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Before
the advent of new settlers in the late 1800's, the
area now known as Burnaby was a land of tall trees and
wilderness.
The earliest pioneers settled around 1850 and Burnaby
developed very slowly until 1887, when the Canadian
Pacific Railway was extended into Vancouver from the
Port Moody terminal. Due to the dramatic increase in
traffic between New Westminster and Vancouver, a tram
line connecting the two centres through Burnaby was
built.
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In
October of 1891, the land along the route was subdivided
and sold. The population of the area along the Canadian
Pacific line was only about 200 persons who were mainly
employed in the agriculture or logging industries. The
property taxes the pioneers paid went straight to the
new provincial capital of B.C. in Victoria and gave them
no local benefits. A group of community minded neighbors
consolidated to apply for a municipal charter that would
guarantee their taxes went to local roads and services.
The
municipality received its charter of incorporation on
September 24, 1892. It was named after Robert Burnaby
who had explored the region around Burnaby Lake in 1859.
Robert Burnaby, a merchant and businessman, was active
in a variety of community affairs and helped develop
much of the west coast. Robert Burnaby went on to serve
five years in the B.C. legislature before returning to
England because of poor health. In all, he has given
his name to a city, a park, a lake, a hill, a Vancouver
street, a mountain range in McKenzie Sound, an island
and a narrows in the Queen Charlotte Islands.
By
1896, 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.
The City of Burnaby is on the on the traditional, unceded
territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and
Kwikwetlem Nations. |
