Mapping Local History

What's in a name? Kwantlen translates as "Tireless Runner" in the h?n?q??min??m? language. Langley was named after Thomas Langley, a director with the Hudson's Bay Company that established the fur trading post in 1827. Murrayville, originally called Murray's Corners, got its name from Paul & Lucy Murray, first settlers in the area. Aldergrove was named after the great stands of alder trees on rolling hills near the Bruskey farm. Otter was named after Colonel William Otter, commander of the Canadian contingent in the Boer War. Matsqui translates as "Easy Portage" in Halq'eméylem. Willoughby got its name from Willoughby Singer whose family operated a store and post office beside the Willoughby Hall on 208th Street in the 1920s. Milner was named after a British statesman and colonial administrator, Lord Alfred Milner. An excellent source of information about local names is: Roads & Other Place Names in Langley, B.C. by the late Maureen [...]

2024-03-09T19:30:24+00:00March 9th, 2024|

Early Internet: Telegraph Trail

This marker stands near the intersection of Glover Road and Telegraph Trail and commemorates the first telegraph line built in the west in 1865 by Collins Overland, in partnership with Western Union and the California State Telegraph Company. They were in a race to link North America with Europe from Los Angeles, through British Columbia to Alaska, then across the Bering Strait, and through Russia. It would have been a 10,000 mile link (6,000 km). They lost the race after a line was laid across the ocean floor between Ireland and Newfoundland that same year. For a while Telegraph Trail was an important transportation route in the Langley region. The line made it as far as Alaska, but was mostly abandoned, except in parts of southern BC. The telegraph line was eventually moved to the Old Yale Road; there was a telegraph office in the Shortreed store west of Aldergrove. [...]

2024-03-11T17:21:26+00:00March 9th, 2024|

The Flying Seven

Photo: Pictured (L-R): Jean Pike, Tosca Trasolini, Mrs. E. Flahery, Alma Gilbert, Elianne Roberge (President), Margaret Fane, Rolie Moore. Courtesy of Township of Langley  The famous Flying Seven have been honoured with a massive mural on the exterior wall at the new Langley Regional Airport (YNJ). Each of the female pilots flew out of Langley at one time or another, and each had a dream to put women at the forefront of aviation.  They formed their own flying club in 1936 and staged a dawn-to-dusk flying patrol above Vancouver to promote women in the skies through an entire day with women in the air. During World War II, they tried to enlist, were refused, and then launched a campaign to drop pamphlets for a 'Smash the Nazi' initiative. They successfully raised $10,000, which allowed the purchase of eight aircraft for pilot training. Ahead of their time, the Flying Seven had [...]

2023-09-22T03:06:10+00:00September 22nd, 2023|

Christmas Telegram: A Fantasy

Click. Clack. The telegraph jumped to life, catching Richard Simpson snoozing in his chair. He reached for the pencil tucked behind his ear and began transcribing. “On my way…need hot rum.” Agent Simpson chuckled as he rolled a fresh sheet of Canadian National Telegram paper into the typewriter. "Frank's coming home." The station house shuddered as another blast of wind swept in from the north. A skim of snow was creeping under the freight room door. Agent Simpson shivered at the thought of delivering a message on such a night.  Frank Forster chased work wherever it was to be found. Earlier that fall he had journeyed to the Thompson Valley for a logging job deep in the bush, but a big part of him was still at home, 350 miles away as the crow flies. Each day he marked an X on on the calendar pinned beside his bunk, and penned a letter [...]

2022-12-13T03:56:24+00:00December 13th, 2022|

SS Beaver’s Bell

The Hudson's Bay Company established a trading post at Derby Reach on the Fraser River in 1827, and 9 years later, the London-built SS Beaver went into service. It carried furs, food, supplies and people to forts along the coast for almost 40 years and has been described as, "a floating HBC trading post".  (See HERE)  The steam-driven paddle wheeler was eventually sold to a Victoria merchant who converted it into a tug-boat; its bell was then put into storage until Henry Wark (HBC factor and Fort Langley postmaster) spotted it and asked to have it for St Andrew's Church in Fort Langley, built in 1885. Read more about the bell's story below. (Information from Tribute a book about St Andrew's United Church by Marjorie Rosberg)   SS Beaver (photo UBC) Fort Langley Advance 31 December 1964.    

2023-09-22T02:32:13+00:00October 18th, 2022|

Fort Langley’s First Community Centre

Above photo: Frank Leonard, 1924, from Vancouver Public Library collection. Thanks to Trinity Western University student Sophia Kutney who shared her paper on the Fort Langley CNR Station. This has been edited for length. In the heart of Fort Langley, the earliest agricultural centre in British Columbia and the first permanent European settlement in the Fraser Valley, lies a 107 year old train station that represents the visionary expansion of travel opportunities and the importation and exportation of freight around Canada and within Langley. While this train station underwent many transitions since 1915, being owned first by Canadian Northern Railway, and secondly Canadian Government Railway for a half year, and finally the Canadian National Railway in 1918, the train station remained a central place of opportunity for the Langley community. The CNR Station was run by the Station Agent who lived on site with his family on the upper floor, constantly [...]

2022-01-10T20:42:34+00:00January 10th, 2022|

Remembering Indigenous Veterans

George Hadden, Tommy Fillardeau, Bob Brown and James Hadden in uniform outside of the Edal Cafe. (Photo: Langley Centennial Museum) Although they had few rights, Indigenous men in Canada stepped forward in significant numbers to serve during the Great War, World War II and the Korean War.  Every eligible man between the age of 20 and 35 from Okanagan Head of the Lake Band enlisted. George McLean, a Douglas Lake cowboy, returned home a decorated hero after single-handedly killing 19 of the enemy and capturing 40 others.  Roy Cromarty (aka Sam Garner) was a Sto:lo man who lost his life in the fall of 1917.  Locally, Thomas “Tommy” Fillardeau, of mixed Métis/Kwantlen heritage, served during the Second World War. (His great-grandfather worked for the Hudson’s Bay Company at Fort Langley.) The Langley Centennial Museum’s digital archive includes the above photo, and a very brief biographical sketch of Tommy:   “Thomas “Tommy” Fillardeau [...]

2021-11-15T23:19:27+00:00November 15th, 2021|

Hudson’s Bay Company Cemetery

Above photo: Commemorative cairn and memorial garden at St George's Church in Fort Langley.  The Hudson's Bay Company Cemetery is located on the grounds of present day St George's Church in Fort Langley. (It's also included on our Fort Langley Walking Tour HERE). This was the Company's second cemetery, the first was established at Derby where the original fort was built in 1827. Only a few markers remain at the St George's site, but ground-penetrating radar indicates at least 24 burial sites, and possibly more. This is the final resting place of many from the fur trade era: Britons, French Canadians, Metis, Sto:lo, Iroquois and Kanaka peoples. Among them is Katrina, a high ranking Kwantlen wife of Peppeoh (Pion Pion), a Kanaka employee of HBC. The cross on the Anglican Church is in Katrina's memory, and is a Roman Catholic symbol of the Oblates. Read more in historian Warren Sommer's [...]

2021-07-15T04:18:06+00:00July 15th, 2021|

Sons’ Chicken Stories Fondly Remember Their Fathers

“Langley’s Agricultural Week: Little Dianne is not the least bit afraid of the big New Hampshire rooster one of 7000 birds on the poultry farm of her father E.A. Lightfoot , Langley who was host Thursday to a poultry field day.” Vancouver Sun, Friday, May 25, 1951 (Clipping from Ted Lightfoot’s family album) Ted Lightfoot and Ken Napier smile and can’t help but chuckle when remembering their fathers’ chicken businesses in Langley, and the real-life adventures of these two farmers to keep their flocks healthy and genetically strong. Ed Lightfoot had a garage in Vancouver. Between the long hours and lead gas fumes, he needed a healthier career. He took poultry courses at UBC and made his dream a reality in 1937 by buying land on 232 Street (Livingstone Road) at 72 Avenue. By 1939 Lightfoot Hatchery was established. Frank Napier opened Napier Hatchery and Poultry Farm in 1938 moving [...]

2021-04-10T00:13:54+00:00April 9th, 2021|

First World War Brides to Langley – They Came For Love

Maple Ridge's Annette Fulford has been researching the stories of Canadian First World War brides for many years. Her own grandmother crossed the Atlantic after the war with her new husband, a Canadian soldier. Annette has kindly shared some of her research and images about war brides with connections to Langley. She'd also like to hear from you if you have further information about these women who contributed so much to life in Canada.  Thousands of young women came to Canada after the First World War as war brides. Yet we rarely hear stories about these pioneering war brides. Many young women signed up with one of the newly formed organizations to support the war effort or worked in jobs that were traditionally held by men in Britain. They met Canadian soldiers who were sightseeing, at dances, visiting with their family or when the soldiers were recovering in hospital from wounds. By [...]

2020-11-04T19:16:19+00:00November 4th, 2020|

Subscribe to our newsletter




    Quick Links

    HOME
    WHAT’S NEW
    VOLUNTEER
    CONTACT US
    MEMBERSHIP
    BUILDING RENTALS
    SPEAKERS
    HERITAGE LINKS
    RESTORED BUILDINGS
    NEWSLETTER ARCHIVES

    Contact

    Langley Heritage Society
    Box 982 Fort Langley, BC
    V1M 2S3
    604.513.8787
    info@langleyheritage.ca

    Go to Top