Do you have a favourite spot in BC we should know about?
Contact getawaybc.com
Editor, Cheryl MacKinnon Or click here to submit a calendar event
Burnaby is home to a proud heritage
Tuesday, May 30th, 2006 by GetawayBC.com
Burnaby has a proud heritage as one of B.C.’s pioneer settlements. The city is named after Robert Burnaby, the private secretary to Colonel R.C. Moody of the Royal Engineers who founded the colony’s first capital city, New Westminster.
Robert Burnaby led a survey party with local aboriginal guides to explore the wilderness surrounding Burnaby Lake in 1859. Today, the lake is named in his honour.
The earliest pioneers settled around 1850 and Burnaby developed very slowly until 1887, when the Canadian Pacific Railway was extended into Vancouver from Port Moody.
Travel between the new port city and the old capital city led to construction of the country’s first interurban electric tramline in 1891 (today’s SkyTrain Expo line follows the same route). The tramline opened the area to farming and settlement, and local residents banded together to form the new Municipality of Burnaby on Sept. 24, 1892.
By 1892, Burnaby had its first park along with a store, post office, two schools and a church. Within five years, the population in South Burnaby had grown to 400. The opening of the Barnet Mill in North Burnaby in 1900 started a second settlement within the municipality.
By 1930, Burnaby had shed its early agricultural beginnings and had grown to become the third largest municipality in B.C. In 1992, Burnaby celebrated its 100th anniversary by becoming the City of Burnaby.
Today, Burnaby remains B.C.’s third-largest city with a population of more than 205,000 residents and covers an area of 85.6 square kilometres (38.07 square miles). It has evolved from a predominantly suburban, bedroom community to an urban centre in its own right serving as a regional focus for a variety of business, recreation and education activities.;