We certainly hope that you were able to take part in some of the activities on the New Westminster waterfront last weekend during the city’s Pier 2 Landing event. There was the new elevator to see, lots of fun, food, games, entertainment, both walking and bike tours, and of course, you could walk right down the middle of Front Street!
If, rather than being the middle of June of 2016, it was 151 years ago in the middle of June 1865, what do you think might have been of interest to us? First of all, let’s remember that the waterfront itself was very different. There were few docks, the river was much closer to any structures on the riverbank, and the city itself was still working out what to do with Front Street. All that aside, what was on the town’s mind down by the river?
Everyone talks about the weather and in 1865 they were complaining about lots of rain. They must have had some warm weather though because we read “the first ripe strawberries of the season that we have seen are from the garden of Dr. McNaughton Jones.” It was noted that, although the fruit crop was late, “it promises to be very abundant.”
While the paddlewheel steamboat traffic was dominant on the river, there was great attention in June 1865 in the deep sea sailing vessels arriving from much farther away. The bark Metropolis was in the area with sheep and general cargo after an 18-day sail from San Francisco. The ship Mary Glover had arrived after a 55-day trip from Hong Kong with cargo and 280 Chinese passengers. The schooner Milton Badger, 185 days out of New York, brought supplies for the Collins Overland Telegraph. The latter would have been of great local interest as the telegraph was under construction and the vessel was off-loading at the Pioneer Wharf.
Speaking of the telegraph, anyone down at the waterfront in June 1865 would also have been watching the work at the river’s edge as poles were erected and cable submerged to connect the New Westminster side to the Surrey side.
A glance through the local paper of this time shows a couple of other items that might have elicited a few comments. A number of lots would be up for auction soon as they had been reclaimed in default of taxes. Another property for sale was a complete salmon fishery with all necessary equipment located opposite New Westminster on the Fraser.
And while all of these items would have spurred conversation on the waterfront in mid-June 1865, the most exciting topic might have been that “three slight shocks of an earthquake were felt” locally.
