New Westminster is located on the
Burrard Peninsula, mainly on the north bank of the
Fraser River. It is southeast of the City of Vancouver proper, adjacent to
Burnaby and
Coquitlam and across the Fraser River from
Surrey and Delta. A portion of New Westminster called
Queensborough is located on the eastern tip of
Lulu Island, adjacent to
Richmond. The total land area is .
Historical urban geography New Westminster has changed markedly over time and by the results of its incorporation into the wider urbanization of the Lower Mainland. (See also:
Architecture of Greater Vancouver.)
BC Penitentiary In 1878, the Government of Canada opened the
British Columbia Penitentiary, the first federal penitentiary west of Manitoba. "BC Pen", or simply "the Pen", as it was known (and also in old days as the "
skookum house" in the English-
Chinook Jargon patois common in early BC), was located between the Sapperton neighbourhood and what is now
Queen's Park. It housed maximum-security prisoners for the next 102 years, closing in 1980. The original centre block of the Pen still stands and has been converted into offices. The Gatehouse, steps leading up to it and old Coal House still stand. The rest of the Pen's grounds have been filled with newly built townhouses and condominiums and parkland. Below the main complex on the waterfront the prison's old armoury still stands as part of a new waterfront park; this was also the location of the prison's wharf which was much-used when steamboat was the main means of transportation within the Lower Mainland and for some years after.
Woodlands The mental hospital for children, was located to the west of the BC Pen and was adjacent to the offramps of the Pattullo Bridge. After it was closed, the derelict main building was, except for the tower entrance, destroyed by fire on July 9, 2008. In October 2011, all remaining old structures were leveled and cleared, to the joy of some former residents who had bad memories of their childhood experiences.
Chinatown New Westminster's
Chinatown was one of the earliest established in the
mainland colony and initially the second-largest after
Victoria's. Prior to the rise of Vancouver's Chinatown it was the largest on the mainland following
Barkerville's wane as a centre of population. It was located along Front Street. bounded roughly by Royal Avenue,
Columbia Street, and 8th and 12th Streets. The "Swamp" name is because area was then boggy ground of low value for the stone and brick buildings of the main part of downtown up Columbia Street to the northeast; and also close to the river and the railway. Chinatown was destroyed in the Great Fire of 1898 and only partly rebuilt afterwards, In 1911, the original landowner subdivided the land into residential lots that followed the grid established by neighbouring New Westminster; the first residential home had only been built a year prior. In 1912, the
BC Electric Railway took advantage of this by building the "Connaught Hill" station at Tenth Avenue for the new interurban electric tramway, which connected New Westminster with Vancouver. The station was named for
Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn. This station became the namesake for the neighbourhood, while the modern SkyTrain tracks follow the path of this historic tramway. in 2020 Initially, the provincial government neglected the district, but as the density of residents increased so did the quality of amenities and civic services. In 1939, when there were approximately 200 homes, funding was secured to improve the water and electric services under the
Municipality Improvements Assistance Act 1938. Before the improvements, District Lot 172 was designated as Connaught Heights Waterworks District under the Water Act. Following these improvements, land was set aside for a school and parksite. By the 1950s, the notion of incorporating Connaught Heights Waterworks District into New Westminster became more commonplace. In 1960, the construction of the Queensborough Bridge resulted in the demolition of property in Connaught Heights Waterworks District, showing further interaction between the city and district. The first of two referendums to vote on incorporating Connaught Heights Waterworks District into the City of New Westminster was held in 1961, which failed to achieve enough positive votes to proceed with incorporation. Construction of Connaught Heights Elementary School was completed in 1963, and the school was opened and joined the New Westminster School District the following year. A second referendum was held in 1964, which garnered enough positive votes to make Connaught Heights Waterworks District part of New Westminster. By 1965, the amalgamation was officially complete, with Connaught Heights becoming the newest neighbourhood in New Westminster.
Front Street Originally a dockside street and market, and also the location of the original Chinatown, Front Street was converted into a truck-route bypass and elevated parkade during the 1960s in an effort to provide increased parking for adjacent Columbia Street. In recent decades it has been the focus of the city's thriving antiques and second-hand trade, which is also concentrated on 12 Street. It has also been used as a location in feature films such as
Rumble in the Bronx (substituting for the Bronx),
I, Robot (as a futuristic Chicago),
Shooter (doubling for Philadelphia, with the Fraser River being the Delaware River), and
New Moon. In early 2016, a partial demolition of the parkade commenced as part of the City's continued efforts to revitalize and improve their waterfront area.
Government House The original colonial Government House was located approximately where Royal City Manor is now. It was originally occupied by
Richard Clement Moody, who commanded the Columbia Detachment of Royal Engineers who established the city. Rarely used by Governor Douglas, its first full-time viceregal resident was Governor
Frederick Seymour.
New Westminster Canadian Pacific Railway Station A former
Canadian Pacific Railway station is adjacent to the
New Westminster Skytrain station. It is a two-storey asymmetrical red brick building with steeply pitched bellcast roofs. The building, which was built in 1899, is a classic example of CPR's signature
Château-styled railway stations. In 1911, two wings were added to the station, and in 1973, the ageing train station was converted into a branch of
The Keg restaurant chain. In 2013, however, the restaurant closed its doors to the public due to structural issues surrounding the then-114-year-old structure. As of 2023, the train station is occupied by Kelly O'Bryan's, a BC Irish restaurant and pub chain.
Queensborough Queensborough was the name originally chosen for the colonial capital by Royal Engineer commander Colonel Richard Clement Moody. When
Queen Victoria designated New Westminster instead as her new capital's name, the name Queensborough became applied to New Westminster's portion of
Lulu Island, across the north arm of the Fraser from the southern end of the city. Queensborough is today a growing housing area with its own distinct identity. Some new condominium complexes have been built adjacent to the Westminster Quay development. In Chinook Jargon, "Koonspa", an adaptation of the name Queensborough, is the usual name for New Westminster as a whole. house opposite Queens Park
Sapperton Sapperton was originally a "suburb" of New Westminster, named for the Columbia Detachment of Royal Engineers ("Sappers"), whose camp was on the hill now occupied by the Fraserview neighbourhood. It is the location of the historic Fraser Cemetery, which rivals Victoria's
Ross Bay Cemetery for the number of historically significant graves and monuments. Sapperton is the home of the first commercial brewery to operate in British Columbia known as the "City Brewery". Over the years the brewery changed hands and was operated by Labatts until it closed in 2005. In its place is a recent condo development known as the "Brewery District", although there is no brewery on the premises. New Westminster does have two breweries currently. One is named Steel & Oak which opened its doors in 2014 and is situated on the other end of the Westminster Quay. The other brewery in New Westminster is named Another Beer Co and it is located in Sapperton, close to where the Labatts Brewery was in the Brewery District, since 2019. Also located in Sapperton are the
Royal Columbian Hospital,
Sapperton Station,
Braid Station, and the
TransLink (British Columbia) headquarters.
Uptown "6th and 6th" Development of an uptown commercial area around 6th Street and 6th Avenue started in 1954, with the opening of
Woodward's department store. Added momentum came with the relocation of the public library from downtown to uptown in 1958. In 1992 Woodward's was expanded and modernized into a shopping centre and took the name Woodwards Place. With the bankruptcy of Woodward's in 1993, the name of the centre was changed to Royal City Centre Mall. Moody Park is an important recreational area in the uptown area.
West End Opposite Sapperton's north end, New Westminster's West End was once fairly separate from the city proper, and has a neighbourhood commercial node along 12th Street and 20th Street approximately between London Street and Eighth Ave. The 12th Street area features antique and one-of-a-kind stores.
Westminster Quay Westminster Quay was a mid-1980s development to revitalize New Westminster and accompanied the development of the
SkyTrain line to Vancouver. In addition to a large public market and a 2.5-diamond-rated hotel, The
Inn at the Quay, a large condominium tower and townhouse complex was built, accessed from the older Columbia Street area of downtown by an overpass. The impetus provided by this project has spilled over onto the inland side of the rail tracks, with new tower developments focusing on the area southwest of 8th Street (the area known formerly as "the Swamp" and Chinatown). As of July 2007, the Quay's commercial component had noticeably decreased, with many vacancies, compared to the much more active
Lonsdale Quay Market in
North Vancouver. Responding to the decrease of business, the ownership group closed the Westminster Quay Market for renovations. The market re-opened as The River Market in September 2010 with Donald's Market as the main anchor. The Westminster Quay is also known to house a
tin soldier which was given the title of the world's largest by the Guinness Book of World Records back in 2002. ==Demographics==