Narrow Results By
Subject
- Aerial Photographs 1
- Agriculture - Farms 1
- Animals - Dogs 1
- Animals - Oxen 1
- Buildings - Industrial - Mills 18
- Buildings - Industrial - Powerhouses 1
- Buildings - Residential - Apartments 1
- Buildings - Residential - Cabins 3
- Buildings - Residential - Houses 1
- Businesses 1
- Construction 2
- Documentary Artifacts - Postcards 18
Person / Organization
- Barnet Lumber Company 1
- Barnet Mill 20
- Bingham, Alfred "Alf" 1
- Boundary Road Lumber Mill 1
- British Columbia Mills Timber and Trading Company 2
- Burnaby Fire Department 6
- Byrne, Peter 2
- Gilley Brothers Logging Company 5
- Hill, Minard Gerald "Gerry" 1
- Kapoor Sawmills Limited 26
- Nichols Chemical Company Limited 1
- Phillips-Hoyt Lumber Company 3
Loading Skids and Burner
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription73597
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [191-]
- Collection/Fonds
- LaFavor Family fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8.5 x 14 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photographic postcard of the loading skids and burner at the North Pacific Lumber Company in Barnet Village, BC.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [191-]
- Collection/Fonds
- LaFavor Family fonds
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8.5 x 14 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 540-005
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No restrictions
- Accession Number
- 2007-03
- Scope and Content
- Photographic postcard of the loading skids and burner at the North Pacific Lumber Company in Barnet Village, BC.
- Subjects
- Documentary Artifacts - Postcards
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Woodworking Tools and Equipment
- Names
- Barnet Mill
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Photographer
- Canadian Photo Company
- Notes
- Transcribed title
- Geographic Access
- Barnet Village
- Texaco Drive
- Street Address
- 8059 Texaco Drive
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
Images
Aeroplane view of the Barnet Lumber Co.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription38679
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1927
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8.9 x 13.4 cm
- Scope and Content
- Aerial photographic postcard of Barnet Lumber Company's Mill. The handwritten caption on the lower left corner of the postcard reads: "Aeroplane view of the Barnet Lumber Co. Ltd./ Barnet BC." The handwritten caption on the lower right corner reads: "Copyright 1927/ Pacific Airway Ltd./ Vancouver …
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1927
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- North Burnaby Board of Trade subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8.9 x 13.4 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 476-022
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Accession Number
- BHS2005-8
- Scope and Content
- Aerial photographic postcard of Barnet Lumber Company's Mill. The handwritten caption on the lower left corner of the postcard reads: "Aeroplane view of the Barnet Lumber Co. Ltd./ Barnet BC." The handwritten caption on the lower right corner reads: "Copyright 1927/ Pacific Airway Ltd./ Vancouver B.C.".
- Subjects
- Aerial Photographs
- Industries - Forestry
- Buildings - Industrial - Mills
- Documentary Artifacts - Postcards
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Names
- Barnet Mill
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Photographer
- Pacific Airway Ltd.
- Responsibility
- Published by the Gowen, Sutton Co. Ltd., Vancouver
- Notes
- Transcribed title
- Geographic Access
- Barnet Village
- Texaco Drive
- Street Address
- 8059 Texaco Drive
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
Images
A Pretty Dwelling, Barnet
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription73619
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [191-]
- Collection/Fonds
- LaFavor Family fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8.5 x 14 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photographic postcard of house in Barnet, BC, in which the image is entitled "A Pretty Dwelling."
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [191-]
- Collection/Fonds
- LaFavor Family fonds
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8.5 x 14 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 540-027
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No restrictions
- Accession Number
- 2007-03
- Scope and Content
- Photographic postcard of house in Barnet, BC, in which the image is entitled "A Pretty Dwelling."
- Subjects
- Documentary Artifacts - Postcards
- Buildings - Residential - Houses
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Names
- Barnet Mill
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Notes
- Transcribed title
- Geographic Access
- Barnet Village
- Texaco Drive
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
Images
Barge at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15192
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1947] (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a barge filled with sawdust docked outside of the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in the Burrard Inlet. A loading conveyor is visible in front of the barge. Sawdust chips were transported from the sawmill to pulp mills.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a barge filled with sawdust docked outside of the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in the Burrard Inlet. A loading conveyor is visible in front of the barge. Sawdust chips were transported from the sawmill to pulp mills.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Names
- Kapoor Sawmills Limited
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.13
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- [1947] (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- See page 62 in book "In the Shadow by the Sea - recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The conveyor that loaded the sawdust chips on to a barge for transport to pulp mills, c. 1940s"
Images
Barnet, B.C. from the Hill
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription38345
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1907]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8 x 13 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of the village of Barnet at the mill. The caption stamped at the top of the card reads: "Barnet, B.C. from the Hill." The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1907]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Charles Lee subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8 x 13 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 411-004
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Accession Number
- BHS2000-13
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of the village of Barnet at the mill. The caption stamped at the top of the card reads: "Barnet, B.C. from the Hill." The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
- Subjects
- Documentary Artifacts - Postcards
- Buildings - Industrial - Mills
- Geographic Features - Inlets
- Industries - Forestry
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Names
- Barnet Mill
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Photographer
- Timms Photographic Co.
- Notes
- Title taken from caption
- Geographic Access
- Barnet Village
- Texaco Drive
- Street Address
- 8059 Texaco Drive
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
Images
Barnet Lumber mill
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15232
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [192-] (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of the Barnet Lumber Company mill in operation. C.P.R. railroad tracks are visible in the foreground and trees on the north shore of Burrard Inlet are visible in the distance. Plumes of smoke are rising from the mill chimneys.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of the Barnet Lumber Company mill in operation. C.P.R. railroad tracks are visible in the foreground and trees on the north shore of Burrard Inlet are visible in the distance. Plumes of smoke are rising from the mill chimneys.
- History
- The Barnet Lumber Company also known as the Barnet mill was in operation between 1925 and 1932. The mill was located on Burrard Inlet in the neighbourhood of Barnet and was one of the most successful local employers in Burnaby until the 1930s when the Great Depression resulted in a strike at the mill. The City of Burnaby eventually assumed control of the site including all of the homes when the company failed to pay it's taxes. The city then dismantled the mill and sold the property in two parts - the eastern section would become the Kapoor Sawmills Limited and the western portion, the McColl-Frontenac Oil Company.
- Names
- Barnet Lumber Company
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.51
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Date
- [192-] (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
Images
Barnet Mill
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription35843
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1912] (date of original), copied 1986
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 12.7 x 17.8 cm print
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of Barnet Mill, at one point the largest lumber mill in the British Empire. It closed in 1929. The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1912] (date of original), copied 1986
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Pioneer Tales subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 12.7 x 17.8 cm print
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 204-702
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Accession Number
- BHS1988-03
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of Barnet Mill, at one point the largest lumber mill in the British Empire. It closed in 1929. The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
- Names
- Barnet Mill
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Photographer
- Phillips, James William "Jim"
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Geographic Access
- Texaco Drive
- Street Address
- 8059 Texaco Drive
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
Images
Boom man with logs
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15195
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [194-] (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of an unidentified South Asian Sikh boom man standing on a log with a steel pointed pike pole directing logs within a log boom. The log boom was located in Burrard Inlet at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of an unidentified South Asian Sikh boom man standing on a log with a steel pointed pike pole directing logs within a log boom. The log boom was located in Burrard Inlet at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Names
- Kapoor Sawmills Limited
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.16
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- [194-] (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- See page 61 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "A boom man needed to be nimble on his feet to select and move logs to the log slip where they could be haulde up into the mill."
Images
Booms and mill
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15187
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- [1950] (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of log boom pond of the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in Burrard Inlet.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of log boom pond of the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in Burrard Inlet.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Names
- Kapoor Sawmills Limited
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.8
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- [1950] (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- See page 66 in book "In the Shadow by the Sea - recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The vast log boom pond of Kapoor Sawmill, c. 1950"
Images
Boundary Road Lumber Mill
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription38262
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1908
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia ; 9 x 12 cm on 12.5 x 15 cm backing
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of an unidentified man standing in the forefront with a jersey cow to the right, while a row of cabins and cleared tress can be seen in the background. A caption written above the photograph reads: "Boundary Road Lumber Mill owned by E.W. Nicholson." Underneath the photograph is writte…
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1908
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Subseries
- Margaret McCallum subseries
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia ; 9 x 12 cm on 12.5 x 15 cm backing
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 375-024
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Accession Number
- BHS1986-42
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of an unidentified man standing in the forefront with a jersey cow to the right, while a row of cabins and cleared tress can be seen in the background. A caption written above the photograph reads: "Boundary Road Lumber Mill owned by E.W. Nicholson." Underneath the photograph is written: "The first Jersey cow on the farm." On the back of the photograph it is noted that the buildings in the background were workmen's buildings.
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on caption
- Geographic Access
- Boundary Road
- Still Creek
- Street Address
- 2550 Boundary Road
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Broadview (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- West Central Valley Area
Images
Clearing in the forest
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription82619
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1925
- Collection/Fonds
- Hill family and Vidal family fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 9 x 13 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph shows a clearing in a forest.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1925
- Collection/Fonds
- Hill family and Vidal family fonds
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 9 x 13 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 550-180
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Accession Number
- 2013-03
- Scope and Content
- Photograph shows a clearing in a forest.
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Note in pencil on album page reads: "Alouette Dam / 1925"
Images
Clearing land with a team of oxen
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription39524
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1890
- Collection/Fonds
- Peers Family and Hill Family fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia ; 15.6 x 23.8 cm on page 21.5 x 28 cm (pasted in album)
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a team of oxen being used to clear land and haul logs on skid road. Five unidentified lumberjacks can be seen standing alongside the animals.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1890
- Collection/Fonds
- Peers Family and Hill Family fonds
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia ; 15.6 x 23.8 cm on page 21.5 x 28 cm (pasted in album)
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 477-843
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Accession Number
- 2007-12
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a team of oxen being used to clear land and haul logs on skid road. Five unidentified lumberjacks can be seen standing alongside the animals.
- Subjects
- Woodworking Tools and Equipment - Logging Machinery
- Industries - Forestry
- Animals - Oxen
- Occupations - Lumberjacks
- Land Clearing
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
Images
delegate's ribbon
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumartifact78608
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Accession Code
- HV972.161.27
- Description
- The delegate's ribbon is for the Pacific Logging Congress held in Vancouver, BC, October 6 to 9, 1920. The ribbon is blue-grey with orange text on top half, a circular logo in the middle and text on the bottom half
- Marks/Labels
- "Eleventh Session / PACIFIC LOGGING CONGRESS", orange printing on top half "OREGON WASH IDAHO MONT CAL BC 1909", orange printing around circle on bottom half "P L C", large orange printing in centre of circle located on bottom half "VANCOUVER, B.C. / OCT 6-7-8-9 / 1920", orange printing along bottom
- Subjects
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Industries
- Industries - Forestry
- Personal Symbols
- Personal Symbols - Ribbons
- Geographic Access
- Vancouver
Images
double bit axe head
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumartifact45469
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Accession Code
- BV003.28.3
- Description
- This split, double bitted, utility axe head was found on Burnaby Mountain by Alfred Bingham in 1920. Mr Bingham bought property on the West side of the mountain in 1920. The axe head is double bladed. The head is very rusty and has been cracked across one side. The remains of the handle are still in the axe eye.
- Object History
- The axe head was found on the site of Simon Fraser University (SFU), an area logged in the early years of the 20th Century by Gilley Logging. The axe may have been broken by one of their loggers.
- Reference
- Note from Alfred Bingham, original in accession file. "THIS AXE HEAD WAS FOUND IN 1920 / BY ALFRED BINGHAM ON THE PRESENT SITE / OF THE SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY. IT PROBABLY / WAS USED BY AN EARLY LOGGER. WHO CUT DOWN / SOME OF THE GREAT TREES THAT GREW ON / BURNABY MOUNTAIN. HUNDREDS OF YEARS AGO. MANY OF THESE TREES WERE OVER 800 YEARS OLD / Alfred Bingham " hand written in ink on one face of note. "I bought 5 acres of stump land on the / corner of Sherlock, Duthie, & Kitchener Streets in / 1920. & cleared 2 acres & bilt small home, (store?) / my wife and I have lived in Burnaby continually since then / AB" hand written in ink on the reverse face of the note.
- Marks/Labels
- "1920 FOUND ON BURNABY MTN SITE S.F.U.", written in yellow chalk on one face of the axe head
- Geographic Access
- Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
Images
The Dry Kilns
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/archivedescription73600
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1912
- Collection/Fonds
- LaFavor Family fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8.5 x 14 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photographic postcard of the dry kilns at the North Pacific Lumber Company in Barnet Village, BC.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- 1912
- Collection/Fonds
- LaFavor Family fonds
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8.5 x 14 cm
- Description Level
- Item
- Record No.
- 540-008
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- No known restrictions
- Accession Number
- 2007-03
- Scope and Content
- Photographic postcard of the dry kilns at the North Pacific Lumber Company in Barnet Village, BC.
- Subjects
- Documentary Artifacts - Postcards
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Industries - Forestry
- Buildings - Industrial - Mills
- Names
- Barnet Mill
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Photographer
- Canadian Photo Company
- Notes
- Transcribed title
- Geographic Access
- Barnet Village
- Texaco Drive
- Street Address
- 8059 Texaco Drive
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
Images
Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15202
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a devasting fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited on January 14, 1947. The ground is covered with snow and smoke and flames are visible rising from the buildings.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a devasting fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited on January 14, 1947. The ground is covered with snow and smoke and flames are visible rising from the buildings.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Names
- Kapoor Sawmills Limited
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.23
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on Tuesday, January 14, 1947
- See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but toolate to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."
Images
Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15206
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a fire at Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a fire at Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Subjects
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Natural Phenomena - Fires
- Occupations - Fire Fighters
- Persons - South Asian Canadians
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.27
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on January 14, 1947
- See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."
Images
Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15207
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 14 Jan.1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. A group of bystanders are looking on while firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department fight the blaze.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. A group of bystanders are looking on while firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department fight the blaze.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Subjects
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Natural Phenomena - Fires
- Occupations - Fire Fighters
- Persons - South Asian Canadians
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.28
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- 14 Jan.1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on Tuesday January 14, 1947
- See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."
Images
Fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15209
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 14 Jan.1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a fire at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited on January 14, 1947. Mill buildings are engulfed in flames. There is snow on the ground.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a fire at the Kapoor Sawmills Limited on January 14, 1947. Mill buildings are engulfed in flames. There is snow on the ground.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.29
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- 14 Jan.1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on Tuesday January 14, 1947
Images
Fire fighters battling fire at Kapoor Sawmills Ltd.
https://search.heritageburnaby.ca/link/museumdescription15203
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- In the Shadow by the Sea collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph (tiff) : 300 dpi
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of firefighters from the Burnaby Fire Department battling the fire that destroyed the Kapoor Sawmills Limited in January 1947. Water was pumped from Burrard Inlet to fight the fire.
- History
- Kapoor Singh Siddoo was born in 1885 in the Punjab village of Kharaudi, India. Kapoor was one of the pioneer South Asian Canadian Sikhs who immigrated to America in 1906 and onto Canada in 1912. Kapoor first arrived in San Francisco in 1906, along with twenty uneducated men from the Province of Punjab, India. Kapoor was the only one among these men who was educated so acted as their interpreter, manager and accountant. They worked along the Southern Pacific Railway line near Marysville, California, toward Reno and Nevada. Kapoor heard about the beauty of British Columbia and decided to travel to the west coast but times were tough with discrimination against all South Asians in British Columbia. With this information, Kapoor traveled east to Northern Ontario where he tried homesteading for a year but the extreme winter conditions didn’t appeal to him. Kapoor returned to British Columbia after receiving word from South Asian Canadians that they were in need of an educated accountant/manager for a sawmill. In 1923, with the change in immigration laws, Kapoor arranged for his wife, Besant Kaur to emigrate from India. Besant came to Canada accompanied by Kapoor’s older brother. Kapoor and Besant had two daughters, both born in Duncan B.C. Jagdis Kaur Siddoo was born in 1925 and Sarjit Kaur Siddoo was born in 1926. Both of their daughters graduated as doctors from University of Toronto medical school. His career in B.C. began as a lumberman for a large lumber mill on Vancouver Island until 1935. Following this, Kapoor established the Kapoor Lumber Company Limited and operated a mill at Shawnigan Lake before eventually purchasing 45 acres in 1939 of the eastern section of the former Barnet Mill site in Burnaby. He purchased the site from the Municipality of Burnaby under the name of Modern Sawmills Limited since there was a restriction on selling this piece of a property to a non-white person. Eventually the name was changed to Kapoor Sawmills Limited. Kapoor’s company was a financial success but was tragically razed on January 14, 1947 due to a devastating fire. A smaller mill was rebuilt on the site and Kapoor maintained a successful financial operation until 1959. In 1959, Kapoor Siddoo was considered one of Vancouver’s most influential men in the South Asian Community. In this same year, the family set up the Kapoor Singh Siddoo Foundation and with help from his wife and daughters opened a hospital in the Punjab village of Aur. In 1964, Kapoor died in India at the age of 79 years. Kapoor’s younger brother, Tara Singh Siddoo came to Canada from India in 1906 but after suffering discrimination, he returned to India in 1912. Several years later Tara returned to Canada joining Kapoor at a logging mill on Vancouver Island. Lesser shares of the mill were held by Tara and other family members. Tara and his wife, Beant Siddoo lived at Barnet between 1943 and 1945, with their family of five sons, Lakhbeer, Gurdeb, Gurcharn, Baldev, Hardev and three daughters, Harjeet (Sangha), Runjeet (Basi) and Buckshish (Sarai). One of Tara’s responsibilities was to oversee the logging camp and ensure that the logs arrived regularly from Cowichan Bay near Duncan to the Barnet logging mill.
- Subjects
- Industries - Logging/lumber
- Natural Phenomena - Fires
- Occupations - Fire Fighters
- Persons - South Asian Canadians
- Geographic Access
- Burrard Inlet
- Barnet Marine Park
- Accession Code
- BV019.32.24
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Reproduction Restriction
- May be restricted by third party rights
- Date
- 14 Jan. 1947 (date of original), copied 2004
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Information from page 6 of The Province newspaper-Jan. 15, 1947 confirms that the fire occurred on January 14, 1947
- See page 67 of book "In the Shadow by the Sea - Recollections of Burnaby's Barnet Village". Caption with photograph reads: "The February, 1947 Kapoor Sawmill fire. Maintenance workers were trying to thaw out frozen bearings on a machine with a blowtorch and inadvertently started a fire in oily shavings. all the water pipes were frozen preventing the workers from dousing the intital small flames. Finally, but too late to prevent the mill's destruction, water was pumped in from the inlet by the Burnaby Fire Department."