Significant Events in the History of New Westminster

Posted by Guest on Jan 13th, 2012 in History | 0 comments

New Westminster was designated by Lieutenant-Governor Richard Moody as the first official capital of the new Colony of British Columbia in 1859. The area was designated as the BC’s capital because its location was farther from the American border as compared to the site of Fort Langley, the colony’s proclamation area. According to Moody, New Westminster possessed all the great facilities for communication and it is also the future site for great trunk railways. However, on February 14, 1859, Governor Douglas had proclaimed Queensborough as the new capital.

The city was named by Queen Victoria, hence, it gained the nickname “The Royal City”. After a year, New Westminster was incorporated, making it the first city in British Columbia to become one and it also had a municipal government that was formed through an election. It was also chosen as one of the major points for prospectors of the Fraser Gold Rush.

A huge amount of labor and financial capital was necessitated at the location of the city on the edge of the forest. Trees were cleared and the streets were laid out to start building the city. This initiative became a heavy burden to the imperial government’s colonial budget, and so they decided to push through with the development with only half the cost of the Royal Engineers.   While there were no phlebotomy training schools, other things were happening. Historians believe that Governor Douglas had spent so little time in the area and it was also evident that he had no affection for New Westminster. The residents in return also had no feelings of affection for Douglas as they supported Colonel Moody’s building efforts.
The city’s early settlers were largely composed of Maritimers and Canadians who brought a business-oriented approach to the community. Gov. Douglas granted the “free port status” to Victoria, New Westminster’s neighboring area and imposed taxes on imports going into New West. These events infuriated the residents.

In 1871 when British Columbia became part of the Dominion of Canada, New Westminster became the sixth province and its economic status attained improvement. However, the Royal City was beaten by Vancouver when the Canadian Pacific Railway was extended to Burrard Inlet in 1886. A smallpox epidemic almost wiped out the band members settling in the area around that time.

The federal government claimed most of the Royal City Band’s reserve lands in 1913 and in 1916, the land on Poplar Island was turned over to the British Columbia government. The New Westminster Armoury was given the title “Federal Heritage Building” by the Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings.