#2 of 2 Things To Do in Chilliwack
Fort Langley Historic Site (Birthplace of BC )
23433 Mavis Ave Fort Langley BC
~28.07 miles from Chilliwack city center
Hotels Close to Fort Langley Historic Site (Birthplace of BC )
Fort Langley, is a Parks Canada National historic site, a former trading post of the Hudson's Bay Company, now located in the village of Fort Langley, British Columbia. It is commonly referred to as "the birthplace of British Columbia."
Due to its strategic location on the northern boundary of the Oregon Territory of the U.S. and in the path of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, Fort Langley grew dramatically. It played a key role in the establishment of the 49th parallel as the international boundary with the U.S. and was the staging point for prospectors heading up the Fraser Canyon in search of their fortune.
The social and political consequences of this influx of adventurers led the British Parliament to establish a crown colony on the Pacific Mainland. Old Fort Langley was the location of the proclamation of the Crown Colony of British Columbia in 1858 by James Douglas, the colony's first governor, during his journey upriver to confront American miners in the wake of the Fraser Canyon War as a pre-emptive move to forestall any drives for annexation to the US.
While some might have projected Fort Langley as the capital of the newly-created colony, Colonial military commander, Colonel Moody of the Royal Engineers, Columbia Detachment, deemed it militarily indefensible and ordered the construction of New Westminster on the high north bank of the Fraser River many miles downstream due to its much more defensible position.
Decline
The decline of the fort over the next 30 years was attributed to three factors. First, the advent of paddle wheelers on the Fraser meant that river traffic was extended to Fort Hope and Fort Yale. Second, the capital of the colony was established at New Westminster, British Columbia and later moved to Victoria. Finally, competition for goods and services undercut the monopoly the Hudson's Bay Company had formerly enjoyed. In 1886, Fort Langley ceased to be a company post.
Historical revival
In 1923, the Canadian government named Fort Langley as a site of national historic importance and erected a commemorative plaque near the storehouse. At this time, the site consisted only of the one building and 1-acre (4,000 m2) of land. From 1931 to 1956, the Native Sons and Daughters of British Columbia operated a museum out of the storehouse. The site was established as a Parks Canada National Historic Site in 1955, and a joint Federal-Provincial program reconstructed three buildings in time for the centennial of the founding of British Columbia in 1958. In 1978, the site became a national historic park, and has consisted of 8.5 hectares (21 acres) since 1985.
http://www.fortlangley.com
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#1 of 2 Things To Do in Chilliwack
