Port Moody

Template:Infobox Municipality of British Columbia

Port Moody, British Columbia is a small city forming a crescent at the east end of Burrard Inlet in British Columbia, Canada, and part of the Greater Vancouver Regional District. It is bordered by Coquitlam on the east, and Burnaby on the west. The villages of Belcarra, and Anmore along with the rugged Coast Mountains lie to the northwest and north respectively.

At the eastern end of Burrard Inlet, the Port Moody area was originally used by the Squamish and Musqueam First Nations as a temporary summer camp.

In later years, European explorers from Spain and Britain mapped the area in search of Sea Otter fur to trade with China. As more permanent settlements, such as Fort Langley, developed in the area, Port Moody became significant as an alternate supply route when the Fraser River was hazardous or blocked.

With the Cariboo Gold Rush in 1858, the Royal Engineers under the command of Colonel Richard Moody were dispatched from England to survey the new Crown colony of mainland British Columbia.

The group of military officers, 150 enlisted sappers and their families arrived and set up their barracks in an area still known as Sapperton in New Westminster. After surveying townsites, mapping the area and constructing several major roads still used today such as North Road, the Royal Engineers were recalled in 1863. All of the officers returned to England, but most of the sappers and their families chose to remain, accepting 150 acre (0.6 km²) land grants as compensation.

Four sappers received land grants in the Port Moody area. Of these, only the Murray family eventually settled here. Subsequently, Port Moody became home to a small resort community named Aliceville at the end of North Road, several farms, and a number of loggers and mill workers around the Inlet.

An interesting story regarding the region and submarines – there were submarines in the Moody Arm of Burrard Inlet as early as 1915. During the first half of the 1914-1918 war, German warships were very active raiding shipping and shore facilities on the Pacific Ocean. In fact, the very first tanker carrying crude oil from Columbia in South America to the brand new oil refinery hear Port Moody (Ioco had yet to be named) had been captured by a German gunboat in 1914.

The residents of Victoria on Vancouver Island, because of its proximity to the British naval base at Esquimalt, were very fearful of a blockade or even bombardment from the German vessels. Early in the war Esquimalt was more of a coal refueling base than a military base and had a few defences.

In 1914, a 'contractor' in a Seattle shipyard was building two submarines for the Chilean navy. Premier Richard McBride in Victoria, with a perfect sense of timing and ignoring protocol, negotiated the purchase of the two submarines and then sent the bill to Ottawa.

The Premier had sent a crew to Seattle to take delivery of the vessels. They managed to take the vessels across the international border in the Strait of Juan de Fuca just minutes before the U.S. declared its neutrality. (Recently released documents show that the submarines had been pursued by an American naval vessel trying to intercept them.)

Also during the 1914-1918 war a top secret activity was underway on Burrard Inlet at a shipyard especially established for this activity. The site was just east of the present Burnaby Marine Park.

Six submarines were being built for the Royal Russian Navy. The site was guarded by the Canadian Army and all 460 workers were pledged to secrecy. When completed the submarines were crated in sections and loaded on a boat destined for Vladovostok, Russia, in the north Pacific.

One of the foremen on the construction site accompanied the ship intending to supervise the submarine assembly in Russia. Unfortunately for him the 1917 Russian revolution occurred when he arrived and he was put in jail for some months before the Canadian government could get his release.

Burnaby topographical maps show "Submarine Creek" flowing into Burrard Inlet at the then construction site but there is no other evidence of this activity.

Also, just before the Second World War started in 1939, a Japanese submarine, on a courtesy visit to the Port of Vancouver, was refueled at the Ioco Refinery.

Now Port Moody is largely a suburban development area, especially around an area known as Heritage Mountain. The city, however, still retains many historical buildings, especially along Clarke Street. The city is growing quickly and in recent years has started constructing high-rises in an area known as NewPort Village, the city's shopping centre. Port Moody's main industrial area is along the southern coast of Burrard Inlet. The city houses a large sulphur depot located at the end of Burrard Inlet.

The construction of a transcontinental railroad was the condition that prompted British Columbia to enter into confederation in 1871. The little town received little attention until it was declared the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1879.

By 1881, the survey of Port Moody had begun. Both John Murray Sr. and Jr. assisted and, in fact, it was John Murray Jr. who named many of the streets after members of his family. The population quickly grew through the early 1880s. As the Western Terminus of the CPR almost everyone had high hopes that Port Moody would become a major west coast metropolis.

The railway was completed with the last spike driven at Cragalachie on November 7 1885 and a train arriving at Port Moody the next day. The first scheduled passenger transcontinental train arrived on July 4 1886, a date which is still celebrated during Golden Spike Days. Real estate prices soared, but soon fell flat when a branch line was built to Vancouver in 1887.

While many people lost a great deal of money and moved on, others, including real estate tycoon and ship captain, James A. Clarke, and several lumber mills, decided to remain. On April 71913, Port Moody's Council met for the first time as a city. Some prominent early families were Ottley, Bennett, Johnson, Axford, Howard-Gibbon, Thurston, Roe, Abernathy, Elsdon, Campbell, Clarke, Murray and Appleyard.

The traditional phonetic spelling of Port Moody translated as "graveyard" in Chinese. In 1998, the City of Port Moody adopted a new phonetic spelling of Port Moody in Chinese which translates as Land Full of Treasures [1].

Language

Religion

Commercial

Value of building permits (2000)	$24.9 million
Business licences issued (2001)	1,111
Biggest single employers	Eagle Ridge Hospital, School District #43, City of Port Moody
Unemployment rate	6.9%
Average house price	$650,676 benchmark, march 2007
Retail sales per capita	$5,600

Crime rate

File:Port moody crime rate.PNG

Climate

File:Port moody climate.PNG

See also

• Canada
• Province of British Columbia
• Greater Vancouver Regional District
• School District 43
• Port Moody Station Museum
• Canadian National Railway
• Golden Spike Days
• Rocky Point Park
• Tri-Cities (British Columbia)

References

• Early History of Port Moody, D. M. Norton, 1987, Hancock House Publishers, ISBN 0-88839-197-8
• Port Moody Station Museum

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