Heritage Houses

Before the land was cleared it was heavily timbered. Harris Pond near the corner of Stanley and Vining Streets was a natural catchment basin for the surrounding ridges. A stream flowed from the pond northward, one block to the east of Fernwood Road. At about Bay Street the stream was diverted by Fountain Ridge and it took a right angle turn to the west, flowing along a zig-zag route within a block either side of Bay Street until it emptied into Rock Bay. The stream provided water for Chinese market gardeners in the early 1900s southeast of the corner of Fernwood Road and Bay Street. Harris Pond and the nameless stream were filled in as residential development took place.

Within Section XVIII of Fernwood is the district known as Spring Ridge, bounded generally by Chambers Street on the west, Bay Street on the north, Fernwood Road on the east and Pandora Avenue on the south. Gravel deposits left after the retreat of the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago underlie this area. Numerous fresh water springs gave it its name. Until the damming of Elk Lake in the early 1870s, these springs were the principal source of drinking water for Victoria. One of the most important springs was on the 1100-block of Princess Avenue. At first, water carriers filled their wooden casks there and sold it door to door throughout the city. Later, wooden stave pipes were used to carry the water to town. At least two breweries (the Lion and the Empire) were established in the vicinity to take advantage of the pure water. Though the springs remain in many basements and backyards, most have been capped, and the water has been diverted into Rock Bay through a drainage system built specifically for the purpose in the 1950s.

The low-lying land at Stanley Av and Vining St forms a natural catchment basin for the surrounding ridges. In the past water collected there, forming a pond that was referred to as either Harris’ Pond or Harris’ Bottom. It was likely named after Thomas Harris who owned the first butcher shop on Vancouver Island and later became Victoria’s first mayor. At its deepest, the pond held about four feet of water. It was drained by a small stream flowing north one block east of Fernwood Rd to Bay St where it supplied water to the Chinese market gardens. From there the stream angled west, meandering north of Bay St and then emptying into Rock Bay.

As Fort Victoria grew, a reliable supply of fresh water became essential. Two sources were located about a mile out – the springs at Spring Ridge and Harris’ Pond. At the time it was thought that Harris’ Pond was fed by the abundant springs in the area. In 1863 entrepreneurs John Coe and Thomas Martin formed the “Spring Ridge Water Company”. They laid pipes made from 12-foot long hollowed-out logs, attaching them end to end and burying them with their bark left on. Pipes were laid from Harris' Pond and Spring Ridge along Fort to the San Francisco Bathhouse on Government St. From there, water was delivered to customers by wagon at a rate of twenty buckets for one dollar. The pipeline also filled 4 large cisterns for fire protection – at no charge.

By 1869 it became evident that Harris’ Pond was not fed by springs and there were frequent complaints in the British Colonist newspaper regarding the quality and quantity of the water. The water supply from Harris’ Pond was described as “a meagre supply of unwholesome liquid” and “a limited quantity of liquid vegetation as thick as pea soup that used to be pumped up from the scummy recesses of Harris’ Pond, the use of which sometimes cause diphtheria and kindred complaints, and rendered cleanliness the exception rather that the rule.” In 1872 the City authorized the construction of water works to bring water from Elk Lake. The pipes from Harris Pond were last used in 1875.

Winters must have been colder in Victoria in the 1800s since the livery stables all had sleighs and the locals enjoyed ice skating on Harris’ Pond. When temperatures allowed, trips to the pond were advertised in the newspaper. Snow was cleared from the ice and the pond was flooded. On January 18, 1868, the British Colonist reported a gay and lively scene at Harris’ Pond, with 150 persons including about 30 ladies skating. A couple of entrepreneurs erected a board shanty for the refreshment of the “inner man and woman” that was liberally patronized. The pond and stream were filled-in by 1890 and little evidence remains today of their importance.

The gravel deposits proved very useful as a source of building materials for the growing city of Victoria. Stevenson Park between Pembroke and Gladstone Streets is lower than the surrounding area because of the large quantities of gravel removed from the site in the early 1900s, some of which was used to fill in the James Bay mudflats where the Fairmont Empress Hotel was built. South of Gladstone Avenue, now the site of Victoria High School, concrete block factories took advantage of the abundant gravel. However, the dust and noise of the unsightly gravel pits were a constant source of annoyance to nearby residents who regularly petitioned City Hall about the issue.

Schools have been at the heart of Fernwood’s social and architectural heritage. The School Reserve, now the site of Central Middle School, was the site of the squared-log Colonial School of 1853, demolished about 1879. It was the first non-sectarian public school in what is now British Columbia. In 1876 the mansard-roofed brick edifice for Boys Public School was built at the head of View Street, and in 1882 Victoria High School, the province’s first high school, was added as an extension to this building. In 1902 Francis Rattenbury designed a new brick high school building that faced Fernwood Road. The 1876 and 1902 buildings were pulled down to make way in 1953 for Central Junior High School, a reinforced concrete design by Birley, Wade & Stockdill, architects. Architect C. Elwood Watkins is responsible for two imposing schools that still stand in Fernwood. In 1909, with his then-partner Thomas Hooper, he designed George Jay Elementary School at 1118 Princess Street and in 1914 he designed the new Victoria High School at 1260 Grant Street at Fernwood Road.

Construction of the high school permanently benefited Fernwood in two major ways: it required filling in some of the biggest gravel pits and the massive Edwardian Classical brick edifice continues to serve as Fernwood’s visual focal point.

Joseph Austin Sayward’s Springville Subdivisions

One of the first major residential developments in Fernwood took place in the 1880s when the Springville subdivisions were created by mill owner Joseph Austin Sayward. Springville I lay west of Fernwood Road, bounded on the south by Pembroke Street (originally South Street), on the north by Denman Street (originally North Street) and on the west by Spring Street. Springville II lay immediately east of Fernwood Road, including Sayward Street. Both subdivisions consisted of small, inexpensive lots intended to attract working class and tradespeople. Among the purchasers were many Icelanders who established a short-lived but vibrant community with its own Lutheran Church, bakery and Icelandic Literary Society.

Several houses from this development still survive in the area. The oldest, 1286 Pembroke Street, was built in 1884 and is a simple vernacular building embellished with Italian Villa features. Several of Victoria’s rare brick homes are located in the 1200-1400 blocks of Pembroke, built in 1890-93 by their bricklayer owners. A number of Italianate and Queen Anne cottages date from 1889-1893 (including the one at 2221 Fernwood Road, built originally on Sayward).

2130 Ridge Road, a two-storey Italianate house built by Icelanders Kelly and Mary Johnson, must have dominated the district with its original tower when it was built in 1893.

Residential development in Fernwood, as in so many other parts of Victoria, accelerated after the streetcar system was introduced. In 1890 a line was opened along Fort Street to the Royal Hospital (later the Royal Jubilee). In 1891 another line took a more circuitous route into the heart of Fernwood: Pandora Avenue, Cook Street, Caledonia Avenue, Chambers Street and Gladstone Avenue, with the terminus at Fernwood Road. Emmanuel Baptist Church (now the Belfry Theatre, 1900 Fernwood Road) built between 1886 and 1892 and the commercial buildings at the corner of Fernwood Road and Gladstone Avenue (1284 and 1301 , and 1923 and 2008 Fernwood Road) grew up at the end of the line.

The development of the land between Cook and Chambers Streets on part of the old Finlayson Estate and the tract comprising the nursery of George Jay Sr. on the east side of Cook between North Park and Caledonia Streets was also facilitated by the streetcar line. Over two dozen of Fernwood’s Heritage Register houses were built in the period 1890-93 within a few blocks of the streetcar lines, many of them in the fashionable cubical Italianate style.

A particularly striking development was the series of five (originally six) constructed in 1892 by William Whittaker at 1203, 1209, 1213, 1217, and 1221 Yukon Street as rental properties.

In spite of the residential growth of this area, it retained a rugged, rural character for many years. After George Jay Elementary School opened in 1909 the principal complained that wild, horned cattle sometimes stampeded through the school grounds en route to the cattle pound on nearby 1100-block Queens Avenue and to the slaughterhouse at Oaklands.

Residential development in the eastern portion of Fernwood was slow to take place, perhaps because the Pearse family wanted to enjoy the sanctity of their estate. Their home, Fernwood, was demolished in the 1960s. Subdivision of the western part of the estate did begin in the 1890s and some of the first streets to be developed there were Vining Street, Stanley Avenue and Balmoral Road. Six heritage register houses in the 1400 block of Vining were constructed in 1891-92, two of them by builder George Powers. Between 1898 and 1901 bricklayer Thomas Donovan built 1459 Vining Street, an unusual patterned masonry Queen Anne.

Development of the eastern portion of the Fernwood Estate closer to the Pearse home took place in the early 1900s. Although two Queen Anne houses were built earlier on Belmont Street (Warley at 1916 Belmont Avenue in 1893, by Rev. Peter H. McEwen of Emmanuel Baptist Church two blocks away on Fernwood, and Oak Villa in 1891 at 1924 Belmont Avenue), almost all of the construction in this area was done during the boom of 1907-13. As a result there is a sharp divide in the house styles seen in the neighbourhood. This contrast is most dramatic in the 1400 block of Pembroke Street, where the 1891 Italianate 1449 Pembroke Street to the west rubs shoulders with the 1911-12 Arts & Crafts 1461 Pembroke Street to the east. Belmont runs along a ridge that connects to the Rockland area and terminates at Pembroke; the higher ground attracted affluent homeowners who built in the Arts & Crafts style then current in Rockland, including a house (1803 Belmont Avenue) designed by Samuel Maclure

113 Fernwood properties on the City of Victoria's Heritage Register in 2021

Heritage-designated - Protected by bylaw. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
Heritage-registered - Not protected, may warrant future preservation. Houses ineligible for VHF funding.
Heritage Covenant - Protected by legal agreement. Houses eligible for VHF funding.

One of the area’s earliest residences still stands at 1038 (originally 216) Fort Street as an antique shop on the “Antique Row” area of Fort Street. According to tax assessment rolls, William Pickett built the house in 1866 and William Charles (1831-1903) acquired it two years later. Son of HBC Chief Factor John Charles, William was born and educated in Scotland. In 1853 he joined the HBC at Fort Vancouver, WA, as an apprentice clerk, then was transferred to Fort Hall, Idaho. He was sent to Fort Victoria in 1858, where he married Mary Ann Birnie, daughter of HBC officer James Birnie. In the 1860s Charles worked in the BC Interior but returned to Victoria in 1870 and worked under his brother-in-law, James Allen Grahame (534 Street Charles St, Rockland). In 1872 he was promoted to factor, and in 1874, chief factor. In 1883 Charles became the first chairman of the newly organized Canadian Pacific Navigation Co. He retired to Victoria in 1885, but two years later suffered a bout of debilitating paralysis. He died in 1903 and Mary Ann remained in this house until 1912.

The Todd family owned the north side of Johnson Street between Quadra and Vancouver Streets for many years. Jacob Hunter Todd (1827-1899) came west in 1862 with his children Sara (638 Rockland Pl) and Charles (1041 St Charles St, Rockland). In 1874 he established the Horseshoe brand salmon-canning business at Yates and Wharf, and built Fairview House (with an unobstructed view of the Olympic Mountains) at 924 Johnson Street (architect Thomas Trounce, demolished by 1921) for his second wife Rosanna Wigley (1838-1931, 1525 Shasta Pl, Rockland), who lived there until 1904.

Son Charles joined the canning business, and built 952 Johnson Street (architect Samuel C. Burris) in 1884 when he married Louisa Norris; in 1904 they moved to Rockland. Another son, Bert Todd, had the October Mansion Apartments (This Old House Four) built in 1910 (extant) on Cook Street, between Fort and Meares Streets, by George Mesher as a wedding present for his wife Ada (721 Linden Av, Rockland).

Fairview House was home to numerous families over the next 15 years, including Rosanna's daughter May and her husband J. Hebden Gillespie, (son of George and Florence Gillespie, 1021 Gillespie Pl, Rockland), secretary-treasurer of Plimley Automobile Company. The house was demolished by 1921, likely to accommodate an automobile business.

Another prominent local entrepreneur was Lee Mong Kow. He lived at 952 Johnson Street until c.1920. Kow built several substantial Chinatown buildings (including stores on Fan Tan Alley –1901, Thos. Hooper), while working for 45 years with Customs & Immigration. He moved back to Hong Kong as chief Chinese agent of the Pacific Steamship Co, but was killed in a car accident in 1924 at 63. By 1924, McCall Bros had established a funeral parlour at 952 Johnson, which became 1400 Vancouver Street c.1942. The house was demolished for office space in 1959, but some of its leaded glass was salvaged and re-used in the present building.

During the 1960s and 1970s, many rental projects for moderate to low income families were constructed in Harris Green. Examples are View Towers at 1147 Quadra Street, and The Chelsea at 865 Yates Street. Today the area has become popular with condominium developers whose luxury buildings are bringing higher income earners closer to the downtown core.

James Douglas, HBC chief factor, became the first substantial landowner in James Bay in 1851, when he bought Section VI – the block now bounded by Government, Belleville, Douglas and Superior Streets. He began construction of a fine home overlooking the waters of James Bay and his family moved in October 1852. James Bay House, demolished in 1906, stood on the present site of the Royal British Columbia Museum. In 1852 when eldest daughter Cecilia married Dr J.S. Helmcken, James Douglas gave his son-in-law an acre of land and the construction of Arbutus Lodge began. Now called Helmcken House (638 Elliot St) and operated as a museum, it is still on its original site. Indeed, it is the oldest house in the province on its original site, with the exception of Oak Bay’s Tod House.

James Bay’s earliest subdivision streets were named after places in eastern North America that were familiar to the HBC officers: Superior, Huron, Michigan, Belleville, Niagara, Ontario, Kingston, Montreal, Toronto, Oswego, Erie and Quebec. A few names have been changed, such as St. John, now Pendray Street, and Ottawa and Hamilton, now part of Dallas Road. Dallas itself (named after A.G. Dallas of the HBC) now skirts only the western and southern edges of James Bay, but once was the name popularly used for the entire shoreline roadway, including what is now Belleville Street.

The major impetus for James Bay’s development as a residential suburb came in 1859 when Governor James Douglas built, across the harbour from Fort Victoria, new Colonial Administration Buildings where the Parliament Buildings are now. The series of buildings designed by H.O. Tiedemann were dubbed the Birdcages because their bell-cast roofs, half-timbering and ornate balconies gave them an exotic appearance. Moving the colonial offices to James Bay was daring because the new site was far removed from the centre of business activity in downtown Victoria. Douglas was accused of choosing the location because it was next door to his own house, thus enhancing his own property values. The bridge he had built across the bay in 1859, ostensibly to connect the Birdcages with downtown, was seen as another self-serving act. The governor denied conflict of interest, but was quick to take advantage of the situation by pushing a road through the western edge of his property from the south end of the James Bay Bridge, and creating lots along the thoroughfare, which he named Birdcage Walk. The resulting subdivision, Birdcage Terrace, became a fashionable address lined with Italianate and Gothic villas for civil servants, business and professional people. The Walk extended to the south of Douglas’s property and in the mid-1880s a matching pair of Italianate houses were built there for Hon. John Robson and his son-in-law Joseph Hunter (506 & 514 Government St).

Birdcage Walk terminated at Michigan Street and in the 1860s Michigan near Beacon Hill Park became a very fashionable enclave, with fine homes for HBC accountant Alexander Munro (where South Park School playground is now), banker A.D. Macdonald (whose brick mansion, Springfield, stood where Orchard House, a high-rise apartment block, is now) and colonial secretary W.A.G. Young (at the southeast corner of Michigan and Young Streets).

Another fashionable residential area was Menzies Street opposite the Birdcages and the south side of Belleville Street facing the harbour where a number of industrialists and sea captains chose to build. Their view of the harbour was unobstructed until about 1900, when the CPR decided to move its shipping terminal there from Wharf St. Fairview (demolished) on the corner of Menzies and Quebec Streets was best known as the home of Robert and Joan Dunsmuir before they built Craigdarroch Castle (1050 Joan Cr, Rockland). Starting in the late 1950s, Fairview and most of the houses along Belleville were replaced by motels, except on one block.

The Italianate-style houses built in 1877 for Alexander B. Gray (327 Belleville St) and James Clark (321 Belleville St) are the oldest of this early grouping still there. Two doors away, industrialist W.J. Pendray had a picturesque Queen Anne style mansion built in 1895 (309 Belleville St). It is now a restaurant and B&B. The painted ceilings, tiled fireplaces and monogrammed stained glass windows are still intact. The Pendrays’ topiary garden was a popular tourist stop and the most photographed garden in Victoria before the Butchart Gardens opened on the Saanich Peninsula

In the late 19th century, prosperity was synonymous with industrial development and the James Bay waterfront was ideally suited for this. Robert Laing’s shipyard (where Fisherman’s Wharf is now) was producing steamboats by at least 1861. By the 1870s small marine ways were appearing around the waterfront below Kingston and Montreal Streets, and Jacob Sehl established his furniture factory at Laurel Point in the late 1870s. When Sehl’s factory burned, the site was purchased by William Pendray for his soap works and later Bapco paint factory. Pendray’s factory originally stood on the north shore of the James Bay mudflats, but in 1900 a long-awaited scheme saw the construction of a stone retaining wall across the mouth of the bay. The mud flats were filled in and the Empress Hotel was built on the reclaimed land. This civic beautification was encouraged by the completion of the new Parliament Buildings in 1898, designed by Francis M. Rattenbury. In 1904 Rattenbury designed a wooden marine terminal for the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) at the foot of Menzies and in 1923, in conjunction with Percy Leonard James, designed a grander replacement (468 Belleville St). From 1900 until the 1970s the CPR’s docks and steamers dominated the James Bay harbourfront, and though they have gone, the shoreline remains a marine transportation centre.

In 1872 a large tract of open land near Ogden Point was set aside for a new civic cemetery, to replace the Old Quadra Street Burying Ground. Opposition to the site by nearby landowners forced the Cemetery Trustees to buy thirteen acres at Ross Bay instead. The Cemetery Trust lands were subdivided and sold through the 1870s and early 1880s. On one portion Welch, Rithet & Company began construction of a deep-sea shipping terminal in the 1880s (now the site of the Coast Guard Station at the foot of Ontario Street) that became known as the Outer Wharf. The adjacent shoreline gradually became heavily industrialized with a flourmill, a chemical plant and warehouses. In 1891 the Dallas Hotel was built on Dallas Road at Ontario Street, designed by architect Edward McCoskrie, to cater to passengers travelling by ship to and from San Francisco and the Orient. The federal government opened an immigration building opposite the wharves (at Dallas Road and Ontario) and in 1908 built a new stone and brick structure there (demolished), which served as a detention centre for immigrants from China. Senator W.J. Macdonald purchased 28 acres at Ogden Point beside the Cemetery Trust lands and in 1876 had Thomas Trounce design Armadale, a massive stone house reputedly modelled after Armadale Castle on the Isle of Skye. Macdonald Park now occupies part of the estate.

The opening of Panama Canal in August 1914 encouraged more industrial development in the vicinity of Ogden Point. A breakwater was constructed during WWI and the Ogden Point Docks were opened to deep-sea shipping. In the late 1920s a grain elevator was built and later a fish processing plant, both served by a railway barge slip. During World War II the former Outer Wharf became a major ship building facility for the Victoria Machinery Depot. The old Armadale Estate was subdivided, Pilot and Dock Streets were opened up and “Wartime houses,” affordable houses for the shipyard workers, were constructed

Starting in the 1860s trades and working class people purchased modest houses on town lots a few streets away from the harbour and generally farther away from the James Bay Bridge. Thus Quebec, Superior, Kingston and Michigan Streets west of Birdcage Walk became popular residential areas. During the 1890s many more homes for middle class and working class families were constructed. Of the dozens of houses built on these streets in the 1860s and 1870s, the James Irving House at 428 Superior Street (1873) is a notable survivor. In the 1880s and 1890s houses for longshoremen at the Outer Wharf and other workers were clustered along St. Lawrence, Ontario, Erie, Quebec, Kingston and Superior Streets. Though hundreds of houses were demolished in the 1950s and 1960s to make way for apartment blocks, enclaves of 1890s houses survive.

For those who wanted country living in the 1860s and 1870s, James Bay had much to offer. James Bissett, an HBC employee, purchased part of Beckley Farm and in 1861 engaged Wright & Sanders to design Woodlands, an Italianate villa facing Simcoe Street (moved and renovated by Samuel Maclure in 1909, at 140 Government Street). Nearby, wholesale merchant Richard Carr had Wright & Sanders design another Italianate villa in 1863. Carr House National Historic Site at 207 Government St was the birthplace of Emily Carr in 1871. As a girl she often walked past the gun batteries erected at Victoria Point (Dallas Road at the foot of Olympia Avenue) and Finlayson Point overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca. Built in 1878 they were a precaution in case of a Russian invasion. When Battery Street was laid out in the late 1880s it derived its name from these defences.

It was not until the late 1880s and 1890s that living in the southern end of James Bay, closer to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, became popular, in large part because the electric street railway ran lines to the Outer Wharf, along Menzies and Niagara Streets to Beacon Hill Park. Here large homes were interspersed with subdivisions of smaller ones. Dr. Charles Newcombe’s house (138 Dallas Rd) overlooking Ogden Point and the Macaulays’ Queen Anne mansion, Pinehurst, (originally fronting Dallas, now off 617 Battery St) are two notable surviving mansions. The east sides of Oswego, San Jose and Lewis Streets comprise almost intact streetscapes of modest houses of the late 1800s and early 1900s, but nearby streets boast many other working and middle class enclaves, notably along Niagara, Menzies, Rithet, South Turner, lower Government, Toronto, Heather, Parry, Battery and Alma Place (off Michigan) and Avalon.

One of the last blocks to be developed was the Caledonian Grounds, a playing field bounded by Government, Niagara, St. Andrews and Simcoe Streets, owned by the St. Andrews and Caledonian Society. In 1907 the land was subdivided and the road running along the eastern side became St. Andrews Street. Before 1905 the road running along its western side was called Carr Street, but the filling in of the James Bay mudflats prompted a change. Government was extended from downtown along the new the Causeway over the reclaimed land, along Birdcage Walk, through Mrs. McConnell’s cow field and along Carr Street to Dallas Road.

Douglas Street (originally K(C)atherine) beside Beacon Hill Park was not opened up until the 1890s, and then became the most fashionable address in James Bay. In the 1960s and 1970s many of the fine homes gave way to high rise apartment blocks, but among the remaining homes are a large Arts & Crafts bungalow for the Bownass family by Seattle architect Jud Yoho (20 Douglas St) and two examples by Samuel Maclure: the Kent House (228 Douglas Street) and the Hanna House (28 Douglas St).

James Bay, Victoria’s oldest residential neighbourhood, has also been an area of mixed use for most of its existence. It has been the neighbourhood most affected by development, with the result that few buildings from the 1850s through the 1870s survive. Many houses that stood until the 1950s were the target of post-World War II redevelopments that saw three-storey and high-rise apartments sprout up all through James Bay. A grass-roots heritage movement developed in James Bay in the early 1970s and resulted in many remaining houses being saved from the wrecker’s ball. Very much a vibrant, mixed-use neighbourhood that continues to see rapid changes, James Bay now boasts a stock of well-maintained heritage buildings and streetscapes that include some of the oldest in Victoria.

Adaptive re-use features in James Bay’s heritage conservation. Restaurants occupy two heritage houses (309 Belleville St, 225 Quebec St). Multi-unit residential conversions occupy many formerly single-family houses (617 Battery St, 24, 28, 120 & 228 Douglas St, 334 Michigan St, 138 Dallas Rd). Offices occupy others (506 & 514 Government St, 601-603 Superior St). Transient accommodation is a popular use (670 Battery St, 309, 321 & 327 Belleville St, 243 Kingston St), and several other B&Bs. A church school is now a private residence (520 Niagara St) and a church sailors’ institute is a restaurant and private residence (106 Superior St). Moving heritage buildings is discouraged, but in 2016 moving enabled five houses used as government offices once again converted to residential use (580, 584 & 588 Michigan Sts and 222 & 226 Dallas Rds).

https://www.victoriaheritagefoundation.ca/Neighbourhoods/jamesbayhistory.html

178 James Bay properties on the City of Victoria's Heritage Register in 2023

Heritage-designated - Protected by bylaw. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
Heritage-registered - Not protected, may warrant future preservation. Houses ineligible for VHF funding.
Heritage covenant - Protected by legal agreement. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
NHCES - National Historic Civil Engineering Site
BCHS - British Columbia Provincial Historic Site

George Mason arrived in Victoria on the Norman Morison in 1851. One of Victoria’s first brick makers, he bought Five-Acre Suburban Lot X in 1856. He built a 2-storey brick residence (916 Pandora Av) on lot 4 of the property, perhaps as early as 1863. An economic downshift forced Mason to sell off most of this property, including the brick house, by 1867.

The street running through the centre of Lot X was named Mason Street, after George Mason. The other half of Mason Street running through Suburban Lot 5 between Quadra and Vancouver was named for Henry Slye Mason, who arrived in Victoria in the 1860s on the Norman Morison. Henry was registrar-general of the Crown Colony of BC before he was called to the BC bar in 1873. In 1870 he married Annie Eliza Thorne, who came to Victoria from England in 1853. These Masons never lived in North Park, but on Government Street (Birdcage Walk) and Dallas Road .

Henry Rhodes had his magnificent residence Maplehurst built at 1937 Blanshard Street in the early 1860s. Henry, born in London, England, moved to the Sandwich Islands (now Hawaii) in 1845. He came to Victoria with his family on the Eliza and Ella in 1858. Henry served as Hawaiian consul, and in 1875 was appointed Swedish and Norwegian consul. He was also elected to the BC Legislature in 1865. He was a pioneer merchant, and his company was located on Store Street. Henry died at Maplehurst in 1878. His wife Sophia Harriet lived there until her death in 1899. The Rhodes had five daughters and three sons. In 1875 Annie Isabella married Richard William Janion, son of Henry’s old business partner Robert Cheshyre Janion, who built the Janion Hotel in 1891.

In 1879, youngest daughter Sophia Edith Rhodes married George Anthony Walkem, and he moved into Maplehurst. George came to Canada from Ireland in 1847, and took law at McGill University. He practised in the Cariboo for a number of years, and was elected MLA for the region. In 1874 Walkem was appointed BC’s third premier after De Cosmos resigned. He held the office until 1876, and again in 1878-82. He then returned to law and became Chief Justice of the BC Supreme Court. Sophia died in 1902, George retired in 1903 and died at Maplehurst in 1909. It became a rooming house, and then was demolished in 1948 to make way for the Memorial Arena.

Another early North Park builder was Samuel Thomas Styles, who arrived in Victoria from England c.1870. He and partner John Kinsman established one of the province’s earliest building and contracting firms. Samuel built a series of workers cottages on Amelia Street, the earliest in c.1871 (1519 Amelia St) for himself and his family. Six of these 2-storey cottages remain today, mostly as businesses, but they were rental homes for many years. Styles was responsible for many other early buildings, including the naval buildings in Esquimalt.

The northern portion of North Park was developed much later than the southern, because it was originally part of Roderick and Sarah Finlayson’s Rock Bay farm estate, which was bounded by Bay, Government, Chambers and Pembroke Streets. Finlayson, an HBC Chief Factor, was in charge of Fort Victoria from 1844-49. He purchased 103 acres from the HBC in 1851, and built his residence, Rock Bay, in the block bounded by today’s Douglas, Bay and Government Streets, and Queens Avenue. After Roderick’s death in 1892 and Sarah’s in 1906, the estate was subdivided. One of the first things done was blasting the rock for Bay Street between Wark and Quadra Streets. The sale of the subdivided lots was geared towards wage earners and investors, attesting to the area’s eventual development as a neighbourhood for renters and average-income earners.

Some of Victoria’s oldest and best apartment blocks are in North Park, some with accommodation for shops on the main level. Several of the blocks have been demolished, but others remain as key elements of the historical residential character of the neighbourhood. The Abbey apartments at 1702 Quadra Street at Fisgard Street were designed by C. Elwood Watkins and built in 1911 for K.J. Lee Dye as shops on the main floor with stables behind and apartments above. The Bon Air Apartments at 2401-07 Quadra Street were built in 1912 for William Kettle, and designed by Beers & Telford. This building is now stuccoed, but retains many of its original features, including its original use as an apartment building. Central Park Apartments at 1010 Queens Avenue was built in 1913-14, for and by Thurston and Johnson Fairhurst from Wigan, Lancashire, England. By 1917 they were in active service, Thurston as a gunner at Signal Hill Battery, Esquimalt. The brick Montana Apartments at 1010 Empress Avenue were built in 1912 for Mrs. Martha J. Muldoon who also owned the James Bay Hotel. In 1912, the Bon Accord Apartments at 845 Princess Avenue were built for Margaret Duncan Christie, who was a Victoria School Board Trustee from 1931 and the first female City of Victoria Councillor from 1944-54. Her daughter Lily Wilson served on Council from 1956-69. Maggie’s husband Alexander was the department manager of Dixi H. Ross & Co on Government Street. The family lived at 1296 Richardson Street for many years. Funeral parlour proprietor Mason Sands commissioned Johnson & Stockdill to build the Sandholme Apartments at 2450 Quadra Street in 1941.

Many homes were built in North Park from 1907 until the beginning of WWI, coinciding with Victoria’s greatest building boom, although the market had begun to collapse by 1913. The neighbourhood was close to downtown and City Hall. Several new schools were built nearby, including George Jay Elementary (1118 Princess Av, Fernwood, 1909), and the many churches of various denominations along Quadra Street (three of them detailed in This Old House Three) drew residents into the area. North Park was and is Victoria’s recreational hub, with Royal Athletic Park, Central Park and the Crystal Pool, the Curling Club, and the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre (formerly the site of the Memorial Arena).

The City of Victoria acquired Central Park, an 8-acre parcel of land, from the Finlayson Estate in 1906. The city’s second oldest park, it is still used for ballgames and other community events. Royal Athletic Park (RAP) had been used as a playing field since about 1902, and for professional baseball since 1908, although it was private land in the estate of Grace Parshalle until the City purchased it in 1925 for about $30,000. Since then, various improvements have been made to serve the community’s needs, with extensive restoration after a 1967 fire. In 2007 RAP was the site of Group F of the Under-20 World Cup of Soccer games. The Memorial Arena, affectionately known as the “Barn on Blanshard,” was built in 1948 and served Victoria for nearly 60 years until it was replaced by the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, completed in 2005. The Curling Club was built in 1952, to supplement the Memorial Arena. The Crystal Pool, designed by architect John Di Castri, was built in 1971. For many years it was Victoria’s only Olympic-sized swimming pool.

Many homes were built in North Park from 1907 until the beginning of WWI, coinciding with Victoria’s greatest building boom, although the market had begun to collapse by 1913. The neighbourhood was close to downtown and City Hall. Several new schools were built nearby, including George Jay Elementary (1118 Princess Av, Fernwood, 1909), and the many churches of various denominations along Quadra Street (three of them detailed in This Old House Three) drew residents into the area. North Park was and is Victoria’s recreational hub, with Royal Athletic Park, Central Park and the Crystal Pool, the Curling Club, and the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre (formerly the site of the Memorial Arena).

The City of Victoria acquired Central Park, an 8-acre parcel of land, from the Finlayson Estate in 1906. The city’s second oldest park, it is still used for ballgames and other community events. Royal Athletic Park (RAP) had been used as a playing field since about 1902, and for professional baseball since 1908, although it was private land in the estate of Grace Parshalle until the City purchased it in 1925 for about $30,000. Since then, various improvements have been made to serve the community’s needs, with extensive restoration after a 1967 fire. In 2007 RAP was the site of Group F of the Under-20 World Cup of Soccer games. The Memorial Arena, affectionately known as the “Barn on Blanshard,” was built in 1948 and served Victoria for nearly 60 years until it was replaced by the Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre, completed in 2005. The Curling Club was built in 1952, to supplement the Memorial Arena. The Crystal Pool, designed by architect John Di Castri, was built in 1971. For many years it was Victoria’s only Olympic-sized swimming pool.

North Park has been home to several prominent businesses. Chinese-owned laundries were prolific in the area in the early 1900s. Palm Dairies was located at 930 North Park Street from 1930 through the 1960s. Beatrice Foods Inc bought out the Prairie-based company in 1990. David William Hanbury operated the Golden West Bakery at 2120 Quadra Street c.1911 until the late 1920s, when his son Evan Hughes Hanbury took over operations. He sold it to McGavin’s Bakery c.1938, and continued managing it for many years. Well-known Victoria contractors Luney Brothers had a shop and building yard where Island Farms and John’s Noodle Village are located today.

This neighbourhood was home to an unusually high number of funeral parlours. Two prominent examples were Thomson and Sands. The Thomson Funeral Home was located at 1625 Quadra Street by 1921. Proprietor Frank Landon Thomson worked with William James Hanna in 1914, and by 1917 had established his own business on Pandora Street before moving to the North Park neighbourhood several years later.

Mason “Pops” Sands founded Sands Funeral Parlour in 1913, when he bought out the shares of his business partner, Mr. Fulton. They had established a small funeral parlour at 1515 Quadra Street in 1912. Booming business necessitated a move to a larger building at 1612 Quadra Street, which is now the Rose Manor Apartments. The business moved in 1a933 to 1803 Quadra Street, designed in the Spanish Mission style by architect C. Elwood Watkins. Sands now has four funeral chapels on Vancouver Island.

The neighbourhood’s street names reflect its historical character. Many of them changed in 1907, along with Victoria’s street-numbering system. Chatham was changed to Caledonia Street, Pioneer to North Park Street, and Farquhar/Mason/St. Louis to Mason Street at this point. Balmoral Road was not adopted until about 1920, when residents petitioned the City to change the street’s name from Fisgard, saying that it was not an appropriate name for their neighbourhood. Wark Street was named for Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) Factor and pioneer John Work of Hillside Farm. John adopted Work, the anglicized version of the Irish Wark, when he joined the HBC. The street, originally named Work, was later changed to Wark. City Archivist Ainslie Helmcken (1015 Moss St, Rockland) was responsible for naming Dowler Place in 1969, after an 1890s North Ward schoolteacher. Her brother Wellington was a Victoria city clerk from 1888 to 1918. He lived on Blanshard Street near Caledonia.

The boulevard trees, many planted in the 1920’s and ’30s, include: early-flowering Purple-Leaved Plum on Princess Avenue and on Vancouver Street north of Queens Avenue; Double White Hawthorn on Queens, which is joined by Schwedler’s Norway Maple west of Quadra Street; and False Acacia, Sycamore Maple, London Plane and Doubleflower Chestnut on Vancouver Street by Central Park. In the 1950s Cockspur Hawthorn and Silver Birch were planted on Empress Avenue.

But perhaps the best known early home in Rockland was Cary Castle, designed in 1862 by F.W. Green of Green & Oakley for colonial Attorney-General George Hunter Cary. Cary’s ownership was brief. Following her husband’s untimely death, Elizabeth Miles purchased the rustic stone building with a 3 storey crenellated tower, across the street from Duvals, a lovely Gothic cottage she and her husband John Miles built in 1861 (1462 Rockland Av).

Cary Castle became the official home of the Governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island in 1865, after Arthur Edward Kennedy took a liking to the odd stone house and purchased it from Elizabeth. Cary Castle was altered and expanded to accommodate a succession of Governors and Lieutenant-Governors but it was ultimately destroyed by fire on 18 May 1899.

Government House was rebuilt to designs by Samuel Maclure and Francis Rattenbury and was completed in late 1903. On 15 April 1957 disaster struck again when the 54-year-old building was destroyed by fire. The new building was designed by architects from the BC Department of Public Works and finished in 1959 (1401 Rockland Av).

The 1880s saw the construction of larger and grander homes. Samuel Nesbitt, purveyor of crackers to the Navy, chose builders Robert Elford & Son to build Erin Hall off Fort Street in 1874 (demolished). In September 1872, also on Fort Street, Henry Pering P. Crease and his family moved into their Italianate villa, Pentrelew (demolished), a home he had purchased from E.G. Alston in 1871. They were soon joined by more of Victoria’s prominent citizens, such as Rout Harvey, manager of Turner-Beeton, who built Stoneyhurst in 1884. This simple 2-storey frame home next door to Government House commanded excellent views over Fairfield and beyond (1369 Rockland Av -extensively altered). In 1889, banker Alexander A. Green had W. Ridgway Wilson design Gyppeswyk on Moss Street (now Art Gallery of Victoria, 1040 Moss St). Robert and Joan Dunsmuir’s Craigdarroch, built between 1887 and 1890 and set on 28 acres, was the grandest of them all (1050 Joan Cr).

From the 1870s until the turn of the century, many lavish and some modest homes were added to the Rockland landscape. Generally situated to take full advantage of the wonderful views, many of the homes were surrounded by professionally landscaped gardens, although the properties were so large that the natural terrain, flora and trees were allowed to co-exist with the imported varieties of plants. Lumberman Joseph Sayward, for example, hired Beacon Hill Park planner John Blair to landscape his property Oakmeade at 1301 Rockland Avenue (demolished). These gracious homes and their gardens were the venues for lavish parties, musical soirées, dance recitals, weddings and charity events. In 1884, David W. Higgins, editor of the Daily Colonist, commissioned Portland architect H.H. Leslie to design a large home in the latest style.

The Higgins’ imposing Italianate villa, Regents Park, was built on the SE corner of Fort and St. Charles Streets (1501 Fort St). Five years later Higgins subdivided his 14-acre property into 20 lots. T.S. Gore, Dominion Land Surveyor, surveyed the Regent’s Park subdivision. The area had been known as Regent’s Park as early as 1863 when Pemberton, possibly trying to lure buyers of the right class, used the name of this up-market London residential area to attract potential buyers. Two new streets, named for Higgins’ children, were created as part of this subdivision: Paul Lane (now Verrinder Avenue) and Maud Street. By 1900, diminishing lot sizes heralded a new generation of owners and homes. The homes were as grand as those of earlier days, but situated on less property and therefore lacking the country estate atmosphere that set Rockland apart from the other residential areas.

Eventually, the Craigdarroch Park Subdivision brought the greatest changes to the Rockland neighbourhood. After the death of Joan Dunsmuir in 1908, family lawyer Griffith Hughes presented a plan to the family that would divide the 28-acre property into 144 lots to be sold by lottery. Tickets were sold for $2,750 each, and lots were assigned by draw. The draw took place in March 1910 and by 1911 building in the subdivision began in earnest. Three new streets were created: Joan Crescent, Manor Road and Craigdarroch Road.

Historically, Belcher Avenue provided access from Cook Street to Pemberton Road, ending at the gates of the Pemberton farm Gonzales. J.D. Pemberton named the street in 1860 for Capt. Sir Edward Belcher, a noted surveyor and explorer, as part of his “Arctic Explorers” group of streets. In the late 1880s, a street connecting Oak Bay Avenue to Henry Dumbleton’s home Rocklands (1750 Rockland Av, demolished) was established; it became Rockland Avenue. In 1905, the section between Pemberton Road and Dumbleton’s house was dedicated as road and the entire street from Cook Street to Oak Bay Avenue was renamed Rockland Avenue. Other streets in the neighbourhood reflect the names of early residents: Pemberton Road for Joseph Despard Pemberton and Despard Avenue for his grandson who was killed in WWI; Angus Road for James and Forrest Angus (1321 Rockland Av), brothers of R.B. Angus of the CPR; and Joan Crescent for Joan Dunsmuir, wife of coal baron and Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway builder Robert Dunsmuir. George Gillespie, after whom Gillespie Place was named, was a manager at the Bank of British Columbia and lived at Highwood. Other streets remind us of grand homes such as Pentrelew Place for the home of Judge Henry P.P. Crease (1201 Fort St, demolished); Algoa, the home of Cuyler A. Holland (1629 Rockland, demolished), and Dereen Place after the Robert and Patience Day home (806 Dereen Pl). Patly (1617 Rockland Av), the James Mitchell house, gave its name to Patly Place and the massive shingle-style home of Thomas B. Hall, a rice mill owner, is remembered in Robleda Crescent (1337 Rockland Av), original house destroyed by fire).

As the popularity and practicality of operating large estates dwindled, some of the bigger homes were opened as exclusive schools. One of the first was Cloveley College which opened in 1898 at 69 Belcher Street (later 1157 Rockland Av), an area now considered Fairfield Neighbourhood). This grand residence, built in 1884, was originally the home of Thomas and Caroline Humphreys. Following her husband’s death, Mrs. Humphreys leased the building and 1¼ acres of grounds to a succession of schools, but the property will be best remembered for its time as the Collegiate

Robert Ward’s home The Laurels at 1249 Rockland Av was also occupied by the Collegiate School from 1903-1912. St. George’s School for Girls then occupied the house until 1928.

Other schools operated in the neighbourhood include Stoneyhurst University School at Stoneyhurst, 1369 Rockland Av; Westerham School at 1765 Rockland Av; Norfolk House School which used 615 St. Charles Street (Gonzales) as a girls dormitory; the University School (later St. Michael’s) at the corner of Oak Bay and Richmond Avenues; and Victoria College (an affiliate of McGill University), which occupied Craigdarroch Castle from 1921 to 1946.

With Victoria’s population growing rapidly, the city water supply was quickly becoming inadequate, and 1909 saw construction of a 100,000-gallon concrete water tower. This must have seemed unsightly, among the villas and Garry oak meadows at one of the highest points of Rockland, but, along with the Smith Hill Reservoir, it constituted a stop-gap project to supply Victorians with water until the new system at Sooke Lake was built. The area around the water tower was known locally as Observatory Hill.

It featured a large, Queen Anne house called Observatory Villa with a 3-storey tower and a small observatory, which was built by amateur astronomer Oregon Columbus Hastings in 1890 (915 St. Charles Street, demolished). By 1903, the lane leading to the observatory had been officially named Observatory Hill.

Established as a residential neighbourhood, Rockland has for the most part remained so, apart from a couple of businesses that managed to coexist with Victoria’s elite. For many years, P.T. Johnston’s Seed and Flower Nursery was located on 4½ acres at the SW corner of St. Charles and Fort Streets. Philip Johnston and Henry Mitchell, advertising themselves as seedsmen and florists, started the business in 1868, a year later purchasing their land on Fort Street (then Cadboro Bay Road), which was then outside City limits. Mitchell and Johnston remained in business together until 1874. Mitchell subsequently pursued the field of landscape design while Johnston carried on as P.T. Johnston & Co. His son Robert eventually took over the business. In 1890, Johnston began subdividing the property. Four lots on Fort Street and one on St. Charles Street were sold first; then in 1899 he laid out and sold nine more lots on St. Charles Street.

Finally, in 1904 he sold off another 1½ acres. The business survived in its original location until 1905 and then moved further east on Cadboro Bay Road, near Willows Fairgrounds. In 1902 the Hopkins & Hopkins Carnation Co, “Growers of hothouse products; carnations, violets, asparagus etc,” established greenhouses on the same block. Philip Johnston died in 1912, one year after he retired from 43 years in the nursery business. The only other industry in Rockland was established at the very periphery of the neighbourhood. The Crystal Spring Soda Water Manufacturing Co. had premises at 1244 Richardson Street. The business began in 1913 as the Crystal Springs Supply Co., successors to Christopher Morley who had operated a soda water factory on Waddington Alley. Their source was a spring at the rear of the property that is still active today. They advertised themselves as manufacturers of aerated and mineral water, fruit cordials, fruit syrup and essences. After 42 years in business, the Crystal Springs Beverage Co. moved its operation out of Rockland, to 540 John Street.

By the 1930s, Victoria City Council recognized that both Rockland and Fairfield had significant heritage value and should therefore be exempt from “any sort of apartment development.” A 1943 bylaw restricted Rockland to “single family, no exceptions, development” but despite these edicts, that era saw significant changes to the neighbourhood as many of the large homes were broken up into apartments, boarding houses and nursing homes.

But it wasn’t until the 1960s that the demolition of houses began, with new subdivisions and streets cutting through old gardens and orchards. In 1970, City staff wrote the first Rockland report. It discussed planning and zoning issues as well as laying out strategies for revitalizing Rockland’s heritage character. Today some of the large homes previously broken up into suites have been returned to single-family dwellings, and many more have been lovingly restored and have opened their doors as bed & breakfast accommodation. To this day Rockland remains one of the most visited and desirable residential neighbourhoods in the city.

100 Rockland properties on the City of Victoria's Heritage Register 2020

Heritage-designated - Protected by bylaw. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
Heritage-registered - Not protected, may warrant future preservation. Houses ineligible for VHF funding.
Heritage covenant - Protected by legal agreement. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
NHS - National Historic Site

Within Section XVIII of Fernwood is the district known as Spring Ridge, bounded generally by Chambers Street on the west, Bay Street on the north, Fernwood Road on the east and Pandora Avenue on the south. Gravel deposits left after the retreat of the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago underlie this area. Numerous fresh water springs gave it its name. Until the damming of Elk Lake in the early 1870s, these springs were the principal source of drinking water for Victoria. One of the most important springs was on the 1100-block of Princess Avenue. At first, water carriers filled their wooden casks there and sold it door to door throughout the city. Later, wooden stave pipes were used to carry the water to town. At least two breweries (the Lion and the Empire) were established in the vicinity to take advantage of the pure water. Though the springs remain in many basements and backyards, most have been capped, and the water has been diverted into Rock Bay through a drainage system built specifically for the purpose in the 1950s.

The low-lying land at Stanley Av and Vining St forms a natural catchment basin for the surrounding ridges. In the past water collected there, forming a pond that was referred to as either Harris’ Pond or Harris’ Bottom. It was likely named after Thomas Harris who owned the first butcher shop on Vancouver Island and later became Victoria’s first mayor. At its deepest, the pond held about four feet of water. It was drained by a small stream flowing north one block east of Fernwood Rd to Bay St where it supplied water to the Chinese market gardens. From there the stream angled west, meandering north of Bay St and then emptying into Rock Bay.

As Fort Victoria grew, a reliable supply of fresh water became essential. Two sources were located about a mile out – the springs at Spring Ridge and Harris’ Pond. At the time it was thought that Harris’ Pond was fed by the abundant springs in the area. In 1863 entrepreneurs John Coe and Thomas Martin formed the “Spring Ridge Water Company”. They laid pipes made from 12-foot long hollowed-out logs, attaching them end to end and burying them with their bark left on. Pipes were laid from Harris' Pond and Spring Ridge along Fort to the San Francisco Bathhouse on Government St. From there, water was delivered to customers by wagon at a rate of twenty buckets for one dollar. The pipeline also filled 4 large cisterns for fire protection – at no charge.

By 1869 it became evident that Harris’ Pond was not fed by springs and there were frequent complaints in the British Colonist newspaper regarding the quality and quantity of the water. The water supply from Harris’ Pond was described as “a meagre supply of unwholesome liquid” and “a limited quantity of liquid vegetation as thick as pea soup that used to be pumped up from the scummy recesses of Harris’ Pond, the use of which sometimes cause diphtheria and kindred complaints, and rendered cleanliness the exception rather that the rule.” In 1872 the City authorized the construction of water works to bring water from Elk Lake. The pipes from Harris Pond were last used in 1875.

Winters must have been colder in Victoria in the 1800s since the livery stables all had sleighs and the locals enjoyed ice skating on Harris’ Pond. When temperatures allowed, trips to the pond were advertised in the newspaper. Snow was cleared from the ice and the pond was flooded. On January 18, 1868, the British Colonist reported a gay and lively scene at Harris’ Pond, with 150 persons including about 30 ladies skating. A couple of entrepreneurs erected a board shanty for the refreshment of the “inner man and woman” that was liberally patronized. The pond and stream were filled-in by 1890 and little evidence remains today of their importance.

The gravel deposits proved very useful as a source of building materials for the growing city of Victoria. Stevenson Park between Pembroke and Gladstone Streets is lower than the surrounding area because of the large quantities of gravel removed from the site in the early 1900s, some of which was used to fill in the James Bay mudflats where the Fairmont Empress Hotel was built. South of Gladstone Avenue, now the site of Victoria High School, concrete block factories took advantage of the abundant gravel. However, the dust and noise of the unsightly gravel pits were a constant source of annoyance to nearby residents who regularly petitioned City Hall about the issue.

The original Fairfield Estate lay east of the Church Reserves and was given to the Governors of the new colony, but the first, Sir Richard Blanchard, returned to England after just a short stay. Sir James Douglas then became Governor and the owner of Fairfield Estate in 1858. Following a change in British colonial policy that mandated the establishment of a Crown Colony with an elected legislature (land ownership was necessary for voting privileges), the HBC began to sell portions of its land, mostly to HBC officials. Douglas also leased large tracts of his land to tenants who wished to farm: largely market gardens and dairy farms. Fine houses quickly followed. In 1859, civil engineer Joseph Trutch arrived in Fort Victoria and by 1861 had a home designed by Victoria’s first major architects, John Wright & George Sanders, on a 10-acre piece of Fairfield Estate (601 Trutch St). In 1862 Trutch was elected to the Vancouver Island Legislative Assembly and in 1871 became the first Lieutenant-Governor of the new province of British Columbia.

In 1865 Wright & Sanders likely also designed a home at 1490 Fairfield Rd for Charles Buxton. It was advertised as a “suburban residence” and leased to Francis Roscoe, a prosperous hardware merchant who became the Liberal MP for Victoria in Ottawa 1874-78. After his death, the new owners called the home Ross Bay Villa, as it is still known today. Through the extraordinary efforts of the city’s heritage planner, local heritage advocates, and the newly organized The Land Conservancy, this home was saved and designated a Heritage Site in 1999.

Victoria’s huge growth and prosperity in the late 19th Century was reflected by many other fine homes built in Fairfield. The Hon. A.F. Pemberton, Victoria’s first police court magistrate and cousin to J.D. Pemberton, had Glenville built at the corner of Fairfield and Moss in the 1880s. It stood where Fairfield United Church stands today, and included a rock garden and tennis courts. In 1876, architect John Teague designed a handsome dwelling for Sir Matthew Baillie Begbie (knighted in 1875 and nicknamed the “hanging judge”) on Collinson and Labouchere, now Fairfield, west of Cook St, with bay windows, niches in the main room for statues, ornamental cornices, wine cellar, stables, and outbuildings (all demolished). At the corner of Fairfield and Moss was Alfred J. Langley’s home, The Maples. He operated Langley & Co Druggists on Yates St.

After Sir James Douglas’s death, his estate was administered by trustees until 1900-01, when his two grandsons came of age, their father having died suddenly and unexpectedly. John Douglas built his Arbutus House (demolished) on the east side of a high point of volcanic rock scoured from the glacial retreat in the ice age, now known as Moss Rocks. His brother, James Andrew Douglas, built a handsome home on the west side of the same hill named Lillooet: It was demolished by developers in 2009.

To the north, Fort St quickly grew with shops and large homes spreading to the Rockland hilltop, while Cook St skirted the hill. Halwyn (demolished) was home to Hon. Justice Irving, c.1902, with its circular driveway entering and exiting Cook near Richardson. The Hon. Capt. Robert Tatlow, BC Government Finance and Agricultural Minister from 1903-1910, had a 2½-storey shingled house, Maple Croft (demolished). With steeply gabled roof, sleeping porches, and a wraparound verandah, it stood at the corner of Cook and McClure.

Horse stables and hitching posts used by these residents have long since disappeared except in rare cases (Oliphant, Rockland).

The inclusion of Fairfield within the City's boundaries of the city in 1890 and the construction of Fairfield Rd to connect it to the downtown core encouraged residential living. As the marshes were drained and streams culverted [C.C.Pemberton, who grew up in Glenville on Moss Rocks, recalled watching fires burning in the peatbogs below Government House, in the area that is now Thurlow & Brooke Sts. (BCA MS-0522. Reference courtesy John Adams.) A streetcar route was planned. The old Smith Dairy farm had operated south of Faithful St on land owned by James Andrew Douglas since 1860, but by 1907, the BC Land & Investment Co had sold it to a Calgary millionaire who built roads and created 171 lots. Many humble homes, some with only two rooms, were built, in contrast to Frederick Futcher’s two-lot home at 55 Marlborough, complete with servant quarters, or Christina Haas’ three-bedroom, three-bath, upscale bordello on two lots at 59 Cook St.

During the great land boom that followed from 1907-13, Fairfield quickly developed into an Edwardian, middle-class neighbourhood. Ads for homes featured “mature fruit trees” and rich dark soil for kitchen gardens. Local merchants lived amongst their customers and community assets sprouted: The Beacon Hill Park Lawn Bowling Club; Sir James Douglas Elementary School (1910, 401 Moss St); various churches like Fairfield United Church at Fairfield & Moss (1926), services like Mount St. Mary’s Hospital (1941), the New Horizons Seniors' Activity Centre (1975); Fairfield Community Association (1975), the Boy’s Club Hall on Chester St; and activities such as the Moss St Market (1991).

The residential building boom ended in 1913-14, and the neighbourhood took many years to infill with more modest homes. But automobiles brought with them wider roadways, garages, and gas stations, which became a neighbourhood feature. One early commercial garage still exists today at the corner of Vancouver & Collinson St. The first gas stations, at Cook and Pendergast, and Moss and Fairfield, are no longer there. By 1918 Dallas Rd was being promoted as a scenic marine drive.

After 1900, apartments with posh lobbies, maid's quarters, and fireplaces were copied from New York and Paris: October Mansions (1910. 1030 Cook at Fort), Mount Edwards Apartments (1911, 1002 Vancouver St), Hampton Court (1913, 159 Cook St), Tweedsmuir Mansions, a 1936 Art Deco apartment at 900 Park Blvd and Art Moderne-style apartments north of Beacon Hill Park are notable examples. The Glengarry of 1908, a more affordable apartment in the Cook Street Village, was demolished in 2004 to make way for more expensive, modern, and dense condo living. Spurred on by a federal program to promote rental accommodations, 1970s developers demolished many older homes to make way for apartment buildings. Community members recognized the loss of beautiful stately homes, making the Cook St corridor unrecognisable. On Heywood Av, almost an entire block of homes was razed, only one small home surviving. A flashpoint for the community came when seniors were evicted from Alkazar Mansions, 1206 Fairfield Rd and Linden Av to permit demolition in 1977.

Beacon Hill Park was set aside as a public park in 1858. A beacon on its highest point warned mariners of the submerged reef called Brotchie Ledge, close to the entrance to Victoria Harbour. Horse races were held from 1858 to 1894 around the hill until they moved in 1889 to the Willows Grounds in Oak Bay. When Henry Henley leased 15 acres east of the park in 1860 for his Henley Hotel overlooking Clover Point, he encouraged his daughter to participate in horse racing around Beacon Hill, which raised Victorian eyebrows as the girl had to wear men’s silk jockey clothing to race. After Henley’s death in 1892, his son changed the name to Cliff House; it then burnt to the ground in 1905.

In 1882 city council organized a loan of $25,000 for Beacon Hill Park landscape development, resulting in the lake area and a small Victorian-style zoo. For years, some people complained about the condition of the bear pits. John Blair designed the landscape in 1889, with much of the park left in its natural state. The east side of Beacon Hill Park borders Fairfield, where the cricket field is located.

Many early Fairfield citizens were part of a local militia. Volunteer rifle companies and artillery batteries were formed as protection against external threat. Units trained and conducted exercises at an artillery battery on Finlayson Point built in response to the threat of Russian invasion in 1879, at a rifle range at Clover Point, and in mock battles in Beacon Hill Park. Schools had cadet corps until after WWII. During WWI, trenches dug at the cliff tops of Dallas & Marlborough were used for troop training. The rifle range lasted until 1923, when neighbours’ complaints about danger and noise were finally heeded.

Prior to the Ross Bay Cemetery, graves were primarily located beside Christ Church Cathedral on Quadra St, now known as Pioneer Square (1030 Quadra St), and in the Jewish Cemetery. Robert Burnaby bought some of Isabella Ross’s land (see Gonzales History), and sold 12 acres in 1872 to the Cemetery Trustees. Today the old curved farm road to the Ross home is incorporated into the cemetery design.

During the 1930s, the City of Victoria began planting trees that are now mature and form a green canopy over the gravesites. The Victorian-style cemetery contains numerous mausoleums and tall pillars from the early elite; several BC premiers are buried here. The road on the west of the cemetery was renamed from Lover’s Lane to Memorial Cr early in WWII to commemorate fallen soldiers. In 1977, vehicle traffic through the cemetery was closed but vandalism of historic grave markers remains a serious concern. In 1997, the city designated the cemetery a Heritage Site.

From 1880 to 1892, a dwelling on the western side of the cemetery served as an exclusive private boys’ school. The city purchased the land from the Trustees of the Douglas Estate, converting the building to The Home for Aged and Infirm Men, administered by the city of Victoria. In 1894 and 1906, the city purchased more land to expand the cemetery on the east side. A 1909 storm washed away graves located on the beachfront and in 1912-13 a seawall was built to protect the cemetery; Dallas Rd was extended along the cemetery’s south border. In 2000, the city dumped tons of gravel just off the beach, stabilizing the waterfront against ferocious winter surfs.

In 1878 the city boundary stopped at the corner of Pakington and Cook St. Further south, dairies run by Henry Smith, Joseph King, Robert Knowles, and Mrs. Irving dotted marshland bisected by seasonal streams.

In 1892, city council approached the Trustees of the Douglas Estate to lease Section 82 of Fairfield Farm Estate for a garbage dump next to Clover Point. The trustees refused, but did allow brick tunnels down Moss St to create the Clover Point sewer outfall. Emily Carr in her Book of Small recalls Cook and Pakington being used as a garbage dump, which it was until after 1907 when Cook St was extended to the waterfront. To reduce open dump sites in the city, in 1908 the city began using scows to dump garbage in the ocean just past Brotchie Ledge. Much of the garbage floated back to the beach, collecting at Clover Point and Ross Bay. Efforts to clean up Clover Point began in the 1930s and in 1958 garbage was redirected as landfill to Mud Bay.

Early in the century, the city began expanding other infrastructure, building roads, sidewalks, boulevards, curbs, gutters, water lines, and sewer connections, plus planting street trees. Over time, streams running through Fairfield were covered and routed into the storm drains.

Streetcar service was established in 1909 down Cook St, turning left on May St to Fairfield Rd and turning round at Foul Bay Rd. People hopped off the trolley on their way home to shop along the route. Corner stores popped up at Cook and Meares (Wong Bros. Grocer - the oldest still surviving in Fairfield), Cook and Fairfield, Fairfield and Vancouver, Cook between Oscar and Oliphant, May and Linden, May and Moss, Moss and Fairfield, Memorial and Fairfield. Early subdivision residents could get dairy products, ice, firewood, produce, and newspapers delivered daily to their homes. The streetcar line was finally torn up in 1947-48 in favour of buses.

In 1957 a Provincial Capital City beautification grant was used to build the looped roadway on Clover Point, parking for 100 cars, a path to Cook St, and a boat ramp. Soil was levelled, bullets removed, and power lines buried. The City of Victoria’s 100th anniversary celebration at Clover Point included a bonfire and fireworks on August 2, 1962. In 1977 a pumping station was built underground. In 1991 a new outfall pipe moved waste water 4,500 ft into the Juan de Fuca Strait, away from shore.

Herbert Warren, raised in South Fairfield, went to agricultural college in Guelph, ON, and then was Victoria's Park Superintendent from 1931-1970. Warren hybridized Japanese cherry trees that could thrive in Victoria’s climate. He raised his own family at 28 Marlborough St, close to his office in the Beacon Hill Park Nursery (built 1905).

A former mayor of Salisbury, England, Thomas Futcher lived at 1029 Pakington St and imported Asian goods including chrysanthemums and flowering maples.

Several commercial nurseries developed in the area. Dr. John S. Helmcken proposed that the city acquire the Invertavish Gardens as an extension of Beacon Hill Park in 1896 but the city declined. The last of the greenhouses was demolished in 1952 and the area has redeveloped with no trace of the beautiful grounds. Horticultural exemplars in the area include J.T. Higgins, who in 1886 advertised his Florist and Ornamental Garden shop at Vancouver & Fairfield and himself as gardener to Sir M.B. Begbie. Richard Layritz had a nursery running along Moss and Richardson Sts. The Woodward family originally lived behind their greenhouses at Fairfield and St. Charles. They were replaced in 1958 by Fairfield Plaza.

Now, roads are generally wide with boulevards and street trees - notably horse chestnuts on Cook St (1893) and flowering cherries, plums and May trees. Today’s Fairfield exemplifies the development of ‘suburban’ Victoria and the creation of aspects of a classic British colony. It also reflects trade patterns in its American west coast architectural styles in its key period of development. Italianate, Victorian, and Edwardian homes were the first to be constructed, while California and Craftsman bungalows followed. Post war, infill homes and Art Moderne-style apartments were followed by Ranch-style homes.

The Fairfield Community Association (FCA) came into being in 1975. Members were elected to council and city committees, which in turn generated new zonings and bylaws incorporated into a local plan. Guidelines for future neighbourhood development and specifically the Cook Street Village were developed with community consultation. The FCA played a major role in the City’s first round of heritage designations in the 1970s and has continued to support the heritage program’s objectives. While many historical buildings have succumbed to redevelopment over the years, the people in Fairfield are still connected to the land, the sea, the built environment, and their community.

139 Fairfield properties on the City's Heritage Register in 2021

Heritage-designated - Protected by bylaw. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
Heritage-registered - Not protected, may warrant future protection. Houses ineligible for VHF funding.
Heritage covenant - Protected by legal agreement. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
NHS - National Historic Site.

Joseph Despard Pemberton owned the remainder of the land that now comprises the Gonzales neighbourhood stretching from Lillian Rd north to Oak Bay Av (known officially as section 68 and part of section 74). Like Mrs. Ross, J.D. Pemberton also began to sell off parcels of his land early on. Members of the wealthy merchant class such as A.C. Flumerfelt (855 Pemberton Rd, Rockland), Thomas Earle, the McQuades, A.J. Woodward, Angus R. Johnston, John Chandler, William Bayliss and Thomas Shotbolt purchased property in the area. Thomas Shotbolt, a pharmacist, built a grand home, Hollywood, in 1890 on seven acres; the house, at the SE corner of Foul Bay and Fairfield Rds, was a landmark in the neighbourhood until it was demolished in 1947.

Pemberton did retain large tracts of land for himself, which he used for grazing pastures. The Pemberton property stretched from Rockland Av to Chandler St and from St. Charles to Gonzales. This area became known as Pemberton Meadows and a wooded area, Pemberton Woods.

It was not really until after the turn of the century that the improved infrastructure and the economic and housing booms, which began in 1908, turned this area into a popular residential neighbourhood. On March 21, 1909 the No. 6 Streetcar began service to Fairfield and Gonzales.

The two mile extension of street car service ran down Cook St, across May St to Memorial Cr and up to Fairfield Rd, terminating at a loop at what is now the Margaret Jenkins School playing field.

Streetcars were the backbone of the local transportation systems until the major expansion of bus service after WWII. The No.6 Line was carrying 5100 passengers per week in 1945, second only to the Esquimalt Line. However by July 1946 the company had signaled its intent to close the No.6 Line beyond Joseph St in Fairfield, and replace it with bus service. City Council resisted. So, when the Fairfield-Gonzales bus commenced service on November 28, 1946, the No.6 streetcar also continued to run to its distant grassy loop at Foul Bay Rd. No.6 ceased operations completely on December 1, 1947.

After Major Guy and Mrs. “Byrdie” (Dunsmuir) Audain moved into a Maclure-designed home at 550 Foul Bay Rd in 1909, the street became a fashionable place to live. The wealthy hired architects such as C. Elwood Watkins, Elmer E. Green, Henry S. Griffith, William D’Oyly Rochfort and Samuel Maclure to design elegant Arts & Crafts homes, many of which survive today and have been recognized for their heritage significance.

The most famous Gonzales area residents, however, were a couple who are not famous because of who they were, but because of the legacy they left – their garden. The Abkhazi Garden (1964 Fairfield Rd) was the work of Margaret “Peggy” and Nicolas Abkhazi who bought the property on Fairfield Rd in 1946. In 1999 the garden received international attention when residents of Victoria fought to save it from development. Slightly more than one acre, the garden features native Garry oaks, ornamental evergreens, rare rhododendrons and azaleas, rock and alpine plants, Japanese maples and weeping conifers.

The area was not always exclusively residential. The fairly level topography and good soil made the area ideal for greenhouses. They were a major part of the early days of development with the largest operation located on Fairfield Rd at the current site of Glengarry Hospital. Immediately to the west was a Chinese business, Fairview Greenhouses, at 1650 Earle St, just east of the entrance to Hollywood Park. The third was considerably smaller and was located at the northwest corner of Lillian and Richmond. The greenhouses were built in the 1920s and survived until the end of the 1950s when they finally surrendered to the post-war housing boom.

In 1914 the Pacific Coast headquarters for the Dominion Meteorological Services, commonly known as the Gonzales Observatory (302 Denison Rd), was built on top of Gonzales Hill to the designs of William Henderson, Dominion Government Architect for BC, with meteorologist Francis Napier Denison. It recorded weather and took astromical and seismic readings. It was also from there that the time ball, which was located on the top of the Belmont Building (Humboldt and Government Sts), was activated every day at noon by Denison, the superintendent of the station. Environment Canada abandoned the building in 1989 and after several failed proposals, the site was finally purchased by the CRD in 1992 and the 1.75 hectares of land turned into a wilderness park.

The Dominion Government Wireless Station (see photo in opening paragraph) was nearby and served as a communication centre from before World War I until just after World War II. That building has since been demolished.

As the population in the area increased so did the need for schools, local stores and other services. Margaret Jenkins School at 1824 Fairfield Rd opened on August 23, 1915. Built on a two-acre parcel of land that had been part of the Chandler Estate, the school was designed by architects Spurgin & Wilkins; a two-room school had been opened on the site in 1913. Margaret Jenkins School is the only school in the district to be named after a woman. A few streets north, the Norfolk House School for Girls, a private school which had moved locations many times, commissioned architect Percy Leonard James to design a school on a five-acre site at Richmond and Gonzales (801 Bank St) in 1931. It is interesting to note that the school used the old Pemberton home, Gonzales, as the residence for the boarders until 1952. In 1986, the school merged with Glenlyon Preparatory School for boys to form Glenlyon-Norfolk School.

In 1912, William Bayliss, a hotel owner and butcher, opened Hollywood Grocery & Meats at the corner of Fairfield and Lillian. By 1927 the corner included a post office and the Victoria School of Expression. Retail activity continued to expand and by 1952 this corner included a barbershop, shoe repair shop, dry goods store and a beauty salon. Another group of small shops opened up at the corner of Fairfield Rd and Foul Bay Rd, opposite Margaret Jenkins School.

The street name in the neighbourhood that has received the most attention over the years is Foul Bay Rd. It all started in 1924, when Ald E.S. Woodward gave notice of motion to Victoria City Council to change the name of the Bay from Foul Bay to Gonzales Bay and Foul Bay Rd to Gonzales Bay Rd. 183 property owners, including some well-known citizens, signed a petition that forced the Council to take the matter seriously. One resident summed up the feelings of the residents “[the name] offends good tastes and in its ordinary meaning conveys a very wrong impression of the beautiful sand-fringed and clear bathing beach.” A heated debate raged in the newspapers and research was undertaken to find the origin of the name. Francis H. Ross (1401 May St, Fairfield), grandson of Isabella, was determined that the name should stay but his arguments were not heeded and the name of the Bay was officially changed to Gonzales Bay in 1934. However, the feature is still called Foul Bay by many Victoria residents.

Other Gonzales streets are named for early landowners such as Chandler St for John Chandler (512 Simcoe St, James Bay), a Hudson’s Bay Company factor; Earle St for Thomas Earle, a prominent merchant and politician who served on City council and as a Member of Parliament; and Robertson St which is probably named for Robert Affleck Robertson who appears as early as 1872 on Gonzales area land registry documents. Thomas Shotbolt, the well-known pharmacist, gave his name to Shotbolt Rd and Hollywood Cr was named for his fabulous home.

Irving and Beaven Sts (previously Cross Rd) were named in honour of well-known Victorians. Paulus Aemilius Irving came to BC in 1882, served as Deputy Attorney General from 1883 to 1890 and was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court in 1897. Robert Beaven came to BC in 1862. He was a merchant and became involved in provincial politics. He served as BC premier from 1882-1883 and as mayor of Victoria from 1892-1893.

In the northern section of the neighbourhood, Clare St was probably named for the Poor Clares, an order of Catholic nuns who arrived here October 19, 1911 and established a monastery at 2050 Haultain St. Well-known Victorians are remembered in Redfern St and Davie St. Charles E. Redfern was a jeweller and watchmaker who served as mayor in 1883 and from 1897 to 1899. Dr. John Chapman Davie (638 Rockland Pl, Rockland) was a medical doctor and a Member of Parliament. Amphion St is named for HMS Amphion, which was a Leander class cruiser assigned to this coast in 1888. In 1889 she ran aground and sustained serious damage but was repaired and continued to serve the Royal Navy until she was sold in 1904. Somenos, Quamichan and Cowichan honour some of Vancouver Island’s local First Nations.

From 1909 until 1945 development progressed slowly, initially supported by the extension of streetcar service and then by the 1907-1913 real estate boom. Following the 2nd World War, another housing boom saw the remaining vacant land developed. The Gonzales neighbourhood has evolved from farmland to one of Victoria’s most popular neighbourhoods in less than 150 years.

36 Gonzales properties on the City of Victoria's Heritage Register in 2020

Heritage-designated - Protected by City bylaw. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
Heritage-registered - Not protected, may warrant future preservation. Houses ineligible for VHF funding.
Heritage covenant - Protected by legal agreement. Houses eligible for VHF funding

The first subdivision of Hillside Farm was in 1885 when the “Hillside Extension” was laid out, bordered by Bay Street, Douglas Street, Hillside Avenue and Quadra Street. The names of the north-south streets were First Street (later Rose Street, now Blanshard St), Second Street (now Dowler Place), Third Street (now Wark St) and Fourth Street (now Quadra St). Kings Road was the original main east-west thoroughfare through the subdivision. Houses soon began to appear in the “Hillside Extension” for a very diverse mix of people. The finer homes were built along Douglas Street and west of First Street. One of the most prominent residents was Noah Shakespeare, mayor and Member of Parliament in the 1880s, whose attractive Queen Anne-style house, Stratford Villa (demolished) stood at the corner of Second Street and Hillside Avenue. By the early 1900s the subdivision was built out, mostly with modest frame houses for tradesmen and middle class families.

North Ward School (demolished, see Burnside History, This Old House Three) opened in 1894 on Douglas Street to serve the growing neighbourhood. Hillside School, later called Kings Road School, (demolished, now a park at the southeast corner of Wark Street and Kings Road) was built in the early 1900s as a two-room frame structure to help ease overcrowding at North Ward. When Quadra Street Primary School (2549 Quadra St) opened in 1921, Kings Road School became a segregated facility mainly for Chinese; by the 1940s it was the Dominion-Provincial School of Auto Mechanics.

Virtually nothing remains of the original houses in the “Hillside Extension” because the Urban Renewal Report in 1961 recommended that it be the city’s first priority for redevelopment. Citing the fact that 127 houses (representing 97% of the total) were constructed before 1912 and that 76% of them were in “poor” condition, it advocated their total demolition and replacement with 120 units of community housing to be funded jointly under a federal-provincial scheme. The concept was approved and Blanshard Court was built, with 157 families being displaced in the process. North Ward School was demolished and Blanshard Elementary School was built for the children of the project and nearby neighbourhoods. The structure is now used as a campus for the University of Canada West.

One of the reasons for clearing the “Hillside Extension” was to create a new access road into Victoria due to increased traffic from the Swartz Bay ferry terminal following the start of BC Ferries in 1960. Previously the main routes into the city from the north were Douglas Street or Quadra Street. Blanshard Street was not a through street until after the redevelopment when it was extended north as a dual carriageway, along what had been Rose Street (previously First Street). The new route also more or less followed the right-of-way of the Victoria and Sidney Railway that had opened in 1894, originally as far as Hillside Avenue and eventually into downtown Victoria. Part of the railway ran along city streets. After the railway ceased to operate in 1919 the tracks were removed. Blanshard Street soon became a busy thoroughfare that effectively created a barrier between the Hillside-Quadra neighbourhood and the once contiguous neighbourhoods to the west.

One of the dominant buildings in the neighbourhood was the red brick Hillside Gaol, sometimes called Topaz Jail, and situated in a grove of Garry oak trees on a rocky slope north of Hillside Avenue. The three-storey central block with two wings looked over the “Hillside Extension.” The 66-cell structure opened in 1885 to replace the cramped and crumbling Police Barracks and Gaol in Bastion Square. Following a fire in 1912 it was demolished and the remaining foundations afforded neighbourhood children a place to play hide and seek and to hunt tadpoles when the cavities filled with rainwater. S.J. Willis Junior High School was built on the site in 1949.

Between the Hillside Gaol and Quadra Street was a subdivision called “Hillside Extension A.” Its most imposing house was Allandale at 818 Hillside Avenue, the private home of James Graham and Mary Work. Designed by John Teague it was built in 1884 and demolished in 1927. North of “Hillside Extension A” and the jail, cutting into Hillside Farm, was a thin strip of land along Topaz Avenue, officially known as Section V. Part of Topaz Park is there now. Originally it was owned by Robert Clouston, another HBC employee, but changed hands after his death in 1859. In the 1860s William and Charlotte Galley built a 2-storey house (demolished) on a portion of the property that sloped down to Quadra Street and a large swamp. On a dark, windy night one of the Galley daughters, Alta Louisa, heard someone calling out. When the family went to investigate they found an intoxicated man stuck up to his armpits in the mud. On another occasion one of the Galley’s cows grazing on the rocky bluff behind the gaol slipped over the precipice onto Topaz Avenue and died.

Further north, where most of the main playing fields of Topaz Park are now, was a rough, swampy area that supplied clay to the brickyards that operated west of what is now Blanshard Street. The last brickyard, operated by Evans, Coleman and Evans, closed in 1961 to make way for Mayfair Mall. To the east of this “wild” land, along both sides of Quadra Street, an avenue of substantial homes was developed from 1900 onwards.

Before the death of Josette Work in 1896, land east of Quadra Street and south of Hillside Avenue, closer to her Hillside farmstead, was subdivided and sold, the first houses being built around 1892. Most were modest frame houses in modified Queen Anne and Italianate styles for working class families.

The system of numbered streets was continued east of Quadra Street, adding Fifth through Ninth Streets. In 1905 the names of all the numbered streets on both sides of Quadra Street, except Fifth, were changed. Most of the ones east of Fifth Street were given the married names of six of John and Josette Work’s daughters or granddaughters. The new streets were: Vancouver (Sixth), Graham (Seventh), Prior (Eighth) and Blackwood (Ninth). They radiated off Kings Road since access to Bay Street was blocked by the stream until some time after 1907. From 1892 until 1912, block after block of houses was constructed along these streets. George Jay School on Cook Street (1118 Princess, Fernwood) served the elementary-school-age children of the neighbourhood. Commercial services for the area developed around the intersection of Hillside Avenue and Quadra Street. Several industries located nearby, such as Canadian Bakeries, which had its principal bakery and stables at 2629 Prior Street, with frontage also on Blackwood.

The land east of Quadra Street and north of Hillside Avenue, rising to the summit of Smith’s Hill, was subdivided in the late 1880s but generally not developed until after 1900. The hill is named after William J. Smith, partner in the building contractors Smith & Elford (they also operated Victoria Brick & Tile Company, one of several brickyards at the present-day site of Mayfair Mall.) Smith built a substantial brick house and stables on Montrose Avenue in 1892. In 1923 the property was purchased by former Victoria mayor A.J. Morley (who lived at 1246 Montrose) & turned into Sunhill (TB) Sanatorium. The building was demolished in 1936.

Most of Smith’s Hill was called “Hillside Extension C.” Here the married names of three more Work daughters were given to streets: Tolmie, Finlayson and Jackson. The reservoir at the top of the hill was opened in 1909 as part of a plan that included the water tower in Rockland. Both were intended to improve the pressure of the city’s water supply drawn from Elk Lake until the new Sooke Lake Reservoir was created.

Halfway up the slope, at the corner of Topaz Avenue and Blackwood Street, the Khalsa Diwan Society purchased four lots in 1909 for the purpose of building a Gurdwara (Sikh temple). Mayor John Beckwith owned property nearby and opposed the plan. When civic officials withheld a building permit the Sikh community won a legal action against the city and work proceeded in 1912 on a concrete-block and brick Gurdwara designed by Henry S. Griffith, architect. The temple was largely rebuilt in 1969. When the cut stonewall around Sunhill Sanatorium was taken down in 1936 the stones were moved by horse and cart and by hand to the Gurdwara where they were used to build a new wall, still in place.

Smith’s Hill mainly developed as a fashionable middle and upper-middle class residential neighbourhood during the years between 1905 and 1912, before an economic depression brought an end to most new construction. From 1911-1914, roughly at the same time Henry S. Griffith was designing the Gurdwara, he was building his own stately home, Fort Garry (now Spencer Castle, 2906 Cook St) nearby on a ridge overlooking Cook Street. Other houses built in this period include: 1052 Topaz, 1310 Topaz, 2715 Blackwood, 2733 Blackwood and 1150 Summit Avenue, which was designed by F.M. Rattenbury. Quadra Elementary School (3031 Quadra St) designed by C. Elwood Watkins, opened in 1914 to serve the students of the Smith’s Hill area and other nearby subdivisions.

The last part of Hillside-Quadra to be developed was Topaz Heights. These were originally 101 rental houses of five designs built between Quadra Street, Tolmie Avenue and Finalyson Street in 1946-47 for returning veterans by Housing Enterprises Canada Ltd (HECL), mandated and financed by the Federal Government, and operated by insurance companies. HECL built 3,200 units in 24 cities across Canada and it is believed that these designs were only built in Victoria. HECL’s other designs were Cape Cod and cottages similar to those used by Wartime Housing Ltd. Due to rising costs of materials and labour, HECL’s projects were transferred to Central Housing and Mortgage Corporation (CMHC) in 1947.

Architecturally, Topaz Heights represents the first foray into mass, domestic modern architecture in Victoria. While other houses and subdivisions were built in Victoria at this time none have all the elements of Topaz Heights. First, instead of being built scattered about town during and after the war as the Wartime Housing Ltd homes were, these houses were all built in the same place at the same time. Second, instead of using the conventional grid street pattern, modern planning is evident not only in the two pleasant curves interrupting the grid layout but also the park and inter-street paths. Third, rather than the mix of newly-married families with young children, with teenagers, and the retired, all the residents were young married veterans with small children. Finally, Topaz Heights was geographically enclosed as Finlayson turned into a trail at Yew, the gravel pits were on the south and the brickyard east behind Alder, leaving Tolmie and Quadra Streets as the through streets on the edges of the neighbourhood. All these factors resulted in a very cohesive neighbourhood of both new and existing homes. Even pushing through Blanshard and Finlayson Streets in 1963 and further widening of Finlayson did not damage the neighbourhood’s integrity.

18 Hillside-Quadra properties on the City of Victoria's Heritage Register in 2021

Heritage-designated - Protected by bylaw. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
Heritage-registered - Not protected, may warrant future preservation. Houses ineligible for VHF funding.
Heritage covenant - Protected by legal agreement. Houses eligible for VHF funding

The northern finger of Jubilee comprises Section 8a, about 46 acres. It was purchased in 1853 by Rev Robert J. Staines, Hudson’s Bay Company chaplain and schoolmaster at Fort Victoria. He had another 400 acres in Metchosin, devoted considerable time to farming and was especially proud of his fine pigs. He was critical of Gov James Douglas and the governor was critical of the chaplain’s abilities as a teacher. In 1854 Staines was instrumental in circulating a petition against Douglas and was to deliver it personally to colonial authorities in London. However, he sailed on the Duchess of San Lorenzo which foundered off Cape Flattery and Staines perished. Section 8a was farmed, but not developed until the early 1900s. Many pre-1920 houses are located in the southern part. The northern part was undeveloped until the mid-20th Century.

Section 25 runs eastward from Section 8a toward Foul Bay Rd, mostly in Saanich. This land was originally purchased by the Roman Catholic Church in the name of Bishop Modeste Demers. Only the southwestern quadrant of Section 25 is in Jubilee Neighbourhood.

The original major roads through Jubilee are Oak Bay Av (formerly an extension of Pandora Av), laid out by J.D. Pemberton in 1890, and Fort St (formerly Cadboro Bay Rd). The houses built along these main routes tended to be more showy than those built along the side streets. After 1891 one of those who built along Oak Bay was architect A. Maxwell Muir. His Italianate cottage Bremhill was moved around the corner to 1511 Bank St. and altered, but it still stands. Isolated houses were constructed in the 1890s, but the biggest boom was from 1908-12 in Section 76 north of Oak Bay Av. Gessman & Pike, a land development company, acquired a large portion of the Lee farm and advertised lots along Foul Bay Rd, Bourchier St and Amphion St in 1908. Corner lots were $160, others were $140. By 1900 the Fernwood Syndicate was buying and selling land west of Richmond Rd, including the “tree” subdivision north of Fort St: Chestnut, Oak (now Ashgrove) and Maple (now Birch). Two of the oldest houses along the Jubilee section of Fort St were imposing Queen Anne structures built almost across from each other in the 1890s (1718 Fort St; 1739 Fort St).

One of the anomalies in Jubilee is the wedge in the southwestern corner that extends as far west as Belmont Av. This was where the Pearse house stood and most residents probably consider it to be part of Fernwood Neighbourhood. In the 1880s Major Charles T. Dupont, businessman, member of the Militia and one-time president of Victoria Electric Railway Co and Victoria & Esquimalt Telephone Co, purchased a large property from Pearse, mostly west of Belmont Av in Fernwood Neighbourhood, but a strip ran along the east side of Belmont in Jubilee. His home and estate were called Stadacona. Before Pandora Av opened, Dupont created a small subdivision and opened Stadacona Av around it on two sides. Only the western side remains. An extension of the original Stadacona Av (now covered by Stadacona Park) forms a line with Cold Harbour Rd in Jubilee. The origin of the name of this dead-end street is a mystery because it is far away from the ocean. Perhaps the name was inspired by Dupont’s speculation in land at Vancouver’s Coal Harbour when the CPR was being built. The Billings house (1528 Cold Harbour Rd) is an Arts & Crafts gem hidden at the end of this unusual street.

The early development of Jubilee and nearby districts prompted the founding of two churches, in addition to the Royal Jubilee Hospital’s Pemberton Chapel (1900 Fort St). In 1892 the Christian Endeavour Society of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church built a modest frame church designed by A. Maxwell Muir at what is now 1602 Redfern St. Later the congregation became St. Columba’s Presbyterian Church on Oak Bay Av and eventually moved to what is now Oak Bay United Church. The Redfern St church became a Masonic Lodge, a Scout hall and is now a residence. In 1913 the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) purchased land at 1831 Fern St and built a Meeting House. Still in use, it is the oldest continuously operating Friends meeting house in BC. In 1951 St. Barnabas Anglican Church moved to the southeastern corner of Belmont and Begbie from Cook and Caledonia. Plain concrete blocks on the outside, the church contains a rare hanging rood screen and a replica of Our Lady of Walsingham shrine, used by pilgrims in Norfolk, England, since the 12th Century.

The first school in Jubilee was a small private boys’ school opened in 1898 by Rev. William Washington Bolton in rented premises on Belcher St (between Fort St and Oak Bay Av.) In 1906 he joined forces with James Barnacle whose University School was nearby in Rockland (corner of Oak Bay and Richmond). In 1909 the school moved to a new campus at Mt. Tolmie. In 1908 a private girls’ school, St. Margarets, was founded on Cook St. In 1912 it moved to the corner of Fort and Fern St in Jubilee. The property was bought from Pearse’s widow, Sarah Jane. Francis Mawson Rattenbury designed the new school which opened in 1912. The school moved to Saanich in 1970 and the old structure was torn down to build an apartment block. The only public school in Jubilee is Bank St School (1625 Bank St), built in 1910-11.

Fire Hall No.8 was built in 1911 at the corner of Leighton and Duchess, kitty corner from the school yard of Bank St School. It provided protection to the Jubilee Neighbourhood and adjacent areas, including Oak Bay, until that municipality created its own fire department in 1937. Loss of funding from Oak Bay and the general difficulties during the Depression forced the closure of Fire Hall No.8 in 1937. After that calls from Jubilee were handled from Fire Hall No.2 on Yates St and later from Fire Hall No.1 on Cormorant St (where Centennial Square is today). Fire Hall No.8 was enlarged and converted to an apartment building which still, minus its tower.

18 Jubilee properties on the City of Victoria's Heritage Register in 2021

Heritage-designated - Protected by bylaw. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
Heritage-registered - Not protected, may warrant future preservation. Houses ineligible for VHF funding.
Heritage covenant - Protected by legal agreement. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
NHS - National Historic Site

The majority of the roads running through Oaklands were not created until subdivisions were developed in the early 1900s, but Cedar Hill Road’s existence dates to the early 1850s as it led to Cedar Hill (now Mt Douglas) where HBC men hunted, and the early farms in what is now Gordon Head in Saanich. Hillside Av was also built quite early, but existed as Lan(d)sdowne Road east of Cedar Hill Road until 1912. Gosworth Road, Edgeware Road and Shakespeare Street (originally Amethyst Street – it once ran all the way through to North Dairy Avenue) all date back to the 1890s. The portion of Doncaster Drive below Hillside Avenue was called Ruby Road until the early 1900s. Shelbourne Street, named after Governor General Lord Shelbourne Lansdowne, originally developed as a route for Gordon Head farmers and was improved in 1915. Trees planted on Shelbourne Street in 1921 are a memorial to WWI soldiers.

Before the streetcar line came up Hillside Avenue to Cedar Hill Road in the early 1900s, public transportation to the northern portion of the neighbourhood was lacking, although entrepreneurs operated private stage lines to the neighbourhood. W.B.C. Mewburn ran The Mount Tolmie & Oaklands “Tally Ho” Stage in the 1890s. Mewburn was a carpenter in James Bay in 1892. By 1895 he was living in Oaklands as postmaster and proprietor of a grocery store. He appears to have left the City by 1900.

Although the area was surveyed as residential lots in the 1880s, the first significant building boom wasn’t until 1909-13. As older farmers died off, their properties were subdivided into residential lots. Auction sales were common, and in June 1909 the area bounded by Ryan Street, Haultain Street and Kings Road on the former Finlayson Estate was subdivided and sold. Henry Emmanuel Levy (2667 Empire St) developed 24 lots on Edgeware Road in 1912-14. Although known for his restaurant on Government Street, he also dabbled in real estate, owning over 50 houses in the City at one point. Another development known as the Hillside Addition was built in 1913 between North Dairy Road and Hillside Avenue, beside Oaklands Nursery where Hillside Shopping Centre is today. These developments catered to moderate-income earners, and were valued for being within City Limits, and the new residents were accommodated by an extension of the streetcar line along Hillside Avenue

The Jewish Cemetery west of Cedar Hill Road near Ryan Place was consecrated in 1859, 13 years before Ross Bay Cemetery was founded. The Jewish Cemetery remained quite isolated until the early 1900s, when residential development began in the area. The BC Protestant Orphanage, now Bishop Cridge Centre (1190 Kings Rd), opened at Cook Street and Hillside Avenue in 1893.

The pre-WWI population boom increase resulted in the construction of Oaklands School (2827 Belmont Av) in 1913, and the demand for local religious services. The Christian Brethren established a Sunday school at the Galloway home at 1250 Acton Street (extant) in 1911. The following year, Gospel services were held above a shop at the corner of Cedar Hill Road and Hillside Avenue. Families from Victoria Gospel Hall on Blanshard Street saw the need for a new assembly, and Oaklands Gospel Hall was built at 2815 Cedar Hill Road in 1914. Further growth resulted in 1956 in the Oaklands Chapel at Fernwood and Cedar Hill Roads. The Good Shepherd Lutheran Church presently owns 2815 Cedar Hill Road.

The Oaklands Methodist (United) Church was built at 2841 Gosworth Road in 1913. It became the United Church Sunday School in the early 1940s. By 1975, it was Gosworth Road Community Church, and is now the Chinese Alliance Church. The Anglican Diocese built the Church of St. Mary Magdalene at 2801 Gosworth Road in 1915, as part of St. Alban’s Parish; it originated as Oaklands Mission in 1913. In 1925 the Parish was transferred to St. Barnabas. St. Alban’s, independent since 1946, is now at 1468 Ryan Street.

10 Oaklands properties on the City's Heritage Register in 2020

Heritage-designated – Protected by City bylaw. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
Heritage-registered – Not protected, may warrant future preservation. Houses ineligible for VHF funding.
Heritage covenant – Protected by legal agreement. Houses eligible for VHF funding

In 1858, the Fraser River gold rush made working on the HBC farms very unattractive, and many employees left to seek their fortunes. It was during this time that two former employees, Henry Simpson and (Robert) John Russell (505-07 Springfield St, Victoria West), purchased the only land in Victoria West that was not owned by HBC or used as a reserve.

Henry Simpson, born in Essex, England, acquired his rectangular piece of land in 1864. This parcel consisted of 45.8 acres and cost forty-four pounds and five shillings. It extended north from the Inner Harbour up to Craigflower Road, along the present day dividing line between Esquimalt and Victoria, and east to Russell Street. Simpson almost immediately sold his Victoria West property and bought 300 acres in Central Saanich, where he opened the Prairie Tavern, now the Prairie Inn, before clearing and farming his large property. John Russell’s property was 103.5 acres, and bordered Simpson’s on the west and the Songhees Reserve on the east. His purchase price was one hundred and three pounds, fourteen shillings and one penny! On four acres of waterfront property at the foot of what is now Russell Street, John built a large house with a wrap-around verandah and a driveway that encircled the house. His outbuildings included a barn for his livestock, a carriage house, and surprisingly, an outdoor dance pavilion, remembered fondly by old-timers. His house is alternately referred to as Russell House and Springfield House, depending on the source.

Bridges between Victoria West and Fort Victoria were put up and taken down depending on the politics of the day. They were built because Esquimalt residents wanted access to Victoria other than by boat, and taken down when the mix of Songhees and Fort Victoria newcomers created tension. Another problem was that a fixed bridge impeded vessel traffic up Victoria Arm to the ever increasing industrial areas, so for some time a ferry service operated between Lime Point and downtown.

In 1886, the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway’s (E&N) Russell Station was built on the south side of Esquimalt Road between Catherine and Mary Streets. (That site was used again between 1972 and 1985.) It was a small rust-red building with one long slatted bench outside; nearby were a freight shed and cattle pen. In 1888 a swing bridge was built to provide the E&N with access to its new terminus at the junction of Store and Pandora Streets, which was replaced in 1924 by the Johnson Street Bridge, designed by Joseph Strauss, who later designed San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge.

Victoria West was desirable for its direct access to the Inner Harbour and the Gorge, its hills with views to the Olympics, and its meandering shoreline dotted with sandy beaches. These attributes made it a favourite spot for the prominent families of the 1880s and ‘90s. Families such as Dunsmuir (coal and E&N Railway), Gray (Albion Iron Works), Muirhead (lumber and milling), Troup (shipping), Barnard (BC Coast Steamship Company), Brackman (Brackman-Kerr Milling Co) and Fairall (brewers), all lived in elegant homes throughout Victoria West. Unfortunately, only Muirhead (223 Robert St), Brackman (1004 Catherine St), Gray (1135 Catherine St) and Fairall (505-07 Springfield St) homes still exist from this group, and the oldest Muirhead and Fairall homes are gone. The eventual demise of these large estates came partly with the institution of income taxes during WWI, which made many of them uneconomic for subsequent owners. Left empty, the homes deteriorated and were eventually replaced with modern versions.

Sir Frank Stillman Barnard’s former house was located just inside the western border of Victoria West, overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The site is now Barnard Park, and the gateposts still exist at the park entrance. The high-rise Princess Patricia apartments, built in the mid-1960s, now stand on the site of the home of his neighbour, Captain Troup.

Burleith, James and Laura Dunsmuir’s home at 743 Craigflower Road, was the most grand of all the demolished houses in Victoria West. It burned to the ground on Halloween 1931, the result of children playing with firecrackers in what must have seemed like a haunted house after being vacant for some years. All that remains of the 20-acre estate are sections of stonewall along Craigflower Road, and the gatehouse. There were croquet lawns, tennis courts, and garden paths – a park-like setting designed by Scottish landscape designer John Blair of Beacon Hill Park fame.

Sir Frank Stillman Barnard’s former house was located just inside the western border of Victoria West, overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca. The site is now Barnard Park, and the gateposts still exist at the park entrance. The high-rise Princess Patricia apartments, built in the mid-1960s, now stand on the site of the home of his neighbour, Captain Troup. Burleith, James and Laura Dunsmuir’s home at 743 Craigflower Road, was the most grand of all the demolished houses in Victoria West. It burned to the ground on Halloween 1931, the result of children playing with firecrackers in what must have seemed like a haunted house after being vacant for some years. All that remains of the 20-acre estate are sections of stonewall along Craigflower Road, and the gatehouse. There were croquet lawns, tennis courts, and garden paths – a park-like setting designed by Scottish landscape designer John Blair of Beacon Hill Park fame.

In 1895 John Tait (or Tate) built a brewery out on (Old) Esquimalt Road, now Wilson Street, where his son Fred brewed Silver Spring Old English Ale and a fine stout. In 1907 this business was sold to a former employee of the Victoria-Phoenix Brewery, Harry Maynard, and his associates John Day and Philip Crombie, who renamed it Silver Spring Brewery to match the ale. Silver Spring acquired the old Fairall Brewery on Esquimalt Road in1908 and built a modern new brewery, donating their former site for a playground for Victoria West Public School.

Excelsior Biscuit Bakery, located between Russell and Mary Streets, was built in 1901. It later changed hands to become Ormond Biscuit Co, the creators of high-end chocolates, crackers, and cookies. Today it is a rental storage facility, but the original signage, although faded, can still be seen on the building’s north side. Nearby was the Fairall Bottling Works, near the corner of William Street and Esquimalt Road, operated by William Fairall, producing a variety of flavoured soda waters from 1901-22. NuWay Cleaners opened its doors in the old Fairall Bottling Works building, in 1934. William’s brother Henry owned and operated the Fairall Brewery for a time.

Victoria West was well sprinkled with smaller establishments, and no one had to walk far for groceries, meat, drug store necessities, banking or mail. One of these was owned by Norman and Margaret Hill and was located on the corner of Front and Wilson Streets. It’s now an apartment house, but still sports a downstairs window etched with a horse and cart and the words “Hill’s Grocery.” When in full service, local residents could fill up with gas, buy meat and groceries, and pick up their coal supply. Local youngsters with bikes delivered orders. Safeway built on Springfield Street and Esquimalt Road in the early 1940s; being only a block away, Hill’s Grocery slowly became unprofitable and closed in the 1950s.

The land between Mary and Russell Streets along Esquimalt Road, now a used car dealership, was once the site of a post office and barbershop. A drug store and tailor’s shop were nearby. Vic West’s first bank at Catherine and Bay Streets, The Royal Bank of Canada, is now a doctor’s office. Just up Catherine Street was a tea and coffee shop. Victoria West’s first and only strip style mall was located on Craigflower Road, between Raynor Avenue and Pine Street. The anchor businesses were McGuire’s Drug store, Baker’s Grocery Store, Cross’s Butcher Shop, and a dry cleaner. It has been refurbished and is still home to several small businesses.

Fire hall No.4 was built in 1899 at the corner of Edward and Catherine Streets. It was an imposing brick structure topped by a bell tower, but was withdrawn from use in 1937 as the city lacked money to keep it open. The building was later renamed Salvation Army Hall and used by community groups and the scouts as a meeting place. Subsequent to that it was left to deteriorate, and once beyond repair, was demolished.

The first school in Victoria West was located above the blacksmith’s shop at Mary St and Esquimalt Road Children living in the area before that attended Craigflower School. It charged a fee and to get there required a boat trip up the Gorge. A more suitable local school was needed, and a 28’ by 48’ wood structure was built on Front St in 1888, taking in 66 students. By 1895 as more land became subdivided and Vic West’s population grew, enrollment had increased to 150. Additions were built, teachers were added and space was even rented in the Mary Street Baptist church. By 1907 enrollment had increased to 300, and architect Colonel William Ridgeway-Wilson designed a new one. It was a handsome two-storey brick building, similar in style to the recently saved Lampson Street School, and was completed in 1908. A brick annex became the Manual Training building in 1910 and in 1913 a second brick annex was built for Domestic Science on the north side of the grounds. All remained relatively unchanged until 1971 when a new school was built on the corner of Front and Langford Streets, once the site of seven houses demolished for that purpose. The original brick school was also demolished the same year. The 1910 annex, now the Kindergarten, is all that remains of the original brick structures.

The Blacksmith’s shop that housed the first Victoria West schoolroom also accommodated the community’s first protestant congregation, who built what is now St. Saviour’s Anglican Church in 1891. In addition to St. Saviour’s, there was the Victoria West Methodist Church on Wilson Street, St. Paul’s Presbyterian on Henry Street, The Baptist Mission on Mary Street, and Saint Mary’s Catholic Church on Langford Street. When the Methodist and Presbyterian churches amalgamated, the new United Church of Canada was built on Fullerton Avenue

Entertainment was a community affair in early days and Vic West’s social centre was Semple’s Hall, at the corner of Langford and Mary Streets. Shows, concerts, plays and dances gave local residents a chance to view imported talent and to showcase their own. Although close to the fire hall, it burned in 1925 and was never rebuilt.

The Victoria West Athletic Association was very active up to WWII, and produced some world-class athletes. The outflow of young men to war decimated its membership, and it only rallied again in recent decades. Other recreation in Vic West was provided for the most part by Mother Nature. The inner and outer harbour and the Gorge accommodated rowing for racing and for pleasure, and the many rocky outcroppings were a natural playground for adventurous children.

The Victoria West Brotherhood was an active organization before organized government financial assistance. One of its founding members was Dr. Melbourne Raynor. He was behind the Brotherhood’s attempts to provide a healthy place for Victoria West residents, including safe areas for children to play and assistance for the area’s elderly. His entry into the political arena to further promote his causes was cut short by his accidental death in 1925. Charles Banfield took up where Raynor left off, and was especially active after he retired from his position as King’s Printer in 1946, and entered civil politics. Before he died in 1958, Victoria West had a Community Association, a “Y,” and a large park and recreation area bearing his name. A more substantial Point Ellice bridge was also on his agenda, and was completed in 1958, one year before he died at age 82.

Residential growth was slow after the first boom in the 1890s when upgraded bridges and the streetcar provided better access to downtown. A short flurry of activity was seen after the James Dunsmuir estate was subdivided in the 1930s. The slow growth has meant that many original homes in Victoria West still remain, although many were modernized by the application of stucco and asbestos siding. In the 1970s, as Victoria West’s population rapidly increased, industry was rerouted away from the Songhees and plans were made to replace it with high-rise condominiums and low-cost multiple dwelling housing. The Colonist, 30 May 1972, reported plans for more parks, more housing, less industry, and a general upgrading of the community, all of which has come to pass.

In 1984 Victoria’s first Brew Pub opened on the west side of Lime Bay in a renovated turn of the century house, originally 308 Catherine St. Initially known as the Lime Bay Inn, locals and tourists alike now know it as Spinnakers. The brewpub has two guesthouses; the one just north at 332 Catherine St has recently been restored.

A building and restoration boom continued throughout the 1980s and ’90s, adding to Victoria West more Co-op housing, several live/work industrial-style high-rises, townhouse developments and continued heritage designation and restoration of turn of the century homes. As the Galloping Goose trail becomes incorporated into the Railyards housing development and continues along the Tyee Road corridor south to the Johnston Street Bridge, it will join up with the West Song Walkway to provide both residents and visitors with a way of enjoying Victoria West’s scenic coastline.

With the development of the Westside Village shopping centre and the continuing development of the Songhees lands, Victoria West can again offer its residents retail, eateries and pubs, traditional residential and multi-family housing, just as it did over a century ago.

65 Vic West properties on the City of Victoria's Heritage Register in 2022

Heritage-designated - Protected by bylaw. Houses eligible for VHF funding.
Heritage-registered - Not protected, may warrant future preservation. Houses ineligible for VHF funding.
Heritage covenant - Protected by legal agreement. Houses eligible for VHF funding.