Canadian forest industries 1911 (1911) (20515453072)

Fraser Mills was a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

on the north bank of 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 ...

, incorporated in 1913, but since amalgamated with the City of

Coquitlam Coquitlam ( ) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Mainly suburban, Coquitlam is the List of cities in British Columbia, sixth-largest city in the province, with a population of 148,625 in 2021, and one of the 21 municipa ...

History

Located on the northern shore of the

, the area was originally the site of a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

. The mill was known at first as the Ross McLaren Mill and opened in 1889. However, it closed soon after when co-founder James McLaren died. The site remained unused for many years until the mill was reopened as the Fraser River Sawmills. Due to a

labour shortage In economics, a shortage or excess demand is a situation in which the demand for a product or service exceeds its supply in a market. It is the opposite of an excess supply (surplus). Definitions In a perfect market (one that matches a ...

, 400

Francophones French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

were recruited from

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. They settled in an area just north of the mill now known as

Maillardville Maillardville is a community on the south slope of the city of Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. History In 1889, Frank Ross and James McLaren opened what would become Maillardville, a $350,000, modern lumber mill on the north bank of the Fras ...

. Similarly in the early 20th century, many

Punjabi Sikhs Punjabi Sikhs are adherents of Sikhism who identify Natural language, linguistically, culturally, and Genealogy, genealogically as Punjabis and are native of Undivided Punjab region of Indian Subcontinent. Sikhism is an Indigenous religion, I ...

came to work in the mills and settled on the south slope of Coquitlam. During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

many workers were laid off. Wage reductions which were imposed on the remaining workforce led to a ten-week strike. The mill eventually closed in 2001.

Location

The Fraser Mills neighbourhood is located in the southwestern part of

, and south of the Maillardville neighbourhood, which was founded as a townsite for the workers at the large lumber mill whose grounds comprised Fraser Mills. It was just east of the boundary of the City of New Westminster and mostly on the south side of the Trans-Canada and

Lougheed Highway Lougheed is an Irish variant of a surname of Scottish origins, meaning ''head of the lake''. Lougheed or Loughead may refer to: Places * Lougheed, Alberta, a Canadian village * Lougheed Island, Nunavut, Canada * Lougheed Highway, part of British Co ...

s. The site for many years after its abandonment was the Terranova landfill for

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 ...

waste disposal, land which has since become a focus for big-box store development along

United Boulevard United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two fi ...

, which has come to serve as an alternate route for traffic bypassing jams on the adjacent freeway and highway. The city has designated the area as Waterfront Village Centre and has re-zoned it to include both commercial and residential use.

References

External links

BCGNIS entry "Fraser Mills (community)"Fraser Mills history
Populated places on the Fraser River Former municipalities in British Columbia Labour disputes in British Columbia {{GVRD-geo-stub

History

Location

See also

References

External links