history

Surrey Historical Society’s new-look website is on surreyhistory.ca.

New-look Surrey Historical Society website a hub for group searching for new members

52-year-old society transitions to Zoom meetings, next on Sept. 11

 

Vernon summer resident Julie McCann (née Holland) set an unofficial world record Monday, Aug. 9, at Greater Vernon Athletic Park, becoming the fastest woman to run 100 metres on all fours with a clocking of 22.99 seconds. (Christine Castrucow photo)

100 metre dash – on all fours: Vernon woman breaks unofficial Guinness record

Vernon resident Julie McCann sets unofficial Guinness mark as fastest woman to cover 100 metres on all fours

 

Geoff Goodship was contacted earlier this year by a man who had acquired his father’s First World War soldier’s uniform. Submitted photo

Vancouver Island man to be reunited with father’s 104-year-old First World War uniform

Geoff Goodship got a call out of the blue from an amateur historian who had acquired the outfit

 

Bill Merilees, a retired B.C. Parks regional information officer, collected mollusk shells from B.C. and Washington state coastlines for 50 years and has donated his 140,000-specimen collection to University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)

VIDEO: B.C. man donates 140,000 mollusk specimens to biodiversity museum

UBC’s Beaty museum grateful for Bill Merilees’s historical record of B.C. marine biodiversity

Bill Merilees, a retired B.C. Parks regional information officer, collected mollusk shells from B.C. and Washington state coastlines for 50 years and has donated his 140,000-specimen collection to University of British Columbia’s Beaty Biodiversity Museum. (Chris Bush/News Bulletin)
RCA Records presented a Tribute to Ray McAuley at the Newton Inn in February 1980, featuring an all-star band of B.C. Country Music Association members JC Cadeau, Gerry Hughes, Perry Mann, Ed Molyski, Norman Jones, Mark Telford and Jess Less. Admission was $3. The tribute concert is recalled in a book by Surrey resident Ray Ramsay, “Promo Monkey: My Life as a Bellhop in the Waldord Hysteria.” (Photo courtesy Ray Ramsay)

SURREY NOW & THEN: Rootin’ tootin’ Newton Inn and glory days (and nights) of live-music cabarets

A look back at Surrey-area landmark sites, events and people

RCA Records presented a Tribute to Ray McAuley at the Newton Inn in February 1980, featuring an all-star band of B.C. Country Music Association members JC Cadeau, Gerry Hughes, Perry Mann, Ed Molyski, Norman Jones, Mark Telford and Jess Less. Admission was $3. The tribute concert is recalled in a book by Surrey resident Ray Ramsay, “Promo Monkey: My Life as a Bellhop in the Waldord Hysteria.” (Photo courtesy Ray Ramsay)
White Rock’s pier as it appeared in 1936.(White Rock Museum Archives photo)

White Rock Pier celebrated in museum exhibit

Show, on until Sept. 5, showcases iconic landmark’s 100-plus-year history

White Rock’s pier as it appeared in 1936.(White Rock Museum Archives photo)
TEASER PHOTO: AMAN JOHAL.

VIDEO: Boozy tales told by Surrey tour guide who knows all about Vancouver bar life

Award-winning Aman Johal works ‘Forbidden Vancouver’ tours and also at Fort Langley

TEASER PHOTO: AMAN JOHAL.
Captain James Cook statue splashes into Victoria’s Inner Harbour, after being removed from its upper causeway pedestal on July 1. (@CJusticeVic/Twitter)

Cast in bronze, then into Victoria’s Inner Harbour: So who was James Cook?

Likeness of British maritime explorer commissioned in 1976, forcibly removed on July 1

Captain James Cook statue splashes into Victoria’s Inner Harbour, after being removed from its upper causeway pedestal on July 1. (@CJusticeVic/Twitter)
The heritage-listed “Red Cedar Stump” at 8920 Queen Mary Boulevard, Surrey. (Photo: Tom Zillich)

SURREY NOW & THEN: Rare ‘rock tree’ and giant stump are oddities on city’s heritage list

Surrey Now & Then is a look back at Surrey-area landmark sites, events and people

The heritage-listed “Red Cedar Stump” at 8920 Queen Mary Boulevard, Surrey. (Photo: Tom Zillich)
TEASER PHOTO ONLY - Hillcrest Drive-In's sign at the end its run in Surrey, in a photo uploaded to cinematreasures.org by hermangotlieb.

SURREY NOW & THEN: The city’s last drive-in, Hillcrest showed movies for 50 years on site turned shopping mall

‘It was a good memory, being the last drive-in in the Lower Mainland, at the time,’ says former operator Jay Daulat

TEASER PHOTO ONLY - Hillcrest Drive-In's sign at the end its run in Surrey, in a photo uploaded to cinematreasures.org by hermangotlieb.
Gwen Spencer Hethey with her uncle and mentor Major Frederick Richardson. (Courtesy of Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame)

‘She was a killer’: The B.C. woman who pioneered female sharpshooting

Gwen Spencer Hethey made military men ‘look like turkeys’ says her son

Gwen Spencer Hethey with her uncle and mentor Major Frederick Richardson. (Courtesy of Greater Victoria Sports Hall of Fame)
(Courtesy Photo | Frank Zmuda)

Beaver secretion found as part of ancient throwing dart in Yukon

Researchers saying it’s earliest known evidence of Indigenous peoples using the substance

(Courtesy Photo | Frank Zmuda)
TEASER PHOTO ONLY

SURREY NOW & THEN: Little Theatre’s 59-year history ends with big plans for move to Langley

A former church, the theatre building/property has sold for close to $900,000

TEASER PHOTO ONLY
Surrey’s historic Strawberry Hill Hall was damaged by fire on April 29. (Photo: Tom Zillich)

SURREY NOW & THEN: Replica hall considered after ‘accidental’ fire ruined renovation plans

VIDEO: ‘Extensive’ damage to Strawberry Hill structure forces city to look at options

Surrey’s historic Strawberry Hill Hall was damaged by fire on April 29. (Photo: Tom Zillich)
Passengers board a B.C. Transit bus on Scott Road in 1993, in a Surrey Leader Collection photograph stored by Surrey Archives.

Surrey’s dramatic change shown in photos from ‘Leader Collection’ during June 24 talk

Surrey Archives will reopen July 6 for pre-booked, in-person appointments

Passengers board a B.C. Transit bus on Scott Road in 1993, in a Surrey Leader Collection photograph stored by Surrey Archives.
A protester swings a hammer in an attempt to remove the head of the Egerton Ryerson statue in Toronto on Sunday June 6, 2021. A much-maligned statue of Egerton Ryerson was toppled in Toronto on Sunday. The statue, prominently displayed on the campus of Ryerson University, has come under renewed scrutiny after the discovery in Kamloops, B.C., of what are believed to be the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Beheaded statue of Egerton Ryerson, toppled Sunday in Toronto, won’t be replaced

Ryerson is credited as one of the architects of Canada’s residential school system

A protester swings a hammer in an attempt to remove the head of the Egerton Ryerson statue in Toronto on Sunday June 6, 2021. A much-maligned statue of Egerton Ryerson was toppled in Toronto on Sunday. The statue, prominently displayed on the campus of Ryerson University, has come under renewed scrutiny after the discovery in Kamloops, B.C., of what are believed to be the remains of 215 Indigenous children at a former residential school. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young
White Rock’s Marine Drive will be turned into a one-way street on June 7. (Aaron Hinks photo)

Memories of ill-fated 1982 Marine Drive plan linger for longtime White Rock residents

Despite challenges, Coun. Scott Kristjanson confident one-way plan will be successful

White Rock’s Marine Drive will be turned into a one-way street on June 7. (Aaron Hinks photo)
Don Schuetze, president of Green Timbers Heritage Society, at the site of the Surrey forest’s inaugural plantation in 1930. (Photo: Tom Zillich)

SURREY NOW & THEN: Green Timbers’ inaugural plantation began ‘cultural shift’ in B.C.

A weekly look back at Surrey-area landmark sites, events and people

Don Schuetze, president of Green Timbers Heritage Society, at the site of the Surrey forest’s inaugural plantation in 1930. (Photo: Tom Zillich)
South Surrey’s famous destination of the 1940s and 1950s, the Tara Supper Club on Crescent Road, will be among the restaurant venues remembered in the next in Historic Stewart Farm’s series of online talks. (City of Surrey Archives photo)

Online discussion revisits historic Surrey restaurants

Photos and memories will be shared in virtual talk

South Surrey’s famous destination of the 1940s and 1950s, the Tara Supper Club on Crescent Road, will be among the restaurant venues remembered in the next in Historic Stewart Farm’s series of online talks. (City of Surrey Archives photo)
Ronald McDonald at the grand opening of Surrey’s first McDonalds in Whalley April, 1967. This photo and many more will be featured at the talk ‘Restaurants’ on June 5 and 9. (Courtesy of the Surrey Archives)

South Surrey’s Historic Stewart Farm set to offer virtual history lessons

City of Surrey online sessions run from May until July

Ronald McDonald at the grand opening of Surrey’s first McDonalds in Whalley April, 1967. This photo and many more will be featured at the talk ‘Restaurants’ on June 5 and 9. (Courtesy of the Surrey Archives)