Barnston Island is an unincorporated island located in the

Greater Vancouver Greater Vancouver, also known as Metro Vancouver, is the metropolitan area with its major urban centre being the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The term "Greater Vancouver" is roughly coterminous with the geographic area governed b ...

metropolitan area of British Columbia, Canada. Most of the island is part of

Metro Vancouver Electoral Area A Metro Vancouver Electoral Area A is a part of Metro Vancouver in British Columbia. It includes several unincorporated areas: the University Endowment Lands and the University of British Columbia, west of the City of Vancouver; Bowyer, Passage ...

; the remainder is Barnston Island Indian Reserve No. 3, which is outside Electoral Area A limits and is under the governance of the Katzie First Nation, headquartered across the river at their main reserve in Pitt Meadows. Although the island is unincorporated and not officially part of any municipality, mailing addresses on the island use

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

as the city name. Located in the

Fraser River The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Blackrock Mountain in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia just south of the City of Vancouver. The river's annual d ...

between Surrey and Pitt Meadows, Barnston Island was named in 1827 for Hudson's Bay Company Clerk

George Barnston George Barnston ( 1800 – 14 March 1883) was a fur trader and a naturalist born in Edinburgh, Scotland. Barnston was trained as a surveyor and army engineer. He joined the North West Company in 1820 and was retained by the Hudson’s Bay Compan ...

. The island has no direct road access to the rest of the area. It is accessed through the

Barnston Island Ferry The Barnston Island Ferry is a ferry that runs across Parson's Channel (on the south side of the Fraser River) between Barnston Island and Port Kells, Surrey, in Metro Vancouver. History In 1913, the Canadian Pacific Railway withdrew steamboat ...

, a short 5-minute

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

route from Surrey on 104 Avenue across Parson's Channel; the ferry ride is free. Barnston Island's main road travels along the perimeter of the island. Barnston Island contains mostly farmland and is home to a total population of 155 people ( 2001 census), 46 of whom live on the Barnston Island 3 Indian Reserve, located near the southeast part of the island.

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

defines the island as Vancouver CMA Census Tract 0251.00 of British Columbia.

History

The island was named for

, a Hudson's Bay Company clerk, who travelled with Chief Factor James McMillan to found Fort Langley in 1827. Barnston Island first received electricity in 1938, following the laying of an

underwater cable Submarine cable is any electrical cable that is laid on the seabed, although the term is often extended to encompass cables laid on the bottom of large freshwater bodies of water. Examples include: *Submarine communications cable *Submarine power ...

between

Port Kells Port Kells is a neighborhood of Guildford, a town center in Surrey, British Columbia. The neighborhood is located in the northeastern sector of Guildford, and is adjacent to the Fraser River and west of Walnut Grove, Langley. It has two major compo ...

and the south side of the island. In 2004, a group of landowners applied to the provincial Agricultural Land Commission to have approximately 85% of the land outside the Indigenous community removed from the

Agricultural Land Reserve The Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR) is a collection of agricultural land in British Columbia in which agriculture is recognized as the priority. In total, the ALR covers approximately and includes private and public lands that may be farmed, fores ...

. On July 19, 2006 the Commission rejected the application.

Infrastructure

Barnston Island is home to several local companies, including
Barnston Island HerbsPainted River Farm
Apollo Cranberries There are no schools on Barnston Island. K-12 education of Barnston Island residents is provided by School District 36 Surrey. Students are zoned to Bothwell Elementary and

Fraser Heights Secondary School Fraser Heights Secondary is a public high school in the upper-class Fraser Heights neighbourhood situated in Surrey, British Columbia and is part of School District 36 Surrey. The school is known for its excellence in provincial badminton and v ...

Demographics (Barnston Island Indian Reserve No. 3)

In the 2011 Census,

originally reported that Barnston Island 3 had a population of 0 living in 1 of its 1 total dwellings, a -100.0% change from its 2006 population of 49. Statistics Canada subsequently amended the 2011 census results to a population of 47 living in 18 of its 18 total dwellings, a -4.3% change from 2006. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2011.

References

External links

BritishColumbia.comSave Barnston Island
photo set
Community Profile: Barnston Island 3 Indian Reserve, British Columbia; Statistics Canada
{{Canadian City Geographic Location (8-way) , Northwest = Port Coquitlam, , North = Pitt Meadows, , Northeast = Maple Ridge, , West = , , Centre = Barnston Island , , East = , , Southwest =

, , South = , , Southeast =

Langley Township The Township of Langley is a district municipality immediately east of the City of Surrey in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It extends south from the Fraser River to the Canada–United States border, and west of the City of Abbotsford. ...

, Islands of the Fraser River Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Populated places on the Fraser River Islands of British Columbia

History

Infrastructure

Demographics (Barnston Island Indian Reserve No. 3)

See also

References

External links