Heritage
Historic Cloverdale
Cloverdale is the historic centre of Surrey and is known for its small town charm. If you love antiques, then you have come to the right place. The traditional Cloverdale Town Centre is well known for being the “Antique Capital of BC”, famous for its antiques and collectibles. While visiting Cloverdale, you will be at the home of the popular TV series “Smallville”.
The Cloverdale area was first settled around 1870. The first settlement was in Surrey Centre, which is about one mile west of the present “downtown”. In 1879, the little community was built and centered around the Town Hall which is now part of the Surrey Museum. In 1891, a station was built near the present town center and given the name “Cloverdale” when the New Westminster – Southern Railway, linking Bellingham to New Westminster was pushed into the valley. This marks the beginning of Cloverdale as we know it today.
Cloverdale was also Surrey’s commercial and administrative centre until after the Second World War, and today is one of Surrey’s seven town centers.
Elgin History
Elgin was pronounced with the hard ‘g’ instead of the Eljin which seems most common today. It is located west of the junction of King George Boulevard and Crescent Road. In 1872 and 1873, J. Alex McDougall and his family pre-empted land on both sides of the Nicomekl River. He named the stopping point where the Semiahmoo Trail crossed the Nicomekl River, Elgin, after the place in Scotland where he was born. Elgin was one of the early centers to develop as a settlement focus in Surrey. Mud Bay is the agricultural area associated with Elgin.
Elgin had its origins as an early way station on the Semiahmoo Wagon Trail. From 1861 to 1875 a pioneer trail was built between Semiahmoo Bay and the Fraser River at Brownsville. The area was rich in fish, berries, wild game and cedar forests that provided food, shelter and transportation for First Nations people. Today, this special site is open to the public for tours and workshops, providing residents and tourists with an opportunity to experience what life would have been like as a Surrey settler.
Semiahmoo Trail
“The Semiahmoo Trail: Myths, Makers, Memories” pulls back the curtain on a little-know piece of Surrey history. It was built 1873-1874 and crossed Surrey from the Fraser River to the Canada- U.S border. Originally it was called Semiahmoo Wagon Road. This trail was constructed in 1874 and ran from Brownsville, along the Fraser River, to what is present day Blaine, along the U.S Border. The trail was the first road across Surrey. The section between 20th Avenue and the Elgin school close to the Nicomeki River is of special interest to history buffs, providing a look at the roads original form.
The Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society
The Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society originally started in 1910 as an amalgamation of existing street car lines, and a plan to push out into the farming lands of the Fraser Valley. It has two of the very few remaining original B.C. Electric Railway interurban cars. The society is dedicated to restoring and operating these cars on the original BCER line in the Fraser Valley. Based at the car barn at historic Sullivan, they are working on BCER car 1225 so it will be ready to run in the spring of 2010, in time to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the New Westminster to Chilliwack line on October 1st.
Construction started in Surrey and continued through to the present day site of Chilliwack. When completed in 1911, the BCER ran from downtown Vancouver all the way to Chilliwack. There were up to four complete round-trip runs each day. Carrying not only passengers, it also provided a fast method for moving freight, the mail and gossip.
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