Author: AGHS

Today we'll visit with Aldergrove neighbour Mr. Albert Angrignon, whose news feature I just came across this morning.

#storiesmatter #localhistory

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A few more items from the Doc Java's collection. We'll have to scan the card again, as the bottom has a wee bit cut off, but it doesn't diminish the message at all. We definitely miss those "mile high" sandwiches and apple pie.

#storiesmatter #localhistory

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Aldergrove happenings 80 years ago in 1944.

#storiesmatter #localhistory

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One of yesterday's scan tasks was to begin digitizing the Doc Java's Collection, which consists of photos, menus, drawings, news clippings and the famous Doc Java's coffee card. Doc Java's and Lorne's Fish & Chips shop are two establishments that are greatly missed - they weren't "just a coffee shop" or "just a restaurant" - they were full of personality and were fully immersed in the goings-on of our community.

#storiesmatter #localhistory

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We haven't posted very much about Coghlan School - mainly because we don't seem to have an abundance of information in our digital files about its history. We also appear to be lacking in class photos from its opening years. Hopefully we will find more as we continue our digitization process.

#localhistory #storiesmatter #schooldays

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And now that we've let you all know that the museum will re-open tomorrow, let's get back to our regular programming.

Who went to Patricia School in 1967? Do you recognize anyone? Let's see if we can get everyone in this photo identified. =)

#schooldays #localhistory #storiesmatter

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Book Recommendation - we are not an affiliate nor is this a paid advertisement, it's just a #localhistory #booksuggestion because #storiesmatter

Harbour Publishing is one of our favourite local book publishers, and we highly recommend Go Do Some Great Thing by Crawford Kilian for #BlackHistoryMonth. It's an incredibly informative and well-written book that has been updated as new information came available.

Go Do Some Great Thing : The Black Pioneers of British Columbia

"Living in pre-Civil War Philadelphia, young Black activist Mifflin Gibbs was feeling disheartened from fighting the overwhelming tide of White America’s legalized racism when abolitionist Julia Griffith encouraged him to “go do some great thing.” These words helped inspire him to become a successful merchant in San Francisco, and then to seek a more just society in the new colony of Vancouver Island, where he was to become a prominent citizen and elected official.

Gibbs joined a …

School Promotion Lists from all of our community districts, years are varied but still so many familiar names. If only we could see the grades and teacher comments! 😉

#storiesmatter #localhistory #schooldays

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I found some late 1950s and one 1961 County Line Promotion List for the County Line Crew. I believe that the Advance stopped publishing promotion lists, but I will continue the search for more from both County Line and other Aldergrove schools.

#storiesmatter #localhistory #schooldays

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Who went to County Line School - let's look at the class promotions for 1932, 1942 and 1952. Many resident families over many years were sending their youngsters off to the local school for their education.

#storiesmatter #localhistory #schooldays

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I know that many of you like to look at the directories that have been posted, so here's a look way, way back before telephone directories were a thing out here.

These pages are from Williams' 1883 British Columbia Directory for all of Langley Municipality. The information for this directory would have been compiled in 1882, and the majority of settlers are located in or near Fort Langley - or perhaps due to the lack of roads, not all of the settlers were accounted for in this volume. It is interesting to note, however, that Philip Jackman Sr is not listed as being in the township. He, along with his sons Richard and Philip Jr are all listed as living in New Westminster City on Agnes Street.

#storiesmatter #localhistory

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Found another rabbit hole this morning, this time to do with logging and lumbering. I've been traversing it since just before 6am and will be returning to it for "just a bit longer" to see what else I can get immersed in as I hunt down tidbits relating to Aldergrove's settler and commercial history. 😉

#storiesmatter #localhistory

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COGHLAN SETTLERS – Part 2 - From The Place Between Volume 1 pages 507-508

Among a few of the earliest pioneers in the district, was G.I. Blair who came to the area in 1886 and homesteaded 160 acres. John McDonald who came after the Vancouver fire in 1887, located at the southeast corner of Coghlan & Roberts Roads. He was the Reeve of the Municipality for several years.

The City of Vancouver owned property across the road from McDonald. The land was cleared by steam donkey & the trees & roots were left in six huge piles. An offer of $600 was made by the City to anyone who could burn any of these piles. Many people tried without success until finally some Italians came, tore the pile a part in small pieces and succeeded in burning them.

Two other earlier settlers were the Coghlan brothers who came from Alwood …

COGHLAN COMMUNITY part one – The Place Between Volume 1

Coghlan, named for settlers Nathaniel & Henry Coghlan, began to emerge as a community in the early 1880s. The majority of early settlers fished the Fraser River in the summer & held jobs in New Westminster during winter. They survived on barrels of salted salmon & pork, home cured hams & bacon, wild fowl & deer, and root cellars stocked with fruits & vegetables.

Early settlers walked to Fort Langley for mail & food supplies, taking butter & produce to exchange. Travel to New Westminster was by river boat from Fort Langley.

The roads were often just trails, curving around large stumps & water holes. Settlers worked their taxes out on road work & if a new section was to be opened a contract went to the lowest bidder. Taxes were $3.75 per 160 acres in the 1890s.

After the …

Here is another of the hand-drawn-from-memory Aldergrove maps, but it's not known who drew it. Most likely drawn when research for The Place Between books began, it appears to span the 1950s-1970s, and as noted in the image, some locations aren't quite in the correct spot - the United Church and Moen's Woodworking, for example, are a bit too far north on the map. Also, the Swensson & Eve Hatchery location is a bit suspect, as it sat where the Post Office is now. Documentation to say that it moved to the side street hasn't been located, but that doesn't mean it didn't. Either way, this map does contain valuable information and is useful to our research, so we are grateful to whomever took the time to put it on paper.

#mapsarecool #storiesmatter #localhistory

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Two aerial photos that were scanned last spring (we don't always look closely at what we're scanning until later, as we have so many items to get digitized). We are not 100% sure of the source, but they may possibly be held in a collection at UBC.

For the longest time, I wasn't sure these photos were of the Aldergrove area, until I realized that I was looking at them upside down. Then they made perfect sense. I wish the photos were of higher definition, but considering the time period, they are still a great resource and truthfully, we're lucky to have them.

#localhistory #storiesmatter

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The calendar says that today is #HandwritingDay, so here are some great examples from our collections of handwriting. Featured are two pages from the records of the Order of the Royal Purple Lodge 38 Aldergrove, and from our Aldergrove Agricultural Association collection is the formation of the Building Committee in 1923.

The final image is of a note page found in our files, and we have absolutely no idea what it means or from whence it came. These items also show why being able to read cursive is a necessity when dealing with handwritten records, especially when it comes to indexing and transcribing archival materials.

#storiesmatter #localhistory #canyoureadcursive

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Bradner – 1911 From The Place Between Volume 1

Grocer George Foster Pratt (1876-1967) was born in England & married Anna Maria McLean. They had 2 sons, George Foster Jr (1899-1994) & William Percival (1905-1935).

In 1911, George came to Canada & opened Bradner's 1st store & post office where the BCER crossed Bradner Rd, with Mr. J. Pennington as a partner. George later bought out his share. Maria & the boys joined George in 1912; sadly she passed away in 1913 & was buried at Aberdeen Cemetery. George Sr later married Alice Gillard (1874-1960).

In 1911 with few families in the area, the log school doubled as a church until 1913, when St. Margaret’s Anglican Church was built. George Sr led services until an Anglican priest was available.

Bradner Mill was about 1 mile east along the BCER tracks. Many of the mill workers were East Indian folks & …

Sticking with the Bradner area, here is another hand-drawn map from The Place Between Volume 1, looking at North Bradner in the 1930s.

#localhistory #storiesmatter

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Another Bradner area map, this time from The Place Between Volume 1. Unfortunately we don't know who drew the map, and it still doesn't give any information for Bradner Road South.

You'll see that some of the names have a different font. That was to make them more legible and/or to correct spelling. The Krasniski family name was spelled horribly wrong.

#localhistory #storiesmatter

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These two maps are from the south-eastern edge of the area covered in The Place Between Volume 2. Both maps were drawn from memory, and as you can see in Map 1, Bradner, there are some houses that don't have names of the residents. If you might know who lived in one of those houses, please let us know so it can be researched and added to the map. =)

#staywarm #localhistory #storiesmatter

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Today's charts and maps are for 264 Street south from Fraser Highway to Boundary Road, 272 Street south from Fraser Highway to Warner Road (8 Avenue) and inside Aldergrove Regional Park. The names on these maps are far from complete, but they are, as with the others, a good starting point for further research.

#localhistory #storiesmatter

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