Historical Markers in Surrey, British Columbia

By Barry Swackhamer, October 30, 2012

Farming History Marker

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1 ► British Columbia, Greater Vancouver, Surrey — Farming History — Part of Surrey’s Cultural Heritage —

Preparing the Land When John Stewart acquired this land in 1880, only basic land clearing had occurred. The blackberry bushes and hardhack marsh provided hospitable habitat for birds and small animals, but was not suitable for successful . . . — — Map (db m61051) HM

2 ► British Columbia, Greater Vancouver, Surrey — Historic Elgin — Part of Surrey’s Heritage Resources —

Community Building The first permanent structure in Elgin was the Elgin Hotel (1870). It was built as a convenient stop-over point for travellers between New Westminster and Blaine. In 1875, four years before the incorporation of the . . . — — Map (db m60900) HM

3 ► British Columbia, Greater Vancouver, Surrey — Historic Port Elgin — Transportation & Communication — Part of Surrey’s Built Heritage —

River Routes Located near the intersection of the King George VI Highway and the Nicomekl River, the Port Elgin area has been a crossroads for various forms of traffic for thousands of years. For centuries prior to the arrival of the first . . . — — Map (db m63715) HM

4 ► British Columbia, Greater Vancouver, Surrey — Historic Stewart Farmhouse — Part of Surrey’s Built Heritage —

Settlement History First Nations settlements and seasonal hunting and fishing camps existed at the mouths of rivers and along the coastal shoreline for thousands of years before Europeans reached the West Coast. These sites were near . . . — — Map (db m60901) HM

5 ► British Columbia, Greater Vancouver, Surrey — Peace Arch — The Signing of the Columbia River Treaty —

Upper marker: This unfortified boundary line between the Dominion of Canada and the United States of America should quicken the remembrance of the more than century old friendship between these countries A lesson of peace . . . — — Map (db m27450) HM

6 ► British Columbia, Greater Vancouver, Surrey — The Semiahmoo Trail —

This trail was an ancient Indian travel-way linking tribal villages in the south to salmon grounds of the Fraser River. The first white explorers, lead by Chief Trader James McMillan of the Hudson’s Bay Company passed here in December of 1824. . . . — — Map (db m60820) HM

7 ► British Columbia, Greater Vancouver, Surrey, Crescent Beach — Historic McMillan Expedition — Part of Surrey’s Heritage —

A Trading Post on the Fraser In 1824, James McMillan of the Hudson’s Bay Company and a party of forty-seven passed this shore on an exploratory trip from Fort George (Astoria) at the mouth of the Columbia River to the Fraser River. They . . . — — Map (db m61525) HM