New Westminster - The Royal City of BC

New Westminster, BC, is not a place to miss visiting when you come to BC. It has been a struggling city since day one, suffering fires and other misfortunes but it's a historic survivor, since you can't put a good man down.

 The above video shows salmon migrating up the Fraser River to spawn. Thousands of them can be seen from the Westminster Quay and this would also be a good time to rent a room at the new Inn at Westminster Quay Hotel over the Fraser River over looking the river.

This river has many surprises and one never knows what one will pull in on his rod.

 New Westminster used to be the capital of the Colony of British Columbia in 1858.

 Rumble in the Bronx, I Robot, Shooter, New Moon, were movies filmed there and
 it  also sports  famous people like Greg Moore - the racing car driver,
 Astronaut Robert Thirsk
 Magician Leon Mandrake,
 Crystal Dahl,
 baseball player Justin Moreau,
 Poet Daryl Hine
 Actor Nicholas Lea.
Devin Townsend.
 It has the old Raymond Burr Theater which has been turned into a comedy center.

 It has the oldest famous Fraser Cemetery which rivals the Victoria Ross Bay Cemetery for historical monuments. and as for heritage buildings, well there are so many to find there..

 New West was the largest city by the river, covering 5.9 sq mi. when
British Columbia joined as the 6th Province in the Dominion of Canada

By the Royal Proclamation of 1783 only England could buy land from the First Nations.

 The Gold Rush, prompted England to appoint Richard Moody as the first Lieut. Governor and the city became known as the Capital City of Queensborough in 1859 by Governor Douglas.

 Queen Victoria didn't like the name and changed it to New Westminster and to this day it is known as the Royal City.

In 1866 Vancouver Island united with the British Columbia Colonies and as most Brits went out there, so did the Capital City.
It was a funny story. William Cox who wanted the Capital in Victoria, sabotaged William Franklyns' speech,
arguing pro keeping it where it was..
For some reason Franklyns' papers had been reshuffled and his spectacles disappeared. lol

New West became populated with businessmen from Canada and from the Maritimes.
It had another big disappointment, with the railway being built up to the Burrard Inlet, which helped the  city of Vancouver instead of New West.

It was again sad  in 1879 when 104 acres of South West minster  reserve, 122 acres on the north and 27 acres of Poplin Island was given to the  New West Indian Band.
The band was hit by small pox and from 400 people, less than 100 survived and they were dispersed into other tribes.
Poplin Island was quarantined and by 1913 The Federal Government took back most of the land they gave to the New West Indian band.

In 1898 most of down town New West was burned down.
The city had a China town along Front Street but they relocated it to a place known as the Swamp by
Royal Ave and Columbia str, 8th and 12th street.
 It was also destroyed by fire.

 The new Hwy 1 free way killed the commercial area of Columbia street
by, by passing New West minster.
and yet... still it manages to survive, building on its' good assets. New high rises began to pop up.
logging, catching loose floating logs.

 The train managed to finally get there.
Queensborough has a Walmart, Lowes, Starlight Casino.
Douglas College has a Campus here with over 14,000 students.
The BC Penitentiary known as Skookum house, was found in what is todays Queens Park area.
The gatehouse steps to it and the old coal house are still there.
The Childrens' Mental Hospital was located by the Patullo Bridge.(pay toloh)
New West Armory building.
You can even take a boat tour ride.



Here are some pics as to why you have to come see this place.
In spite of all the bad things that happened to it,  New West has not lost its' charm and has only
better things to look forward to.
 You feel history here and genuine life and living as opposed to
the more modern city of Vancouver.
 You never know what you will find when.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxo