New Westminster, British Columbia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Corporation of the City of New Westminster | |||
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| Coordinates: | |||
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| Country |  Canada |
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| Province |  British Columbia |
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| Region | Lower Mainland | ||
| Regional district | Metro Vancouver | ||
| Government | |||
| - Governing body | New Westminster City Council | ||
| - Mayor | Wayne Wright | ||
| - Councillors | Jonathan Cote Calvin Donnelly Bill Harper Betty McIntosh Bob Osterman Lorrie Williams |
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| - MP | Peter Julian (NDP) Dawn Black (NDP) |
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| - MLA | Chuck Puchmayr (NDP) | ||
| Area | |||
| - Total | 15.4 km² (5.9 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 60 m (197 ft) | ||
| Population (2006)[1] | |||
| - Total | 58,549 | ||
| - Density | 3,548.5/km² (9,190.6/sq mi) | ||
| - Private Dwellings | 26,035 | ||
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) | ||
| Website: City of New Westminster | |||
New Westminster is a historically important city in the Metro Vancouver region of British Columbia, Canada.
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[edit] Geography
New Westminster is a city located on the Burrard Peninsula, on the north bank of the Fraser River. The city is 19 kilometres (12 miles) southeast of the Vancouver city proper, adjacent to Burnaby and Coquitlam and across the Fraser River from Surrey. A small portion of New Westminster called Queensborough is located on the eastern tip of Lulu Island, adjacent to Richmond. The total land area is 15.3 square kilometres.
[edit] Demographics
The city has a total population of 54,656 (2001 Census).[1]
Some notable New Westminster natives include singer/actor Alexz Johnson, actor Raymond Burr, race car driver Greg Moore, magician Leon Mandrake, and professional baseball player Justin Morneau.
[edit] History
In 1859, New Westminster was selected as the first capital of the new Colony of British Columbia by Queen Victoria, who named the city after part of London. From this naming by the Queen, the City gained its official nickname, "The Royal City". A year later it became the first City in British Columbia to have an elected municipal government. It became a major outfitting point for prospectors coming to the Cariboo gold rush, as all travel to the goldfield ports of Yale and Port Douglas was by steamboat or canoe up the Fraser River.
In 1866, the colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island were united as "British Columbia". However, the capital of the Colony of Vancouver Island, Victoria, located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, was made the capital of the newly amalgamated Colony of British Columbia.
[edit] Historical urban geography
New Westminster has been drastically changed by time and by the results of its incorporation into the wider urbanization of the Lower Mainland:
[edit] B.C. Penitentiary
In 1878, the Government of Canada opened the British Columbia Penitentiary, the first federal penitentiary west of Manitoba. "BC Pen" or simply "the Pen" as it was known (and also in old days as the "skookum house" in the English-Chinook Jargon patois common in early BC), was located between the Sapperton neighbourhood and what is now Queen's Park. It housed maximum security prisoners for the next 102 years, closing in 1980.[1] and has been the scene of many famous trials and executions, including those of the Wild McLean Boys, Slumach[2] Simon Gunanoot. The original centre block (reputedly haunted) of the Pen still stands and has been revamped into condominiums and a fancy restaurant, while the rest of the Pen's grounds have been filled with newly-built townhouses and condominiums.
The Pen's armoury and dockside holding cell have been restored as a riverside park on the Fraser River, which will ultimately connect to the regional network of biking and walking trails and the city's waterfront promenade project.
[edit] Chinatown
New Westminster's Chinatown was one of the earliest established in the mainland colony and also one of the largest. Originally located along Front Street, it was relocated to an area known as "The Swamp" at the southwest end of downtown, bounded roughly by Royal Avenue, Columbia Street, and 8th and 12th Streets (now a large shopping plaza area). Chinatown was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1898 and only partly rebuilt afterwards.
[edit] Columbia Street
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Until the 1964 completion of the Highway 1 Freeway, which bypassed New Westminster to its north, Columbia Street along the city's waterfront was the main commercial retail and service centre for the Fraser Valley and nearby areas of Burnaby and Coquitlam. Most major department store chains as well as long-established New Westminster retailers thrived in a time when road travel to Vancouver remained distant for Valley communities and also when daily interurban rail service to and from Chilliwack was still in place (the service ended in 1950). The quality of shops was such that even Vancouverities would make the trip by interurban or, later on, by Kingsway (originally called the Westminster Highway or Westminster Road) to shop on Columbia Street. As well as the retailers, Columbia Street was also home to major movie houses, the Columbia and the Paramount, rivalling in size and quality those on Vancouver's Theatre Row. The freeway is generally conceded to have "killed" Columbia Street, and it has remained in a slump despite ongoing civic efforts to revitalize it. As of October 2006, Columbia Street has undergone reconstruction to change to a one-lane street, both directions, with a bike lane and reverse angle parking. This was done in an effort to encourage more foot and bicycle traffic. Major highrise or renovation projects are either completed or nearing completion.
[edit] Front Street
Originally a dockside street and market, and also the location of the original Chinatown, Front Street was converted into a truck-route bypass and elevated parkade during the 1960s in an effort to provide increased parking for adjacent Columbia Street. In recent decades it has been the focus of the city's thriving antiques and second-hand trade. It has also been used as a location in feature films such as Rumble in the Bronx (substituting for the Bronx) and Shooter (doubling for Philadelphia, with the Fraser River being the Delaware River).
[edit] Government House
The original colonial Government House was located approximately where Royal City Manor is now.
[edit] New Westminster CPR Station
Adjacent to the New Westminster Skytrain Station, the city's former Canadian Pacific Railway station has been renovated and converted into a branch of The Keg restaurant chain.
[edit] Queensborough
Queensborough was the name originally chosen for the colonial capital by Royal Engineer commander Colonel Richard Clement Moody. When Queen Victoria designated New Westminster instead as her new capital's name, the name Queensborough became applied to New Westminster's portion of Lulu Island, across the north arm of the Fraser from the southern end of the city. Queensborough is today a low- to middle-income housing area with its own distinct identity, although some new condominium complexes have sprung up adjacent to the Westminster Quay development. In the Chinook Jargon, an adaptation of the name Queensborough - "Koonspa" - is the usual name for New Westminster as a whole.
[edit] Sapperton
Sapperton was originally a "suburb" of New Westminster, named for the Columbia Detachment of Royal Engineers ("Sappers") whose camp was on the hill now occupied by the Fraserview neighbourhood. It is the location of the historic Fraser Cemetery, which rivals Victoria's Ross Bay Cemetery for the number of historically significant graves and monuments. Also located in Sapperton are Royal Columbian Hospital, Sapperton Station and Braid Station. The Sapperton area is represented by one of the strongest soccer teams in Metro Vancouver, the Sapperton Rovers.[citation needed]
[edit] Uptown "6th and 6th"
Development of an uptown commercial area around 6th St and 6th Avenue started in 1954 when Woodwards Department Store opened. Added momentum came with the relocation of the public library from downtown to uptown in 1958. In 1992 Woodwards Department Store was expanded and modernized into a shopping centre and took the name Woodwards Place. With the economic collapse of Woodwards in 1993 the name of the centre was changed to Royal City Centre Mall. Moody Park is an important recreational area in the uptown area.
[edit] The West End
Apposite to Sapperton's north-end, New Westminster's West End was once fairly separate from the city proper, and has a neighbourhood commercial node along 12th Street and 20th Street approximately between London Street and Eighth Ave. The area features antique, unique, one of a kind stores and is designated as the art deco section of the city. The annual Ragtime Fest on 12th Street is an event that residents and visitors alike are looking forward to.
[edit] Westminster Quay
Westminster Quay was an Expo-era (mid-1980s) development to revitalize New Westminster and accompanied the development of the Skytrain line to Vancouver. In addition to a large public market and first-class hotel, The Inn at Westminster Quay, a large condominium tower and townhouse complex was built, accessed from the older Columbia Street area of downtown by an overpass. The impetus provided by this project has spilled over onto the inland side of the rail tracks, with new tower developments focusing on the area southwest of 8th Street (the area known formerly as "the Swamp" and Chinatown). As of July 2007, the Quay's commercial component has noticeably decreased, with many vacancies present compared to the much more active Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver.
[edit] Commerce and industry
With the completion of the trans-continental railway in 1886, trade began to shift to nearby Vancouver. Nonetheless, New Westminster weathered the loss, and remained an important industry and transportation centre. The local economy has always had a mix of industrial sectors, but it has evolved over the years, moving from a reliance on the primary resources of lumber and fishing in the 1800s, to heavy industry and manufacturing in the first half of the 1900s, to retail from the mid 1950s to the 1970s, to professional and business services in the '90s, and finally to high tech and fiber optic industry in the early 2000s.
[edit] Arts and culture
The city has several live performance venues ranging from the Massey Theatre adjacent to the New Westminster High School to the Burr Theatre, a converted cinema on Columbia Street, and two theatrical venues in Queens Park. The Royal City Musical Theatre, a long-established New Westminster tradition, uses the Massey, while comedy and mystery theatricals use the stages in Queens Park. Also in Queens Park is the Queens Park Arena, longtime home to the legendary New Westminster Salmonbellies professional lacrosse team, as well as an open-air stadium used for baseball and field sports. The Burr, restored by funding from the estate of Raymond Burr, has recently been home to an effort to produce professional-quality British mysteries and comedies but has been forced to close due to financial difficulties. Douglas College also offers a variety of arts and cultural programming throughout the year.
[edit] Hyack Festival and the Hyack Anvil Battery
New Westminster's May Day celebration began in 1870 and continues as an important civic tradition to the present day, lending the city the distinction of having the longest running May Day celebration of its type in the British Commonwealth. (At least two other Lower Mainland communities still celebrate May Day: Ladner in Delta, and Bradner in Abbotsford.)
The May Day festival, held on the Victoria Day weekend and more formally known as the Hyack Festival, is distinguished by the Ancient and Honourable Hyack Anvil Battery Salute, a tradition created by the The New Westminster Fire Department, during colonial times as a surrogate for a 21-gun salute. With no cannons available in the early colony, the Fire Department - known as the Hyacks, from the Chinook Jargon for "fast" or "quick", here derived from its use as a command for "hurry up!" - improvised by placing gunpowder between two anvils, the top one upturned, and igniting the charge from a safe distance, hurling the upper anvil into the air.
Each year, in preparation for May Day, local schoolchildren are taught to dance around a maypole with colourful ribbons. Elections are held at elementary schools in the city, and, from them one girl is selected to become the year's May Queen, and two students from each school to become members of her "May Queen Suite" and "Royal Knights." On a Wednesday of the festival, elementary school students gather at Queen's Park Stadium to dance, and the May Queen is crowned.[3]
[edit] Educational institutions
Douglas College, a major community college has campuses in New Westminster and Coquitlam. The college has an enrollment of 12,000 students and offers degrees, associate degrees, two-year career and University Transfer programs to local, national and international students.
The Justice Institute of British Columbia offers training to municipal police forces, fire departments, provincial corrections, court services and paramedics with the British Columbia Ambulance Service. The Institute operates a Centre for Conflict Resolution, a Centre for Leadership and Community Learning, Executive Programs, a Public Safety Seminar Series and the Aboriginal Leadership Diploma Program.
School District 40 New Westminster has one high school (New Westminster Secondary School), two middle schools, and nine elementary schools.
[edit] Transportation
There are no freeways within New Westminster’s city limits, although the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 1) is accessible from nearby Burnaby and Coquitlam.
The Queensborough Bridge (part of Highway 91A) connects Queensborough to mainland New Westminster, while the Pattullo Bridge (part of Highways 1A and 99A) links New Westminster with Surrey. A lesser-used Derwent Way Bridge connects Queensborough with Annacis Island of Delta.
Public transportation is provided by TransLink. Along with a number of bus routes, the city is also served by the following stations on the Skytrain system:
- 22nd Street Station (Expo Line, Millennium Line)
- New Westminster Station (Expo Line, Millennium Line)
- Columbia Station (Expo Line, Millennium Line)
- Sapperton Station (Millennium Line)
- Braid Station (Millennium Line)
The city is located within Zone 2 of TransLink’s fare structure.
[edit] Streetcars and the Interurban
New Westminster was once linked to Vancouver and other municipalities by the BC interurban streetcar network. The following links have examples of that system:
- Map of New Westminster Streetcar network
- New Westminster depot
- Schematic of New Westminster Shops
- 1891 map of New Westminster-Vancouver tramway (the original interurban)
- map of Interurban Lines between New Westminster and Vancouver, also showing "suburban" Vancouver lines to South Vancouver and Point Grey
[edit] Sports and recreation
The city's New Westminster Salmonbellies are one of the oldest professional lacrosse teams in Canada, and also have junior and midget teams. The 'Bellies, as they are also known, have won the Mann Cup twenty-four times. New Westminster is also the location of the Canadian Lacrosse Hall of Fame.
The New Westminster Royals were a professional minor-league team from 1911-1914, in the heyday of the Pacific Coast Hockey League. Their home rink was the Denman Arena in Vancouver, which they shared with rivals the Vancouver Millionaires.
Playing at Queen's Park Arena were two incarnations of a Western Hockey League junior team, the New Westminster Bruins (1971-1981, and 1983-1988).
The city's current hockey representative is the New Westminster Whalers, the defending champions of the WHA Junior West Hockey League.
Pocomo Rugby Footall Club and Douglas Rugby Club (both teams play in New Westmister) merged in 2005 to form the United Rugby Club. Pocomo moved to New Westminster in the late 1960s eventually calling Hume Park their home field. Douglas was formed by Pocomo players who were attending Douglas College in 1972. United Rugby currently uses Hume Park and Queen's Park for home venues.
Soccer in New Westminster is represented by the Sapperton Rovers. Soccer in the Sapperton Community goes back to the early 1900s. In fact Sapperton Park was donated to the city in 1907 for the purpose to be used solely as a soccer venue. In the past and present many organized teams carried the Sapperton name, showing great pride in the community they represented. One such person was the late, great Don Smith.
The Hyack Swim Club [www.hyack.com], in operation since 1973, trains swimmers at Canada Games Pool, from a grassroots level up to International competition. Swimmers from across the Lower Mainland come to Canada Games Pool to train with this prestigious swim club. The swim club has trained many Olympians, Paralympians, and members of Canada's national team. Hyack Swim Club hosts four meets each year, two of which are held at Canada Games Pool. The premier meet each year is held during the Hyack Festival, and attracts swimmers from across the province, Alberta, Washington, and Oregon. Mark Bottrill has been Hyack's Director of Swimming since 1999. Hyack Swim Club's Drew Christensen was recently selected to represent Canada at the 2008 Paralympic Games in Beijing.
[edit] Sister Cities
[edit] Education
[edit] See also
- Canada
- Province of British Columbia
- Metro Vancouver
- New Westminster (electoral districts)
- New Westminster Police Service
- Royal Westminster Regiment
[edit] References
- ^ a b Statistics Canada. New Westminster demographics. Retrieved on 2007-01-20.
- ^ Slumach was jailed and hanged in 1891 in the Provincial Jail, later to become Trapp Technical College
- ^ New Westminster Hyack Festival Association (2004). Hyack Festival Events. Retrieved on 2006-01-03.
[edit] External links
- City of New Westminster Official Website
- New Westminster Public Library
- New Westminster Parks & Recreation
- New Westminster Hyack Festival Association
- Tourism New Westminster
- New Westminster News Leader
- Royal City Record
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Burnaby | Burnaby, Belcarra, Anmore, Port Moody, Coquitlam, | Coquitlam |
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| Vancouver, Burnaby |  |
Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Surrey | |||||
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| Richmond | Delta | Delta, Surrey |
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