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

Lower Mainland The Lower Mainland is a geographic and cultural region of the mainland coast of British Columbia that generally comprises the regional districts of Metro Vancouver and Fraser Valley. Home to approximately 3.05million people as of the 2021 Canadia ...

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, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, 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 In Christianity (especially in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Methodist traditions), an oblate is a person who is specifically dedicated to God or to God's service. Oblates are individuals, either laypersons or clergy, normally livi ...

(OMI),

St. Mary's Indian Residential School St. Mary's Indian Residential School was the name of two Indian residential schools in Mission, British Columbia. The first was operated by the Roman Catholic Church of Canada, and the second was operated by the Canadian federal government. Approxi ...

, 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 United ...

, 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') , foun ...

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 The Hatzic Valley is the southerly, lowland portion of the Fraser Valley Regional District#Electoral area "F", Fraser Valley Regional District Electoral Area "F" of British Columbia's Lower Mainland. The valley was carved as a result of southward ...

is located is the community of Dewdney, standing astride the bridge where

British Columbia Highway 7 Highway 7, known for most of its length as the Lougheed Highway and Broadway, is an alternative route to Highway 1 through the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. Whereas the controlled-access Highway 1 follows the southern bank of the ...

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 the ...

. Across 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 ...

from Hatzic is the northeast sector of

Matsqui Prairie Matsqui is a former district municipality in British Columbia, Canada. It was incorporated in 1892 and merged with the district municipality of Abbotsford in 1995 to create the new City of Abbotsford. Matsqui used to be the western part of what is ...

Climate

Hatzic has an

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

( 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 Hatzic Island is an island located in the centre of Hatzic Lake, an oxbow lake formation north of the Fraser River, on the east side of Mission, British Columbia, Mission, British Columbia, Canada. Geography Approximately 2.6 km in length fr ...

, which is in the centre of Hatzic Lake, north of which are the farming communities of

Hatzic Prairie Hatzic is a historic community in the Central Fraser Valley region of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, located on the east side of the District of Mission and including areas beyond the municipal boundary to the east and northea ...

and Durieu, which together form part of the

, 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 A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

. 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 The Stave River is a tributary of the Fraser, joining it at the boundary between the municipalities of Maple Ridge and Mission, about east of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in the Central Fraser Valley region. Blocked since the 1920s by t ...

'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