,[127] he had sold his property,[128] and returned permanently to Illinois.

[148][149] The following year, when a forest fire driven by high winds threatened to destroy the town and sawmill, every available man (assisted by an additional 100 men dispatched on a special train from Prince George) successfully contained it.

[159] Enlarged to a 32,000 capacity, the mill was sold, dismantled and moved to Hansard,[160] but contractors continued to hand hew railway ties.

[122][220] John (1881–1957) & Jane (1883–1971)[221] Newsome[79] operated a café, laundry and rooming tents at the GTP Jasper and Tête Jaune construction camps.

[224] In 1938, he built the existing two-storey store on the east corner of Railway and Willow,[35][72] which included a Home Oil gas bar.

[344] Trading as Willow River Service,[345] Yogi Sharma owned and operated the independent gas station from the early 1990s[346] until it closed in 2008.

William Walter Charles O'Neil[79] was the inaugural teacher at the first official school, a one-roomed log building opened in 1915 on the south corner of Lee and Coonsey.

[378] Although there had been a little-used cemetery north of the town, in 1938, he secured a new official site[379] near the mineral springs, west of the current highway and south of the railway tracks.

Fundraising,[372] volunteer labour, and using materials from the demolished community hall, the new building opened on the east corner of Muriel and Coonsey in 1972.

[390] The League's weekly meetings focused upon supporting missions work and providing an opportunity to acknowledge milestones in members' lives.

[458] In financial difficulties, Bill sold their sawmill to the Perry Bros. of Ferndale in 1942,[459][460] and focused upon the farm,[461] but held social dances in the barn.

[518] Percy Church (1903–74)[519] (see #PChurch), who managed the local team, was appointed president of the Prince George and District Baseball Senior League in 1953.

[539] In July, a scow[540] loaded with 17 tons of rails and dump cars, was cut free from its moorings at Willow River and drifted downstream until it was deliberately maneuvered onto a sandbar 30 miles (48 km) north of Quesnel.

[541] During 1914–16, the jail/police barracks, on the south corner of Gwen and Willow,[72] stationed BC Provincial Police Constable Henry N. Wood (1889–1967)[542] & his bride[543] Fanny Eleanor Bulman (1888–1963).

While Eliza was rescuing baby Emmett from the burning house, John was working to save Albert's life, applying his veterinarian experience.

[563][564] Ralph Suvee (1946–66)[565] was posthumously awarded the Queens Commendation for Brave Conduct for his attempt to rescue a victim from a well near the Upper Fraser Road/Yellowhead intersection.

[568][569] Despite ongoing property losses, a 1989 referendum to form a volunteer fire department failed,[570] as did the proposal for a water connection, the following year.

[594] Operating at capacity the prior year,[459] and governed by the Timber Control Board, the sawmill handled the strong demand for even hemlock and spruce.

[598] The mills were located at Ferndale and three miles (4.8 km) north of Willow River, and the planer at the northwest end of Railway Ave.[599] A falling tree killed logger[600] Thomas (Tom) Sather (1905–51).

[603] During the 1940s and 1950s, the Geddes planer mill operated on the east side of the north-south section of Arnett Rd (near the Willow River hill incline on the former highway).

[608] Although the wagon road from Prince George via Six Mile (Tabor) Lake reached the west bank of the Willow in 1915,[609] the actual bridge into the township was not constructed until the 1922/23 winter.