Local historian Ralph Drew introduced his new book “Coquitlam Chronicles: Historical Crossroads on the Fraser River” at Port Coquitlam Heritage on Thursday night. This is an invaluable addition to helping the Tri-Cities understand how we came to be.
Coquitlam Chronicles covers the history of the Coquitlam Area of Metro Vancouver, and brings life to this history with historical photographs which truly are ‘worth a thousand words’. This latest book by Ralph Drew is the perfect gift solution for family and friends.
This new book begins with a description of the geological history that facilitated human occupation of the area, and includes an extensive chapter on the indigenous presence that preceded European settlement. The book also describes the exploration of Burrard Inlet by the English and Spanish in 1792, the first Europeans to explore Burrard Inlet, and the exploration of the Fraser River by Simon Fraser that lead to the development of trade and commerce in the area by the Hudson’s Bay Company.
The book describes the establishment of saw mills on the Fraser River in the 1870s and the associated settlement by early pioneers. That development created a demand for logs which resulted in logging of the forests that surrounded Coquitlam and the Fraser River, and the consequent appearance of the first European settlers.
Coquitlam Chronicles (ISBN 978-0-9813113-3-3) is both an 11″ x 8½” landscape-format hard-cover ‘coffee table’ book and a fully referenced and indexed history. The book is 360 pages overall and contains 300 historical photographs and images which brings life to Coquitlam area history, organized into 9 chapters:
Chapter 1 – Natural History
Chapter 2 – Indigenous Presence
Chapter 3 – Exploration & Settlement
Chapter 4 – Arrival of the Railway
Chapter 5 – Logging & Lumbering
Chapter 6 – Coquitlam Lake
Chapter 7 – Fraser Mills & Maillardville
Chapter 8 – Essondale & Colony Farm
Chapter 9 – Incorporations & Boundary Changes
This informative book is a must have for anyone who wants to know about our local history. It contains a lot of excellent photographs, paintings and other documents.
Learn more about Coquitlam Chronicles at the link…
Drew – Coquitlam Chronicles
Coquitlam Chronicles: Historical Crossroads on the Fraser River
