A townsite is a legal subdivision of land for the development of a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

. In the historical development of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

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 ...

, and other former

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective identity of a group of people understood as defined by those ...

s, the filing of a townsite

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...

(United States) or

plan A plan is typically any diagram or list of steps with details of timing and resources, used to achieve an objective to do something. It is commonly understood as a temporal set of intended actions through which one expects to achieve a goal. F ...

(Canada) was often the first legal act in the establishment of a new town or community.

Townsites in British Columbia

Numerous townsites were filed in

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, in the early 19th century. Some of those filed in what is now

Metro Vancouver The Metro Vancouver Regional District (MVRD), or simply Metro Vancouver, is a Canadian political subdivision and corporate entity representing the metropolitan area of Greater Vancouver, designated by provincial legislation as one of the 28 ...

included: * Granville Townsite, 1870 (Gastown,

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

) *Hastings Townsite, 1869 (Vancouver) * Moodyville Townsite, 1865 (City of North Vancouver) *

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capita ...

Townsite, 1860 (original capital of Colony of British Columbia, now New Westminster) * North Vancouver Townsite, 1907North Vancouver Official Community Plan 2002, Chapter 2, Historical overview (City of North Vancouver) *

Port Mann Port Mann townsite was created in 1911 in the municipality of Surrey, British Columbia. The new town was to adjoin the new railway yard and roundhouse forming the terminus of the new trans-national rail-line operated by Canadian Northern Railway. ...

Townsite, 1911 (Surrey) * Steveston Townsite, 1889 (

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

) Although most of these townsites were incorporated into newly created cities and municipalities of Metro Vancouver, official survey plans still continue to designate

lots Lot or LOT or The Lot or ''similar'' may refer to: Common meanings Areas *Land lot, an area of land *Parking lot, for automobiles *Backlot, in movie production Sets of items *Lot number, in batch production *Lot, a set of goods for sale together ...

as being part of these townsites. For example, a 2008 strata plan in Vancouver's Gastown is indicated as being in the Granville Townsite. Townsite planning was either done by government authorities or by private developers. In the case of North Vancouver townsite in 1907 most of the land was owned by the North Vancouver Land and Improvement Company. By owning large amount of land they were able to plan on a grand scale. New Westminster was surveyed by the Royal Engineers under government direction. As existing towns grow, they develop Official Community Plans (OCPs) that expand upon the already existing townsites. However, periodically new communities are still created. In 1975, the Whistler townsite was created and eventually incorporated as a municipality. The new municipality was given of

Crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

to develop the townsite.Chronological milestones in the development of Whistler Village
/ref>

References

Surveying Real property law Land management {{Law-term-stub