History of Abbotsford & Area

(Compiled by the M.S.A. Museum)

The first gold of the Fraser River Gold Rush found its way to the Hudson's Bay forts that were built as part of the fur trade. Officials attempted to keep the discovery secret, but it became common knowledge when the gold was sent to the mint in San Francisco. As a result, thousands of non-British citizens swept into the territory hoping to make their fortune.

In order to assert their claim on British Columbia, the British sent the Royal Engineers, who surveyed the area in 1858. They also built Old Yale Road, the first road link through the Fraser Valley. British sovereignty was protected and the reward offered to the engineers after their tour of duty was a pre-emption of land at a very reasonable price.

One of the early settlers in Matsqui was John Cunningham Maclure, a former Royal Engineer who took up his pre-emption in 1868. In 1889, he applied for and received a crown grant on 160 acres of bush land that would later become the Village of Abbotsford. After 68 days of ownership, Mr. Maclure transferred title to his son, John Charles ("Charlie"), who sold the title just 67 days later to Robert Ward. Mr. Ward filed the town site subdivision plan on July 9, 1891. The "village" was named for a Maclure family friend, Harry Abbott, who was Western Superintendent of the C.P.R. (See "Abbotsford--Origin of Name" below.) The C.P.R. was granted right-of-way through the 160 acres on condition that they build a station there, ensuring that a town centre would grow at Abbotsford.

It is said that Charlie Maclure came across an old man living in an ancient cedar stump on the 160 acres. The man, "Freeman," claimed squatter's rights and held out for a year before accepting a $100 bill to take his leave. This resulted in a delay in the incorporation of the Village of Abbotsford, which had been applied for in 1891, and therefore the village site was not available for inclusion in the Municipalities of Matsqui and Sumas when they were incorporated in 1892. As soon as his plan was approved, Mr. Ward began selling lots, and had the foresight to sell a large diagonal corridor of the site to the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway (a.k.a. the Great Northern Railway). This was good for Mr. Ward, but cut a diagonal swath through the village. Part of this railroad bed later became part of the Trans-Canada Highway and is now known as South Fraser Way.

The sale of lots on the outside of town did not go as well as Ward had hoped. So in 1905, he applied to the Supreme Court of B.C. to re-zone the remaining lots into 8 larger lots, thus eliminating some of the originally planned streets. Due to a mistake in the original survey done by John Cunningham Maclure, a small strip of land was found to have not been legally sold and its ownership reverted to Ward. A 1964 newspaper article reported that to that day, a tax notice was still being sent out to "Robert Ward, Abbotsford" and being returned marked "unknown".

The C.P.R. spur line put through in 1891 opened the area up and sped up economic growth. The demand for building materials in both local and foreign markets was growing and timber was plentiful here. Many small mills were built throughout the area between 1890 and 1919, including one near the C.P.R. station at Abbotsford and one on Mill Lake. These and other assets of Cook, Craig and Johnston were purchased by the Abbotsford Lumber Company, incorporated by the Trethewey family in 1902.

The development of the Abbotsford Lumber Company and other Trethewey family companies was closely correlated to the development of the town. The Trethewey family played an important role in the community and a home built by Joseph Ogle Trethewey in 1920 still stands, and is the home of the M.S.A. Museum at 2313 Ware Street.

Further industrial development occurred with the discovery of good quality fire clay on Sumas Mountain by Charlie Maclure. The Vancouver Fireclay Company was incorporated and the village at Clayburn established about 1905. The village is unique as most of the company housing was built of the brick manufactured by the company. These homes were designed by Samuel Maclure, Charlie’s brother, who is well known as one of British Columbia's important early architects. It could also be noted here that Sarah Maclure (their sister) was once B.C.'s youngest telegrapher and was in charge of an important station where most messages from the United States entered British Columbia. Later, she became the first woman editor of "The Vancouver Sun," then called "The World."

As the area became more populated, farming replaced logging as the major economic influence. In 1910, the south side of the Fraser was connected to Vancouver by the B.C. Electric "Inter-Urban" railway, bringing people and produce within easy reach of the larger coastal cities. This service became known as the "milk run." It was a vital contribution to local dairy farmers as it allowed quick delivery of fresh milk and cream to lower mainland markets. Previously, only butter could be shipped by the much slower means of the riverboat. The Fraser Valley Milk Producers Association and Dairyland grew from the association formed after the advent of the milk run to standardize shipping fees.

In 1914, Mr. and Mrs. Fenwick Fatkin moved from Vancouver to Bradner and began growing daffodils. Others became interested and the bulb industry grew. The first Bradner flower show was held in 1928. Bradner is now known as "Daffodil Capital of Canada" and ships over eight million field-grown blooms every year.

As the demand for farmland was ever increasing, a feasible plan to drain the large, shallow Sumas Lake was devised in 1919. The massive project, including dredging the Vedder Canal, was completed in 1924 reclaiming 30,000 acres of farmland on the Canadian side of the border and 3,000 acres in Washington State. Government-sponsored crops of timothy and clover were alternately turned in and harvested to improve the soil quality and produce revenues. A group of Hungarian immigrants recognized that the soil of the lakebed was particularly suited to growing tobacco. This was a fast method of producing a cash crop. The first seeds were imported from Hungary and did not prove saleable on the North American market. With the help of the Canadian Department of Agriculture, another variety was obtained and tobacco farming flourished on the new "Sumas Prairie" to the 1950s.

For more information about local history, or for permission to copy this material for use in the classroom, please call 604-853-0313.