Dee6, 1977."

¥

E

 

 

~

then known.)

Moody contended that his
choice of site was superior to
Derby for communication b
water and because of its high
‘location on the north side of
‘the river, for defense against
the American states.

Though Governor Douglas
authorized the work on the
new site, he disliked the

|.location and did everything

he could to hamper its
growth in favour of a site at
Victoria. .

Leaving their families at
the old barracks in Derby,
the Engineers began
clearing land and building a
camp (which they named
Sapperton) near the site of
Queensborough. To aid in
the cutting and squaring of
the logs, the Engineers em-
ployed the labor of the South
Sea Island Kanakas (their
presence is remembered now
in such areas as Kanaka
Creek and Kanaka Falls at
Maple Ridge).

When the camp was com-
pleted, the Engineers began
to survey Queensborough,
with Colonel Moody plan-
ning the layout of the town in
avenues, parks, squares and

bs ‘terraces. The town lots were

laid in blocks running from
the river to Queens Ave.
In February, 1859, Gover-

| nor Douglas announced his

intention to sell the lots as a
public auction. One fourth of
the lots were reserved for
sale in the United Kingdom
and British Colonies. The
first sale of town lots began

four months later, at an
average price of $200.
among the first buyers were
those with such names as
Burnaby, Homer, Moberley,
Helmcken and Amor de
Cosmos.

Within 18 months there
were almost 150 buildings

constructed in Queens-
borough.

In July, 1859, partly to
calm resentful feelings of
Victoria residents towards
the ‘upstart’ town, Douglas
issued a proclamation an-
nouncing the decision by

 

 

(as New Westminster was —

Queen Victoria changing the
name of the capital from
Queensborough to New
Westminster (as a result, the
town was dubbed the Royal

eae

s New Westminster
grew, so did Victoria’s re-
sentment. Douglas, also
feeling resentful about the

capital’s site, ordered the
sale of the lots that had
earlier been reserved. This
action, and Douglas’ failure
to provide needed funds for
public improvements, re-
sulted in the New Westmin-
Ster citizens demanding that
the town be incorporated as a
municipality.

On July 16, 1860, that
demand was answered and
New Westminster became
the first incorporated muni-
cipality in the British Terri-
tory, -west of the Great
Lakes.

The municipality was
divided into four wards and
seven counsellors were elec-
ted. To be eligible for elec-
tion a candidate had to be
male, over 21 years of age, a
resident of New Westminster
for at least three months and
own land valued at $250.
Electors had to be at least 21
years of age and holding one
vote in each ward in which
they owned property.

The council was given the
ower to regulate markets,
ire prevention, sanitary con-

ditions and was empowered
to use its revenues for build-
ing streets, drainage, se-
werage and clearing lots. Its
revenue came from the
taxing of town lots and
buildings.

By the spring of 1864,
most of the townsite from
Front Street to Queens Ave-
nue had been cleared.

ESSAY /GORD ISFELD
History of New
_ Westminster

In April 1864, Douglas
retired as governor.

He was replaced by Fre-
derick Seymour, who, in
1866, reported that his salary
was 11 months in arrears and
that the Colony’s bank ac-
count -was overdrawn and
being charged 18 per cent
interest on the account by
the Bank of British Colum-
bia.

In August 1866, in an
effort to overcome these
difficulties, New Westmin-
ster united with the also

financially strapped Vancou-
ver Island. On Nov. 19, 1866,
Governor Seymour pro-
claimed the Imperial Act,
with the first session of the
new Legislative Council
ae lace at Sapperton on
Jan. £ 1867.

Following the union, a
fight developed between
New Westminster and Vic-
toria over wehre the perma-
nent capital would be. After
a long and bitter battle,
Victoria was proclaimed the
Capital on May 24, 1868.

After the capital was
moved, New Westminster,
now with a population of
about 500, struggled to sur-
vive. To forget their
troubles, the citizens in-
volved themselves in social
activities.

On May 4, 1870 the Hyack

(meaning ‘‘quick’’) Fire Bri-
gade organized the first May
Day celebrations in the co-
lony. The crowning of the
May Queen and the dancin
around the maypole (whick
had long been a part of
spring celebrations in Eng-
land) were followed by sports
and games.

On May 24 of each year a

page 11

 

salute was fired in Honour of
Queen Victoria by the Hyack
brigade, but in 1871 because
the canons were no longer
safe to fire, the old English
custom of exploding powder
between two anvils was in-
troduced. Since that time,
this method has been used as
the Hyack Battery.

Before the arrival of the
Canadian Pacific Railway in
1887, connecting New West-
minster with the rest of
Canada, and the Great Nor-
thern four years later from
the United States, transpor-
tation was dependent on the
steamboat.

With Confederation came
the return to prosperity, and
the steam boats were used to
transport men and supplies
to Hope and Yale as the
logging industry grew. Ships
from around the world began
to arrive to carry away the
lumber from the sawmills.
Canneries opened on the

waterfront and in 1884 the

first ferry, the ‘‘K de K’’
started across the Fraser
River. A larger ferry, the
Surrey, later replaced the K

de K during the early 1890’s.

From newly cleared land
in the Fraser Valley came
farmers with their produce to
Lytonn Square where the
first city-sponsored market
building was opened during
the fall of 1892 in a large
shed. Farmers attended ihe
market from what is now
Delta, Surrey, Langley,
Chilliwack and Maple Ridge.

On Oct.28, 1892, regular
tram and interurban railway
service started between New
Westminster and Vancouver.

This new transportation
brought thousands of people
into the area and business
began to reach its peak.

But, on Sept. 10, 1898, one
third of New Westminster
burned to the ground. One
by one the main buildings of
the town were destroyed -
the city market, the Cana-
dian Pacific Navigation ware-
house, the salmon canneries.
But within one month many
of the buildings were back in
oa if only in tents and
shacks. With help coming
from all parts of Canada, the
city immediately began re-
building.

In 1904, the Fraser River
Bridge was formally opened,
allowing greater access to
New Westminster than the,
by then, obsolete ferry ser-
vice could accomodate. But b
y 1937 the capacity of the
bridge was not meeting the
demand of the city’s com-
mercial businesses and a
new four-land $4 million
Pattullo Bridge was con-
structed.

With the greater influx of
people into the city’s down-
town, New Westminster
flourished as the centre of
commerce for the Fraser
Valley community. This com-
mercial prosperity was to last
for another 25 years, until,
due to competition from Van-

couver, Burnaby and the}

other outlying areas such as
Surrey and Richmond, busi-

ness began to decline in the |,

city’s downtown area. In
recent years, with the shrink-
ing business community and
low tax base, New West-
minster has become known

as the ‘‘dying city.’’