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Nicholson Road is an ongoing photo project aimed at sharing and celebrating the different communities in Metro Vancouver. Each week Vancouver Is Awesome will be featuring an image from the previous week, shot in one of the many 'hoods around town in order to draw your attention a little bit outside of the hyper-focus that we usually have on the City of Vancouver. |
Langley in November. I'm a week late on this one, but can you name the big historical event involving Langley and November? Does it help if I say it was on November 19th? In the year 1858? If you said that was the time and place the Crown Colony of British Columbia was inaugurated, you'd be right!
With all sorts of familiar names in attendance (like Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie, the newly appointed Chief Justice) James Douglas was sworn in as the very first Governor up at Fort Langley. His preference was for the Fort and surrounding Derby Townsite to be the location of the capital for the newly recognized colony, but Sir Colonel Moody had other ideas. His primary concern was to find an area a little less open to potential attacks from our friends to the south, and hence New Westminster (located on a hill on the north side of a bend in the Fraser) was selected.
So what does that have to do with a photo of the Nicomekl Floodplain Trail out near Portage Park?
In the 1820's it was determined that an outpost on the Fraser River would be a smart investment to secure the coast from ocean-based American invasions. While venturing up from Fort Astoria (at the northwestern-most tip of Oregon, right at the Columbia River delta), James McMillan and his gang of explorers arrived in Mud Bay down in South Surrey, and journeyed up the Nicomekl River as far as they could. At some point, near today's Portage Park, McMillan and his team portaged north across Langley following what would become Glover Road until they reached the Salmon River (near Trinity Western University) which led them right to the Fraser River and the soon-to-be site of Fort Langley.
A few things have happened since then. Namely, the site of the original Fort Langley and Derby Townsite are now indistinguishable fields next to the river. Oh, also, we don't commute to work by canoe (most of us at least).
Our history is kind of awesome. Do yourself a favour and hit up a library for some more in-depth tales on the formation of this fine province, and the people who discovered it (and the nations who'd known its awesomeness for generations prior!)
Archives of the Nicholson Road project can be found HERE.
