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