Nearby Cities: Surrey, Cloverdale
Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows History
The first European settlers, ex-employees of the Hudson's Bay Company, arrived in 1858 from the Fort Langley trading post across the Fraser River. The Scottish-born John Maclivor and Samuel Robertson were the first pioneers to successfully turn rainforest into farmland. Maple Ridge was named after the ridge of Maple trees on Maclvor's dairy farm. More settlers came under the Federal Free Homestead Act of 1874, which provided land at a $1 per acre if you promised to clear, fence and build a home in three years. The settlements along the Pitt River became Pitt Meadows. Pitt Lake, Pitt River and Pitt Meadows were named after William Pitt the Younger, British Prime Minister during much of the Napoleonic Wars Maple Ridge was incorporated in the fall of 1874 with 40 people who settled along the Fraser River.
Thomas Haney arrived in 1876, and started a brick factory at the site of the town now bearing his name. Construction of the CPR right of way in 1881, brought more settlers to the community, who expanded inland ito the communities of Whonnock, Ruskin, Pitt Meadows, Webster's Comer and Albion. When the Lougheed Highway was built in 1931, a further burst of development in Maple Ridge ensued.
Here are the other Fraser Valley communities:
[ Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge | Mission | Harrison - Aggazis
Langley-Aldergove | Abbotsford-Matsqui |
Chilliwack | Hope ]
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