north shore news

JEIGHBOURHOODS

no's nistal

THE rich resources of
timber, particularly
Douglas fir'and cedar,

along both sides of the
. Capilano river in the

Janell

Capilano Valley, caught.

the attention of many.

entrepreneurs and

opportunists 100 vears
_ ago. .

In February, 1891; G.G.
MacKay (Laird Of
Capilano), his son H.H.
MacKay, and architect R. M.
Fripp purchased over 4,000
acres of land in the Capilano

Valley, ata cost of $1 per
acres:

Forming, the Capilano

- Park Company in 1892, the
. area covering 4,626 acres.
_ | The aim was to develop a
". wide assortment of possible ©:

“Tt wasn’t until 1902, that
.timber Tights to same of the
‘land were leased to W.
McPherson for 20 years.
~”..The Capilano Lumber
* Company was formed by
three partners: W.
-: McPherson, W.T. Farrel and
“TA E..Tregent. i
2 The biggest obstacle was.
ts finding a way to.move' the
_logs from che upper’
© Capilano valley down | to
‘tidewater.
Te was impossible ti to drive
‘logs through the deep, nar-
~ row, canyon, the only other
* alternative being hauling by.
~ horse or‘oxen long distances
over rough terrain, until’a
“railway. was built in 1918.°"
The first mill, / constructed
in 4903, to 1904, powered ©.

by water from Sisters Creek,
was rebuilt after it burned.
down in the fail of 1904.
After rebuilding, the compa-
ny announced construction
‘of a flume system through’
the canyon;-across to the
Indian Mission 1.5 miles east

This single
flume system.
was truly an
engineering

wonder for its
time.
of the Capilano River.
* In July. 1902, the Burrard
Inlet Flume and Boom ;
Company was incorporated
to develop a system of trans-
porting cedar shinglebolts
from the less accessible
watershed above the -
Vancouver Water Works:
(VWW) dam.
’ Another company, owned
by politician businessman,

: ‘Dr John -Thomas Carroll,
bought large stretches of
“and, including the Second
Canyon (now spanned by _
the Capilano Suspension

Bridge).

In 1904, with the help of
Chief Capilano foe and his
band members, he diverted
the Capilano from its west to
east mouth to allow his shin-
gle bolts to reach the inlet
near the Mission Reserve
and his booming grounds
near the foot of present
Bewicke Avenue.

* In 1905, Carroll built
a 3.5 mile flume to provide
safe transportation of the
bolts, traveling at the
ideal velocity of three
m.p.h., from the lower end
of the canyon to the
Mission.

Meanwhile, the Burrard
Inlet Flume and Boom
Company began building
their flume, siuping down
the western side of the valley
from Sisters Creek to the
Second Canvon.

Composed of Dr. J.T.
Carroll, RK. Holgate and
W.T. Farrel, the “Capilano
Syndicate” facilitated coop-
eration between the three
separate companies.

Together with J.G.
Woods and R.B. Johnson,

~ they formed the Capilano
‘Flume Company.

Built in February 1906,
the system was described as
“one of the longest flumes
in Amcrica,” running from
Sisters Creek, about nine ©
miles up from the inlet,
down the western bank.
of the river, past the dam
into the Second Canyon,

‘precariously perched. 100 to

200 feet above the raging

Fiver:

Once across the canyon,

it joined Dr. Carroll's see-

tion to the cast, entering the

inlet near what is now che

foot of Bewicke Street.
This single fume system

was truly an engineering

. WATERFORD CRYSTAL
1637 Lonsdale Ave. £730 Marine Dr.
Worth Yancouver West Yancouver

AN A RUT?

Discover the excite-
ment, happiness and
power that comes only
through faith in’

Find out more every,
Sunday at 10:45am at
DELBROOK BapTistT

. CHURCH
515 West Windsor Rd,
* North Vancouver, -
or call 985-4011
Mon - Fri
9am - Ipm

' Pastor Jamey McDonald

wonder for its time and was

used for about seven vears.
Indian band members and
Japanese labourers built it,

many Josing their lives in the
process, Access to the west

See Catwalk page 14