New Westminster

New Westminster, Canada’s oldest incorporated city west of the Great Lakes, is a mere 9.6- square kilometres in size. It traces its roots to the discovery of gold on the Thompson River in the 1850s. Soon the Fraser River was giving up this precious metal and thousands of miners and prospectors headed to the region. In 1858 the newly formed Colonial government, under Governor James Douglas, requested assistance from the Colonial Office in England. Thus were sent the Columbia Detachment of Royal Engineers, under Col. RC. Moody. The sappers, as they were known, were to maintain law and order, establish routes of communication, build roads into the interior, bring “civilization” to this frontier and locate, survey and establish a town destined to be the capital city of the new Colony of British Columbia. The site they chose and the city they laid out was New Westminster.

In describing the site, Col. Moody wrote in 1859: “There is abundance of room and convenience of every description requisite in a seaport and the capital of a great country. There are great facilities for communication by water, as well as by future great trunk railways into the interior . . the low lands (which will be most coveted as commercial sites, docks, quays, etc.) ... are close adjoining and easily made available.”

In the early 1860s New Westminster (incorporated in 1860) was the premier city on the mainland, and the main port of call for a fleet of sternwheelers transporting gold seekers, supplies and equipment to the interior gold fields. But over time the gold rush moved on and the capital moved to Victoria in 1868.

In 1870 the city’s population gathered on the cricket grounds and celebrated the crowning of New Westminster’s first May Queen, an event credited with maintaining citizen morale and ensuring the city’s survival. May Day became a symbol of hope and of the rebirth of spring. Today the celebration, which marked its 125th Anniversary in 1995, is the longest continuing event of its type in the British Commonwealth.

In the 1870s and 1880s the little town and its citizens forged on, maintaining a position of commercial and economic importance. Industry began to call the city home, with major sites dedicated to fish, lumber, shipbuilding, farm produce of all types, food processing, international trade and general commerce. The coming of the railway in 1886 was a further spur to development: within a 15-year period, New Westminster was connected to the rest of the continent by three leading railways and connected to the rest of the Lower Mainland with electric tramlines from Vancouver to Chilliwack.

During the early years of New Westminster, another city grew within it. One of Canada’s first and largest Chinatowns was once located at the foot of 10th Street. At one time this community boasted 1,000 residents. Now, nothing remains.

With the arrival of the railways came a real estate boom. Prosperous citizens hired architects such as Samuel Maclure, Charles Clow or George Grant to design their homes. New Westminster became known as a City of Homes because of the grandeur of the houses gracing its hillside. Although many of these homes were later demolished and replaced by apartments, some remain, especially in the Queens Park historic neighborhood. Twice a year, homes are open to the public for viewing for a spring tour and for winter parlor concerts, both sponsored by the New Westminster Heritage Preservation Society.

Henderson’s Directory of 1889 outlined some of the important activities of the period. “The city is the centre of the fresh fish and fish canning industry. There are 12 canning establishments on the river within 14 miles of the city, and two establishments for shipping and freezing fresh fish. The city is surrounded by extensive tracts of valuable timber, has three large saw mills, and a large and very complete sash, door, and furniture factory; there is also a woolen mill (the only one in the province).” William’s Directory of 1891 further demonstrates the impact of the city: “ ... four distinct lines of river steamers find constant employment between the city and the agricultural settlements, and this, of course, implies a large volume of business for merchants and shippers.”

By 1898 New Westminster was the mercantile centre of the Fraser Valley, with a flourishing city market. Its main street, Columbia, was lined with impressive brick stores and offices. Then disaster struck. On September 10, 1898 the downtown commercial core of the city was destroyed by fire. Again the citizens picked up the pieces and rebuilt their town.

In this century Columbia Street was, for a time, renowned in North America as The Miracle Mile for its commercial value and productivity. If a business was located on “The Mile,” it was virtually guaranteed success. The waterfront was home to a well-known array of businesses such as Royal City and Broder’s Canning, Webb and Gifford, Belyea, Brackman Ker Milling, B.C. Electric Railway, Buckerfield’s, Cunningham Trapp, Canadian Fishing, Canadian Pacific Railway, Gilley Brothers, Kraft, Westminster Paper, Mohawk Lumber and Pacific Coast Terminals.

The waterfront, once jammed with paddlewheel steamboats, sailing ships and globe-trotting freighters, is now home to thousands of residents in modern residential complexes. The area that used to be docks, warehouses and mills features a garden-lined boardwalk linking residences and the Inn at the Quay with Westminster Quay Public Market. Fresh fish, vegetables, bread and pies straight from the oven and a variety of restaurants and shops enliven this popular site. Riverfront visitors can stroll the boardwalk and watch tugs and barges at work on the river or take a boat tour up the Fraser River to historic Fort Langley.

SkyTrain, with stops at 22nd Street, New Westminster and Columbia, now links The Royal City to Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey and has spurred much development in its wake.

A visit to New Westminster’s museums offers a variety of possibilities, including a riverboat captain’s home from 1865 (and one of B.C.’s oldest residences) at the beautifully preserved Irving House Historic Centre; a vast collection of memorabilia and information from Western Canada’s oldest city at the New Westminster Museum/Archives; stories, photographs and artifacts from our maritime heritage, including the last steam-powered paddlewheeler to operate on the Fraser River, now restored as the Samson V Maritime Museum; the history of Canada’s Official Summer Sport at the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame; and our military family tree and heroic efforts through two world wars and other conflicts at the Museum of the Royal Westminster Regiment.

Still on the drawing board but planned for a waterfront location the Fraser River Discovery Centre, an interactive facility exploring the river that is such an important part of New Westminster’s past, present and future. The centre is expected to become one of the top tourist attractions in the Lower Mainland. Scheduled to open before the year 2000, the multimillion- dollar facility will celebrate the province’s largest river, and its economic, environmental, cultural and historical importance.

Throughout the year New Westminster’s museums and its many community groups organize a variety of special events and activities. There are community events for Heritage Week, May Day, the Hyack Festival, The Hyack Anvil Battery salute, FraserFest, and throughout the Christmas season. There are tours of the city’s beautiful homes, walking tours of its streets and cemetery, and programming throughout the year, all dedicated to the history of The Royal City

As Col. Moody expressed in a letter home to England in 1859, “The site is not only convenient in every respect but it is agreeable and striking in aspect. Viewed from the Gulf of Georgia across the meadows and entering the Fraser, the far distant giant mountains forming a dark background the City would appear throned, Queen-like and shining in the glory of the midday sun it is a most important spot.”