Back in the 1970s, the Heritage Canada Foundation initiated Heritage Day to recognize the importance of our heritage and to encourage people to learn about and celebrate its importance.
The date established for this was the third Monday in February.
This year, Feb. 18 is Heritage Day and here in B.C. you will see many events planned for Heritage Week, from Feb. 18 to 24. In New Westminster, the day and week have been marked in many different ways since their formal inception, so be sure to watch for Heritage Week programming in the city.
This year's theme is "Good Neighbours: Heritage Homes and Neighbourhoods." As the B.C. Heritage website notes, "The theme explores the character and warmth of historic homes, and the timeless appeal of established older neighbourhoods with vintage house styles, gardens, landscaping, trees, and boulevards."
New Westminster has a long list of officially designated heritage buildings as well as an inventory of other structures and sites that exhibit features, characteristics and specific qualities that cause them to be considered of a heritage nature.
In the very early photographs of the Royal City, we can see the homes and buildings dotting the landscape and beginning to define the city's appearance as they fill in the hillside overlooking the river. This area today is generally known as Downtown.
Within a few decades, the city with its homes and other buildings had spread out within the town's boundaries and we find clusters of structures in what we now refer to as Sapperton, the West End, Queensborough, 12th Street, Queen's Park, Brow of the Hill, Moody Park and so on. Newer, more recent areas would include Connaught, Victory or Massey Heights, and of course others of more recent vintage. All are part of the city's story and its heritage.
In looking at a city's residential heritage it is always fascinating to identify the houses, that, even if they no longer exist, are still part of the community's history.
Grand, ornate houses, if that's an appropriate term for the structures, would include those of Cunningham, Ryall, Ewen, Fisher, Hendry, Major and Edmonds - dominant buildings with intricate designs and finishes.
In New Westminster we have the impressive Irving House as a focal point along with a wonderful assemblage of homes and other buildings, large and small.
For a presentation on "Good Neighbours: Heritage Homes and Neighbourhoods" with lots of fascinating photographs, comments and descriptions, come out to the New Westminster Historical Society at the New Westminster Public Library on Wednesday, Feb. 20, starting at 7: 30 p.m.
Archie Miller and Gavin Hainsworth will provide the words and pictures for this look at this year's heritage theme in the Royal City.
