Hatzic is a historic community in the Central Fraser Valley region of the Lower Mainland of

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, ...

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, located on the east side of the District of Mission and including areas beyond the municipal boundary to the east and northeast. Hatzic is the location of two very important historical sites in British Columbia, the

mission school The Mission School (sometimes called "New Folk" or "Urban Rustic") is an art movement of the 1990s and 2000s, centered in the Mission District, San Francisco, California. History and characteristics This movement is generally considered to have ...

of the Oblate Fathers (OMI), St. Mary's Indian Residential School, the name sake of the District of Mission, and Xá:ytem, an archaeological site and museum dating to 9,000 years B.P. Also notable is

Ferncliff Gardens Ferncliff may refer to one of the following places in the United States: * Ferncliff, Bainbridge Island, Washington * Ferncliff Camp & Conference Center, a Presbyterian facility located in Pulaski County, Arkansas * Ferncliff Cemetery * Ferncliff F ...

, a private floral operation now becoming a heritage site. Hatzic Slough, which is part of the drainage for the oxbow Hatzic Lake, is the site of one of the world's largest dry-sorting yards for raw timber. A former railway station named Hatzic was located between the outlet of Hatzic Lake and the foot of the rise to the benchland where most of residential Hatzic is today.BC Names/GeoBC entry "Hatzic (community)"
/ref> Mission's

Fraser River Heritage Park Fraser may refer to: Places Antarctica * Fraser Point, South Orkney Islands Australia * Fraser, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb in the Canberra district of Belconnen * Division of Fraser (Australian Capital Territory), a former federal el ...

is to the west and incorporates lands formerly belonging to the Oblate mission, including the foundations of the original school, though it is accessed from Mission proper, not via Hatzic. Hatzic is one of Mission's older suburban neighbourhoods and is home to Hatzic Secondary School and various elementary schools. Overlooking it from above is

Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...

, a

Benedictine monastery , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

established in the 1950s, which is part of the Ferndale neighbourhood of Mission. Across the

floodplain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

from the

benchland In geomorphology, geography and geology, a bench or benchland is a long, relatively narrow strip of relatively level or gently inclined land that is bounded by distinctly steeper slopes above and below it. Benches can be of different origins and ...

Hatzic proper overlooks and where Hatzic Valley is located is the community of Dewdney, standing astride the bridge where British Columbia Highway 7 leads onto

Nicomen Island Nicomen Island is an island in the Fraser Valley region of southwestern British Columbia. Nicomen Mountain in the Douglas Ranges lies to the north across Nicomen Slough. Chilliwack Mountain lies to the south across the Fraser River. Adjacent to th ...

. Across the Fraser River from Hatzic is the northeast sector of Matsqui Prairie.

Climate

Hatzic has an oceanic climate ( Köppen climate type ''Cfb''). The average annual precipitation is . Extremes vary from , recorded on December 29, 1968 to , recorded on August 8, 1978.

Related names and local geography

Related names, which more or less are also considered part of Hatzic, are Hatzic Island, which is in the centre of Hatzic Lake, north of which are the farming communities of Hatzic Prairie and Durieu, which together form part of the Hatzic Valley, along with communities to the north of Hatzic Prairie around Allan Lake,

McConnell Creek McConnell may refer to: People * McConnell (surname), people with the surname Places * McConnell, Illinois, an unincorporated community * McConnell, West Virginia, an unincorporated census-designated place in the United States *Lake McConnell, a l ...

and Miracle Valley. The Hatzic Valley forms the southern portion of Electoral Area 'F' of the

Fraser Valley Regional District The Fraser Valley Regional District (FVRD) is a regional district in British Columbia, Canada. Its headquarters are in the city of Chilliwack. The FVRD covers an area of 13,361.74 km² (5,159 sq mi). It was created in 1995 by ...

and comprises the old course of the Stave River's glacier and its terminal moraine at the north end of the valley, most of which is fertile floodplain.

References

{{coord, 49, 09, 00, N, 122, 15, 00, W, display=title Unincorporated settlements in British Columbia Populated places on the Fraser River Mission, British Columbia