History
I hope these notes about the park's history enhance your next visit. You'll be able to point out where the graveyard is and where the lake was. Those faint marks you see here and there in the grass won't be a mystery any more. Do you know where the wading pool was? Read on and you'll know that and more.
Late 1800's
The park has always continued in it's role as a refuge. It wasn't uncommon to find transients setting up camp in the area. Starting with the gold rushes of the 1850's many thousands of people have travelled past what is now Kwantlen Park on their way to and from the interior. The railroad brought many to Surrey during the 30's and 40's. Not everyone had the means to pay for the few rooms that were available. If you were roughing it, a walk up Old Yale Road led you to the reserve where there was water, good camping spots and no one to bother you. There were farms along Old Yale where you might get a bit of work, a handout or maybe even find a "lost" chicken for the stewpot.
An article from the Surrey Times, dated August 5, 1895 shows chickens were not the only interest:
Three tramps have been camping this week under a box-car the Geat Nortern that is side tracked here., from whence they made periodical trips around the neighborhood for "grub." One of them overreached on Tuesday. He went to a house where he had been geneously treated, and finding no one home, boldly entered the kitchen and closed the door after. He was arranging for a big supply but the lady of the house had witnessed the game from the other side of the garden and put in an apperance to the utter discomfiture of the tramp, who was engaged to make tracks emptyhanded.
Even now Kwantlen's forested section attracts the occasional homeless person looking for a quiet place, away from the streets of Whalley, to spend the night.
randy@kwantlenpark.ca
Updated Feb. 28, 2009 Copyright 2009