Indigenous peoples The name for Bowen Island is in the
Squamish language of the
Squamish people. The Squamish peoples used and occupied the area around Howe Sound including Bowen Island. although some authors attribute the name to the sound made by the ocean as it passes through the tiny pass between the island's northern point and Finisterre Island. The tide rushing in and out is reminiscent of the sound of drums beating quickly. The name "Kwém̓shem" is used for Hood Point. In 1860 Cpt.
George Henry Richards renamed the island after Rear Admiral
James Bowen, master of
HMS Queen Charlotte. In 1871, homesteaders began to build houses and started a
brickworks, which supplied bricks to the expanding city of
Vancouver. Over the years, local industry has included an explosives factory, logging, mining, and milling, but there is no heavy industry on the island at present.
20th century In the first half of the 20th century, life on Bowen was dominated by a resort operated by the Terminal Steamship Company (1900–1920) and the
Union Steamship Company (1920–1962). These companies provided steamer service to Vancouver, and the Horseshoe Bay –
Bowen Island Ferry began in 1921. When the Union Steamship resort closed in the 1960s the island returned to a quiet period of slow growth. In the 1940s and 1950s, the artists' colony called Lieben was a retreat for many famous Canadian authors, artists, and intellectuals including
Earle Birney,
Alice Munro,
Dorothy Livesay,
Margaret Laurence,
A.J.M. Smith,
Jack Shadbolt,
Eric Nicol and
Malcolm Lowry, who finished his last book,
October Ferry to Gabriola, there. In the 1980s, real estate pressures in Vancouver accelerated growth on Bowen and currently the local economy is largely dependent on commuters who work on the mainland in Greater Vancouver. Prior to becoming a municipality, Bowen Island was part of the
Sunshine Coast Regional District, made up of small communities and municipalities. ==Commerce==