Alder Grove Heritage Society
3190 271 St V4W 3H7 Aldergrove, BC, Canada

Here are two maps showing the rail lines - one is from the 1911 Vancouver City Directory and shows both the Interurban and the V. V. & E. lines. The other map is from 1945 and only shows the Interurban. I've included the second map because it shows where the stations were along the line. In both maps, the Interurban is shown in red, while you will have to look much closer to see the black V. V. & E. (Great Northern Rail) line that went through Aldergrove. #heritagematters #ourcommunity #communityarchives

THE GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY - by Norm Sherritt for The Place Between volume 1 There is one road in Aldergrove that still bears its original name. It was not named after a pioneer or a soldier. It does not even have a number.* This is Station Road on the east side of Aldergrove, and its name describes its original function 83 years ago. It is the road that ran from the Yale Road to the Great Northern Railway station in Aldergrove. In 1907 the Vancouver, Victoria, and Easte...Continue reading

Great preservation news for Abbotsford's history. :D https://www.abbynews.com//abbotsford-heritage-buildings-i/ #oldplacesmatter

Four Otter School class photos have been scanned and donated to our archival collection with thanks to donor Merna Kliewer. They are dated 1954, 1955 and 1957. One photo is undated, so it may possibly be from 1956. #schooldays #ourcommunity #heritagematters #communityarchives

Today is Chili Day, so we'll take a look at some of the past Aldergrove Festival Days Chili Cookoff entries. Maybe this year we'll be able to experience it again in person. #wishfulthinking #NationalChiliDay #ourcommunity

Part Two of the Gardiners Pharmacy/Johnson family photos. It is so interesting to see not only the parade entries, but the changing streetscape as businesses come and go, and buildings change colours - or in some cases, disappear altogether. #heritagematters #ourcommunity #communityarchives

MUSIC IN EARLIER DAYS - written for The Place Between by Dora Chapman. As you will note, there is a lack of photos of any bands or musical groups with this article - if you or your family has any such photos for these musicians and bands, AGHS would be most grateful for a copy. =) One of the earliest 1884 musicians in the Bradner district was Bill Dingle, who entertained widely around the country side with his 40 string zither....Continue reading

Looking through more of the digital files this morning, I found two classes from Aldergrove Elementary, both Grade 4, divisions 10 and 11, 1975. I see a few familiar faces whose names I can't remember, but I also see Joan Masztalar, Rita Miller Thompson Tateyama and Tracy Breier. Your #communityarchives has many class photos from Aldergrove Elementary and other area schools, but not all of them have been scanned.

If you are looking for something fun and different to add to your children's homeschooling programme, here is a resource from the UK's Historic Royal Places website featuring some fun games and videos. https://www.hrp.org.uk//five-brilliant-history-resources-/

Continuing on with the topic of our Census, in the 1891 census, we can find several names of note - Christina Shortreed, for whom Shortreed Community Elementary School is named, was 18 years old, living with her parents. This census form also shows the Miller family, one of Aldergrove's longest residential families. Directly below the Miller family is another family whose surname is not given. They are instead noted as being "Indian". Given the proximity of their Census listing, they may have been neighbours to the Miller family. Other pages of the local census forms reveal that there were many Indigenous families living in the area. Further research is definitely called for, as none of these families are mentioned in either volume of The Place Between. #ourcommunity #heritagematters #researchproject

From The Place Between Volume 1 (1860-1939) PATRICIA COMMUNITY - by Maureen Pepin Patricia area is a distinct community south of Aldergrove, covering the area two miles north of the border to 16th Avenue, one and a half miles east of the Customs to the Matsqui border, and one mile west to Coghlan Road. Its centre point is the Patricia Hall and Patricia Elementary school (formerly South Aldergrove School), located at 8th Avenue (Warner) and 264th (County Line)....Continue reading

It's a Census Year - don't forget to complete your Census form on the 11th of May. While the form's not out yet, you can see what the questions will be - the link is at the end of this post. Filling in the Census form is extremely important - and not just so that the government has statistics to work from in the formation of programmes and budgets. About a century from now, your descendants will be trying to find you, where you lived, who lived with you and who your neighbo...urs were. Do your part - be sure to take part in the census. Census forms are extremely important to not only government departments, genealogists and family historians - they are important to your community archives. By using historical census forms, family and local history researchers can trace residents, property ownership, marriages, deaths, births, places of birth, citizenship, occupations and thus use this documentation to piece together the history of a community. The 1921 census of Canada is available on the Library & Archives Canada website as well as on Ancestry. The 1931 census is scheduled to be available (hopefully) in 2023, but due to current health restrictions, its release might be delayed until 2024. Once it is available to the public, you know that your #communityarchives researchers will be all over those pages, documenting Aldergrove's past (and in some cases still present) families. The attached image from the 1921 census includes several "Yale Road, Coghlan and Otter families. Source: Library and Archives Canada. Sixth Census of Canada, 1921. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Library and Archives Canada, 2013. Series RG31. Statistics Canada Fonds. Image ID: e002873150 Link to 2021 Census information: https://www.statcan.gc.ca//statistic/instrument/3901_Q2_V6 #heritagematters #ourcommunity #doyourpart #census2021

It's almost the end of what must be the longest year in history. At a traditional time of reflection, let's jump way back to elementary school and share some photos. The photo attached, courtesy of AGHS President Tami Quiring, is from the 1969-1970 primary class at Patricia Elementary - one of the Aldergrove area schools no longer in existence. There are lots of familiar faces in this photo, many of whom are still friends to this day. Teacher Mrs. Leona Fritzke was one of t...hose caring but no-nonsense teachers who had a secret sense of humour. She was one of those teachers who could scare a young student with just a look, but she was also very good at shaping, encouraging and educating young minds. #storiesmatter See more

The end of an era. As of 5:00pm on the 22nd of April 2021, Aldergrove will no longer have a Royal Bank of Canada branch, because it is being merged with the Willowbrook branch. Please see the attached letter for full information about the closing. The Royal Bank of Canada came to Aldergrove in 1946, operating a small sub-branch. The branch was opened two days per week and operated out of Ross Bros. Dodge/DeSoto Car Sales at Fraser Highway and 272nd (now the 7-11). On 10 September 1947, the bank set up a permanent, full-time operation in Aldergrove. #heritagematters #ourcommunity

Happy Douglas Day, BC.

Pushing the Trans Canada Highway through Aldergrove - 1959. It's possible the "future traffic estimates" weren't quite right.... #storiesmatter #progressisntalwaysprogressive

A great example of why 'candid' shots of activities can be so important - all of the buildings in this photo are gone. The boys will remember playing street hockey for many years, but who will remember what the town looked like? This is why contributing photos (originals, copies or scans) to your local archives is so vital in the preservation of a community's history. #heritagematters #oldplacesmatter

Armed Robbery At The Aldergrove Hotel! #storiesmatter

It would be great to see this project come to fruition.

Please welcome the Meyer family to Aldergrove. The head of this family was responsible for building what many local mothers saw as a place of ill-repute. The building is still standing in the downtown core. This story was written in 1999 by the Meyer family, for volume 2 of The Place Between. Alexander John Meyer, born at Gilbert Plains, Manitoba, on June 7, 1908, and Reta Isobelle McQuarrie, born at Grand View, Manitoba, on December 25, 1913, were married on December 1, 1934...Continue reading

All we have left are the stories and the photos.

Langley Centennial Museum is now open, Tuesday to Saturday from 11:00am to 4:00pm. In following safety protocols, advanced reservations and masks are required. Reserve a one hour tour for your individual household at https://www.tol.ca/recreation-culture/recregister/

We've been spending lots of time in the Otter, County Line and Coghlan districts, so today we're moving to the Patricia district, where we will meet the Ashton family. Their story, which first appeared in The Place Between volume 2 (pages 148-149) was written by Winnie Ashton. Ross Ashton's great grandparents came from Somersetshire, England, in 1832, settling in Little Britain, Ontario. His father, Albert Ashton, was born in 1869. After living the early part of his life in...Continue reading

"To choose time is to save time." - Francis Bacon Did you know that today is the 137th anniversary of Standardized Time Zones in North America? Continue reading below to find out the why, who and how come about time around the world. But first - did you also know that Canada has an official time website? It contains all kinds of nifty information and options https://nrc.canada.ca//certification/canadas-official-time. It's not quite as flashy as the American official time s...Continue reading

The Two and a Half Mile Belt - written by Norm Sherritt for The Place Between Volume 1, published 1993. The best-kept secret of Langley Municipal history is the "2 1/2 mile belt". On March 23, 1872, a petition signed by 29 landowners was sent to Victoria asking for incorporation as a municipality. The request was for a municipality ten miles square, the north boundary being the Fraser River....Continue reading

This is an incredible body of work and a very important project. Even though Canada was the terminus for the Underground Railroad, it is not a country that was free of slavery. While early Indigenous nations did practice a form of slavery with captured prisoners, it was not to the extent of the European settler enslavement of the African people. From The Washington Post: A massive new effort to name millions sold into bondage during the transatlantic slave trade. https://www.washingtonpost.com//slavery-database-family-g/

Today's #familyhistory tale is a bit late - took the time to go out and vote. Please be sure you do your civic duty and vote - whether by mail, at the advance polls or on election day, be sure your choice is counted. It only takes a few minutes and the COVID procedures are very easy to follow. But now, let's get to know Hubert and Gladys Church, who lived in the Coghlan District. This story can be found on pages 193-4 in volume 2 of The Place Between. Hubert James Church, his...Continue reading

One of Aldergrove's oldest commercial buildings is now a pile of rubble. #oldplacesmatter

Good morning - we are beginning the final week of #familyhistory month with a lengthy tale about the Hoock Family. The entire series was written by Art Hoock and can be found on pages 301-305 of The Place Between, volume 2. Julius Hoock was born in Ukraine on August 3, 1881, to Prussian-German emigrants, Friederich and Elizabeth Hoock. The family's financial situation did not allow Julius to receive an education so he, like his father, became a cabinet maker. The family wa...Continue reading

Good morning - I hope you are enjoying a hot cup of coffee or tea on this chilly Sunday morning. Today's #familyhistory tale was written by Ernie Hildebrandt and appeared on pages 295 & 296 in volume 2 of The Place Between along with images 1 and 2. Images 3 and 4 are from 2015 and have been included in hopes that maybe someone, somewhere, might have the key to unlock the mystery and bring closure to the family. Jacob and Mary met in Sardis and married there in 1934. Both ...Continue reading

Today's post arises from one of those planned scanning projects that sometimes bear unplanned fruit. In scanning Box 1 of the Aldergrove Elks membership registration forms, I first came across the form for Daniel McMillan Winton, which in and of itself is just an ordinary Elks membership form, with his death date noted in 1958. In looking up his death registration, I saw that he had been widowed, and his wife's maiden name was Campbell. As Daniel had been recommended for mem...bership by J. Campbell and one of his references was Sam Campbell, I concluded that he was married to Sam Campbell's daughter Margaret, which he was. Just to add to his story in our files (even though he was a resident of Abbotsford, not Aldergrove), I went looking for Margaret's death registration. I had to go back over 20 years, to 1936, in order to find it. She died on the 10th of April 1936. Unfortunately, her registration hasn't been digitized, so I couldn't read the actual form. Returning to the box of registration forms, I continued scanning, occasionally looking names up in the Vital Records archives to check spellings or to find middle names. The uncommon surnames are the easiest, and I quickly found the death registration of Herbert Laurance Delf. Again, the record has not yet been digitized. I noted that he was only 23 when he died on the 10th of April 1936. Being the curious person that I am, I went looking for an obituary, which I found. The obituary stated that he was accidentally killed. Now, you know I had to find out how that happened, so I continued searching and found the attached articles about a very tragic car accident. Then the light bulb really went on - Mrs. Daniel Winton was killed in the same accident. Daniel and Margaret lived in Vancouver, as did the other married couple in the car. As Sonia Johnson of Aldergrove was single and seated in the middle of the front seat between Herbert and Mr. Davies, I cannot help but wonder if perhaps she and Herbert had been on a date. Three years later, Sonia was injured in another car accident, but this time in Aldergrove, along 264th Street. #storiesmatter #communityarchive #ourcommunity

Today's #familyhistory tale was written by longtime dairy farmer Jim Gilbert for Volume 2 of The Place Between. I was born on April 6, 1925, in London, England, and immigrated to Canada with my mother in May 1948. I had been working on a 400- acre farm in England and was planning to go to Kenya to work on the British government groundnut project. However, I discovered that Canada wanted immigrants, and fortunately, I made the decision to come to B.C. We spent five days a...Continue reading

Today's #familyhistory tale will introduce you to the Caldwell family, as written by Janet (Caldwell) Martens for volume 2 of The Place Between. Commuting to work from Vancouver to Aldergrove is not uncommon now, but in the 1950s this was rare indeed. Allie Caldwell made this commute weekly to teach grades one to three at the one-room Patricia School from September 1954, until June 1956. Allie Winter, born May 10, 1917, had received her degree from Brandon College and taug...Continue reading

Today's #familyhistory story was written by Kathy (Francis) Allan for The Place Between Volume 2 and is about her parents, Bill and Marjorie Francis. We always enjoy visiting with Kathy and her brother Mike whenever they stop by the museum. Hopefully, they will be able to stop by again soon. Marjorie Eve was born on Jackman Road in 1918, and her husband, William Edward Francis, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in 1913. Bill first came to Aldergrove in May 1943, as part of th...Continue reading

Today’s #familyhistory story is about the Dr. Robert Mout family, written for The Place Between Volume 2 by his daughters, Anita and Julie Mout. Dr. Mout was an important part of #ourcommunity not just as a medical doctor but through his participation in and support of many community groups. There are many Card of Thanks advertisements in the Langley and Aldergrove newspapers thanking Dr. Mout for his care of a family member. Robert Mout was born in Surabaya, Java, the for...Continue reading

Everyone who has lived here for a number of decades will remember Small's Border Service and what very friendly people the owners were. Today's #familyhistory feature is about Emil & Hilda (Walters) Schmahl as written by their daughter Judy in 2001 for volume 2 of The Place Between. Emil and Hilda Schmahl were born in Edenwold, Saskatchewan, in 1913 and 1918 respectively. Emil was the eighth of 11 children. Hilda had a brother and two sisters. Emil's father died when he w...Continue reading

Today's #familyhistory story is about the Olejnik's, who resided at 2530 Coghlan Road. They were an immigrant family who embraced their new home and became an enduring part of #ourcommunity. This story was written for The Place Between Volume 2 by Margaret and her family. Edward (Edek) Tadeusz Olejnik and Margaret Ann Thompson were married in a civil ceremony on June 19, 1941, in Edinburgh, Scotland. A religious ceremony took place in the Roman Catholic Church in North Berwi...Continue reading

Today's #familyhistory feature was written by Mary (Gardiner) Johnson for The Place Between volume 2 in 2001. You have met Mary before, as she was a previous feature in the series of Langley Advance #ourneighbours stories. I was raised in small towns in Saskatchewan, first at Quill Lake and later in Naicam. Born in 1917, I was the only child of William R. and Emma Gardiner. During my teens, I helped out in several businesses in town; namely, the post office, grocery store,...Continue reading

Today's #familyhistory feature is the Bussler family of Otter District, written by Annette (Bussler) Leyenhorst for volume 2 of The Place Between. My father, Arnold Bussler, was born on March 16, 1912, in Retowka, Poland, and my mother, Lydia Hein, was born on January 11, l925, in Majanowka, Poland. When World War II came, they and their families fled to Germany. The families lived in the German-occupied part of Poland until October 1945, before moving to East Germany. M...Continue reading

A new place to visit in Nelson. =) #oldplacesmatter #storiesmatter

One of the charter members of the Alder Grove Heritage Society, Walter Levy, passed away in 1999, after a lifetime of dedication to the community. He left behind some very big shoes to fill in regards to volunteering and being a #communitybuilder. This #familyhistory story was written in 2000 for volume 2 of The Place Between with information from The Aldergrove Star (15 December 1999) written by Kurt Langmann, The Heritage Chronicler (Winter 2000) and Anny (Levy) Horton. Wa...Continue reading

Today's #familyhistory feature is Henry and Rosa Baker, who first lived on Jackman Road, then 268A then at Alderview before moving to Abbotsford for their twilight years. The original story for The Place Between Volume 2 was written by their granddaughter, Melissa Meerkerk, with post-2001 updates by AGHS. Henry Baker was born in Russia in February 1910, and his family immigrated to Canada soon after his birth. Rose, whose maiden name was also Baker, was born in Kipling, Sask...Continue reading

The Jeffrey family of County Line and Aldergrove is the feature for today's #familyhistory chapter. Part One, which focuses on parents Clarence & Lillian Jeffrey was written by Merriam Kydd. Part Two was written by Alton and Verda Jeffrey and focuses on their family. Both stories appeared in The Place Between volume 2, published in 2001. Clarence Malcolm Jeffrey and Lillian Anne Meyer were married on January 4, 1923, in the Gilbert Plains District of Manitoba. Lillian had b...Continue reading

A nice feature in the Aldergrove Star - thank you Ryan =)

We are starting the week with a #familyhistory tale about the Gunderson family of Jackman District in north Aldergrove. This story was originally written by Hazel Gunderson for volume 2 of The Place Between. Gustav Martin Gunderson was born in Fertile, Iowa, in 1889. Gustav had schooling until grade 4 and then went to work for farmers. When he was working in Montana as a carpenter, he "proved up" his Saskatchewan homestead (filed in 1910) and lived on the homestead several ...Continue reading

Today's #familyhistory story is that of James and Mildred Brown, whose story was told for The Place Between Volume 2 by their children. James Black Brown (Jim) and his wife Mildred arrived in Aldergrove from North Vancouver in the spring of 1946, with their four daughters: Beverley, Patricia, Charmian (Chum), and Mavis. They lived on an eleven-acre holding on Trans Canada Highway west of the Aldergrove Elementary School. Their immediate neighbours were Mrs. Watson to the ea...Continue reading

Today’s #familyhistory tale is a long one, so grab your favourite mid-morning beverage and settle in for a look into the window of the Anderlini family a story so long it began in volume one of The Place Between and continued into volume 2. Like many other local families, the Anderlinis have helped to build and nurture #ourcommunity over several decades. Part one of the story was originally written by Caesar Anderlini. The continuation of the family story in volume two wa...Continue reading

Today we'd like you to meet a South Coghlan family, the Blohm's. Their #familyhistory tale was written entirely by Marcella (Blohm) Little for publication in The Place Between Volume 2, pages 159-160. William Blohm was born on July 18, 1904, in New Salem, North Dakota. He emigrated to Canada at age 6 with his parents and siblings to homestead in Saskatchewan. Emma Van Hesswick was born on July 16, 1909, in Dusseldorf, Germany. At seventeen years of age, she emigrated to...Continue reading

We would like you to meet Cornelus and Timia Van Hunenstijn in today’s #familyhistory tale as told by Anne Van Hunenstijn for The Place Between, Volume 2. Cornelus and Timia van Hunenstijn came to Canada from the Netherlands in February, 1952, with their daughter Corry (age 6) and son Fred (age 4). They were re-uniting with Timia's daughter, son-in-law, and grandson in New Westminster. Timia's daughter, Andrea, had emigrated to Canada previously to marry Norman Rogers, who... was a Canadian soldier in the Netherlands during World War II. The van Hunenstijns arrived in Halifax, Nova Scotia, after a rough six day crossing on the MS Zuiderkruis, a condemned ship on its last journey. The next stage of the journey was a six day trip to the west coast on a train reserved for immigrants. Cor van Hunenstijn had trained as an invisible mender in his hometown of Apeldoorn, Holland, and this was a very welcome trade in Canada. He got work in a dry cleaning business in New Westminster, and from there he bought his own dry cleaning shop, Rex Cleaners. In 1961, Cor and Timia established Aldergrove Cleaners on the south side of Fraser Highway in Aldergrove, just east of the hotel. The Grand Opening was Friday April 21, and some of the specials included "Drycleaning of Suits-$1.35; Coats-$l.35; Men's Pants-70 cents; Ladies Skirts-70 cents." Repairs and alterations were done on the premises. The family lived in a house next door to the store 27266 Fraser Highway. If you look at the photo of Mr. and Mrs. Stoelting in that family’s story, you can see the eastern side of the Van Hunenstijn house. Son Fred graduated from Aldergrove High School in 1965 and was a winner of scholarships for post secondary education. They were active participants in the town of Aldergrove, including putting floats in the annual parade. The Aldergrove Cleaners float won be Commercial entry in 1965. Cor was also a member of the Aldergrove Chamber of Commerce, the Aldergrove Legion and an avid Boy Scout supporter. Cor was also a volunteer firefighter at Aldergrove Hall 3 and a participant in baseball and bowling activities. He was also a steward of the Aldergrove United Church. After Cor died in 1967, Timia continued the business until 1969 when she moved to New Westminster. She retired to Merritt in 1978 and died in 1987. Both she and Cor are buried in the Aberdeen Cemetery. Corry and her husband, Ed Bond, have four children and live in Kamloops. Fred and his wife Anne (daughter of high school vice-principal Gerald Kinnie) have two sons and live in Abbotsford. #communityarchives #ourcommunity #heritagematters #communitybuilder

Today’s #familyhistory tale about Earl B. Finning - a surname that many will recognize - was written by Earl’s daughter, Mary Margaret (Finning) Young for The Place Between, Volume 2. Earl Finning emigrated from California to Vancouver BC in August 1928 and founded Finning Tractor and Equipment Co. Ltd., the Caterpillar dealership for the province of British Columbia (now known as Finning Ltd.) He obtained ownership of the property at 1736 Otter Road in the late 1930s. The ...Municipality of Langley was in need of road maintenance equipment but had no cash. They made Earl Finning an offer to trade land in payment for the machinery. He took them up on the deal and obtained approximately 150 acres. Earl later bought additional acreage across Otter Road and at the southwest corner of Coghlan and 16th where a turkey operation now stands. After Mr. Finning obtained the property, one of the small cabins on the property was taken down, and the other one, nearest to 16th, was made habitable so that the Finning family had somewhere to stay when they came out from Vancouver for weekends. About 1938 Earl Finning hired Caesar Anderlini, who lived across Otter Road, to manage the property and run the farm. Caesar worked for Mr. Finning for twenty-seven years, then three years for the Finning daughters, and five years for the next owner. In the 1950's Caesar bought six acres from the Municipality where he built his house just north of South Otter Park and west of the Finning property. Caesar passed away suddenly in 2000. In 1955 Earl developed the property by building a spacious home, a cabana and pool, a small stable, a cow barn and facilities to raise chickens, sheep, and pigs. The farm also had Hereford and Angus cattle over the years. Although Earl Finning lived in Vancouver where his business interests were, the Aldergrove property served as a second home which he very much enjoyed until his death in 1965. The property was sold by his daughters in 1967 to Mr. John Simpson of Placer Development. Mr. Simpson sold the original 150 acres to a developer in the early 1970s, and much of the land was subdivided into hobby farms and large lots, just before the start of the Agricultural Land Commission. #heritagematters #ourcommunity #communityarchives

Today's #familyhistory tale is again from the Otter District and was written by Ernie Cluett for The Place Between, volume 2. Sadly, Ernie passed away just prior to the book being published in 2001. I (Ernie) was born in Dorset, England, on December 18, 1908, and came to Canada in 1926. Muriel, born in Surrey, England, on July 8, 1918, came to Canada with her mother (a British war bride) and her father (a returning WW1 veteran) in 1919. We met and married in New Westminste...Continue reading

A new virtual exhibit at Langley Centennial Museum about Langley in the 1920s. We had a small hand in the exhibit through the loan of telephone equipment that would have been in use during that time. #heritagematters #workingtogether

Today's #familyhistory story is about Roderick and Ursula (Flury) Caplette, written for The Place Between Volume 2 by son Jack (John) Caplette, with a few updates added by AGHS as the original was published in 2001. Rod Caplette was born in Battleford, Saskatchewan, in 1888, just a few years after the Riel Rebellion. Ursula Flury was born in Switzerland in 1887 and moved to Battleford with her three brothers in 1905. Rod and Ursula were married in 1920 and raised eight chil...Continue reading

Today’s #familyhistory story is of the Van Diepen family, written for Volume Two of The Place Between by patriarch Arie (Adrianus Johannes) Van Diepen, with a few extras found through AGHS Research. We came from Holland in 1951 by boat to Halifax, a nine-day trip. It took seven more days to go by train to Matsqui. We had arranged for a farmer named Nicholson to pick us up to work on his farm. I (Arie) worked with the cows and Teresa (Theresia) worked in the house. We and...Continue reading