Esquimalt, British Columbia

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Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada

Motto:
Esquimalt, British Columbia, Canada.
Census division
Regional District	Capital Regional District
Area:	7.04 km²
Founded
Incorporated	1912
Population Township Population	16,127 (2001)
Population density	2289.6/km²
Time zone	Pacific: UTC -8
Postal code span
Latitude Longitude	48°25′50″N, 123°24′29″W
Elevation	m MSL
Highways	Highway 1A
Waterways	Strait of Juan de Fuca
Mayor
Governing body
1(sc) According to the Canada 2001 Census. 2(gr) Geographic references.

The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the west by Esquimalt Harbour, to the northwest by the New Songhees Indian reserve and the town of View Royal, and to the north by a narrow inlet of water called the Gorge, across which is the district municipality of Saanich. It is part of Greater Victoria & the Capital Regional District.

Esquimalt had a population of 16,127 in 2001. It covers 7.04 square kilometres. It is home to the Pacific fleet of the Canadian Forces, and forms part of the Capital Regional District.

[edit] History of Esquimalt

The region now known as Esquimalt was settled by First Nations people approximately 400 years before the arrival of Europeans . The treaties of the Hudson's Bay Company, signed in 1843, refer to these people as the Kosampsom group, though they are now known as the Esquimalt Nation. The word Esquimalt is an alteration of "Ess-whoy-malth," a phrase usually translated as "place of the shoaling waters." The Songhees Nation, who have a reserve in Esquimalt, were originally located on the western shore of what is now Victoria Harbour, but were relocated in 1911. Both nations spoke a Coast Salish dialect called Lekwungen.

In 1790, a Spanish captain named Don Manuel Quimper dropped anchor in Esquimalt harbour, which his first mate named Puerto de Cordova after the 46th viceroy of New Spain. Quimper claimed the region for Spain and placed a wooden cross on a hill. When the Spanish returned two years later, however, the cross had vanished. Control of the region eventually fell to the British.

In 1843, the Hudson's Bay Company was looking for a new location for its western base of operations. The company's chief factor, Sir James Douglas, liked Esquimalt Harbour, but rejected it as a site for a fort because there were too many trees there. Douglas chose a spot on the western shore of Victoria Harbour at the mouth of the Gorge Inlet. He called it Fort Camosun, after the Lekwungen name for the Gorge, Camossung, but later renamed it Fort Victoria in honour of the British queen.

However, ships continued to use Esquimalt Harbour to load and offload passengers and supplies. In 1852, sailors from a British naval ship, HMS Thetis, built a trail through the forest linking the harbour with Victoria Harbour and the fort. This trail, since paved over, is now one of Esquimalt's main streets, Old Esquimalt Road.

Meanwhile, the Hudson's Bay Company decided to try its hand at farming. Douglas leased all of Vancouver Island for seven shillings a year from Great Britain, and had a division of the HBC, the Puget Sound Agricultural Company, come in to develop the land. The Viewfield farm was the first in 1850, with the Constance Cove farm and Craigflower farms added later. The Craigflower farmhouse still exists as a heritage site, as does the Craigflower schoolhouse built to serve the settlers' children. Thomas Mackenzie, the bailiff in charge of the farm, named it for the ancestral home of one of his superiors, in an attempt at flattery. By the mid-1860's, the farms were considered failures and abandoned, and the property sold off in small parcels.

In 1855, the navy constructed three hospital buildings on the harbour to treat casualties of the Crimean War. A small settlement grew up on the water's edge near the naval installation. But in 1858, the discovery of gold on the Fraser River triggered a massive influx of people, who came to Fort Victoria to buy permits and supplies before setting out for the mainland. Many of these ships landed in Esquimalt Harbour. Some of these people stayed in the area, including a few who opened up pubs, as well as some less-than-successful gold miners. With the growing population came the area's first building boom.

At Esquimalt, B.C., a steamer -- no longer needed after the end of the gold rush.

In 1865, the British Royal Navy relocated the headquarters of its Pacific fleet from Valparaíso, Chile, to the Esquimalt Harbour. In 1887, a military base was located at Work Point. In 1905, the Royal Navy abandoned the area, but the Pacific base of the new Royal Canadian Navy replaced it in 1910. Gradually, naval life and shipbuilding came to dominate the region's sense of identity. In 1887, the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway was built through the centre of town.

On September 1, 1912, Esquimalt was incorporated as a city. After World War I, it became one of Canada's major shipbuilding capitals.

[edit] Esquimalt today

View of Esquimalt, looking northeast from the Highrock Cairn, featuring Esquimalt Secondary School

Esquimalt's small town atmosphere and close proximity to urban services and amenities combined with its progressive outlook is attracting new commercial, residential and industrial development that complement its many existing amenities including beautiful parks and beaches, scenic waterfront walkways, modern recreational facilities, heritage buildings, schools, library and commercial services. Past news articles have tended to over-emphasize problems with violence, drugs and alcohol while ignoring the community's more positive attributes. Esquimalt is a city of diverse residential neighbourhoods accommodating renters and home owners of varying ages and income levels. With its close proximity to Victoria (2 km west of downtown) Esquimalt is becoming a more desirable location for families to relocate.

Esquimalt is also home to the outdoor Trackside Art Gallery, an urban art corridor which has featured art by Ted Harrison, Arthur Vickers, and Robert Bateman.

[edit] Neighbourhoods of Esquimalt

• Craigflower
• Gorge Vale
• Rockheights
• Saxe Point
• West Bay
• Work Point

[edit] Education

Residents are zoned to schools in the Greater Victoria School District.

[edit] References

• Community Profile: Esquimalt District Municipality, British Columbia; Statistics Canada

[edit] External links

• Corporation of the Township of Esquimalt
• Songhees Nation

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Subdivisions of British Columbia

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Large suburban communities	Burnaby · Coquitlam · Delta · Langley Township · North Vancouver District · Richmond · Saanich · Surrey
Other major centres	Campbell River · Chilliwack · Courtenay · Cranbrook · Fort St. John · Penticton · Port Alberni · Salmon Arm · Vernon

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