When New Westminster was chosen as the first site for the capital city of British Columbia in 1859, Colonel R.C. Moody developed a plan to defend the city from American attack by building a road to connect New Westminster to the Burrard Inlet. Although an attack never came, North Road became a well-used route for citizens in the capital city who travelled the road to enjoy a picnic at the beach or to board a ferry for the city of Port Moody. The road's route over the mountain remained in use until the 1960s, when this section was closed to traffic. North Road is the oldest road in the Lower Mainland.
After New Westminster was established as the Capital City, the surrounding lands were surveyed by the Royal Engineers. The discovery of Burnaby Lake by Robert Burnaby in 1859 soon led to the construction of Douglas Road to Deer Lake in 1861. The completion of the tramline in 1891 renewed interest in the lands around both Burnaby Lake and Deer Lake and soon a group of gentlemen farmers had established strawberry fields and orchards to serve the New Westminster market. These were the most productive and well managed "fruit ranches" in the Fraser Valley. Local strawberries were so admired that they commanded 50 cents more per crate at local markets. One local paper reported that the area appeared as if "an English Village had been taken and planted amidst the grandeur of British Columbia scenery."
The street we know as Kingsway is one of the legacies of the Royal Engineers' military defences for New Westminster. The fear of an American attack prompted the construction of the False Creek trail - later known as Vancouver Road and now Kingsway - in 1860 to connect the capital city to the ice-free salt water harbour at English Bay.
With its two monumental, double height columns terminating in elaborate Ionic capitals, this Neoclassical Revival style house is aptly named The Pillars. Other Neoclassical embellishments include a Palladian pediment window, pilasters with Ionic capitals applied to the front corners of the house and lathe-turned porch columns. Though it has been re-clad with a later covering of asbestos shingles over the original siding, it otherwise retains a high degree of exterior integrity with most of its double-hung windows and decorative elements still in place. This home was constructed for Angus John MacDonald (née Cummins, 1878-1955), Vice-President of A. Linton & Company Ltd., and his wife Mabel Jessie MacDonald (1884-1971). Linton & Company was a shipbuilding firm; MacDonald retired in 1942 after thirty years in the industry. A photograph of this grand house was often featured in the promotional material for the Vancouver Heights subdivision by realtors and titled “A typical Vancouver Heights home.”
This beautifully-detailed house displays a highly sophisticated mix of fashionable Arts and Crafts elements. The asymmetrical design has stacked inset verandahs on one side, with the ground floor verandah wrapping around the side of the house. The second floor verandah has an arched opening, supported by short versions of the ground floor columns and accessed by French doors with geometric patterned, multi-paned glazing. A semi-circular lunette window lights the attic, and banked windows with leaded transoms are used on the front façade. Decorative details include triangular eave brackets and square verandah columns with distinctive bracketted capitals. The house has survived in original condition except for a later asbestos siding that was applied over the original shingle siding, and the enclosure of the side verandah. The home was owned by J.R. Dawson and Frances Abigail Dawson (née Thompson, 1853-1938) from 1915 until Frances’ death in 1938.
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