Barnet Neighbourhood
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Associated Dates
- 1889-1904
- Heritage Value
- The North Pacific Lumber Company in Barnet was one of Burnaby's first industrial developments and one of the largest in the British Empire. Partners James MacLaren and Frank Ross built the mill in 1889 (activated in 1899) as a requirement for obtaining 84,000 acres of timber rights in northern BC. Due to the mill's isolation, the firm built homes for its employees with families and bunkhouses for the bachelors which separated Caucasian workers from Chinese and Sikh workers. Barnet became a distinct company town with its own general store, school, post office, community hall and telephone exchange.
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
Less detail
Barnet Neighbourhood
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Associated Dates
- 1905-1924
- Heritage Value
- The original Barnet mill burned down in 1909 after a dramatic explosion in the boiler house. The company rebuilt a new plant, considered a model of mill construction. The company's timber was towed down the Pacific in huge rafts containing about 400,000 to 500,000 board feet. Mill capacity during a 10-hour day was 150,000 board feet with an amazing annual output of 50 million feet.
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
Less detail
North Pacific Lumber Company Ruins
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Geographic Access
- Barnet Road
- Associated Dates
- 1909
- Description
- Industrial building.
- Heritage Value
- Located on the shore of Burrard Inlet, these poured concrete piers of the smokestack burner and the former boiler and plant of the North Pacific Lumber Company are among the only remains of the once-thriving industrial site located on the waterfront on the south shore of Burrard Inlet. The sawmill and the Village of Barnet were initiated by David MacLaren, a wealthy lumberman from Buckingham, Quebec, who had previously established the Fraser Mills in Coquitlam in 1889. McLaren gambled that a sawmill on the main line of the C.P.R near Vancouver would serve the Canadian domestic market and be a profitable venture. The North Pacific Lumber Company established itself on this peninsula on Burrard Inlet and was fully operational in 1900. In 1909, the mill was completely burned out by a fire starting in the boiler room. Immediately the plant was rebuilt, modern in every respect and absolutely fireproof, as the entire power plant and boiler room was built of reinforced concrete and steel, of which these ruins are the last remains. The plant closed during the First World War and reopened as the Barnet Lumber Company in 1925 only to close forever in 1931 after a strike during the Great Depression.
- Locality
- Barnet
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Barnet (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Burnaby Mountain Area
Less detail
A Good Size Log, Barnet B.C
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1907]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w postcard ; 8.7 x 13.8 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photographic postcard of a labourer grappling with a large log on the log chute at the Barnet mill. The caption to the card reads: "A Good Size Log / Barnet B.C." The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
A Pretty Dwelling, Barnet B.C.
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1907]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8.5 x 14 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of the front garden and exterior of the North Pacific Lumber Co. (NPLC) Manager's house at Barnet. The caption on the card reads: "A Pretty Dwelling, Barnet B.C."
Barnet, B.C. from the Hill
- 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.
Barnet Mill being rebuilt
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1909] (date of original), copied [1998]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 10 x 15 cm print
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of lumber piled up and the skeleton of a building being framed during the rebuilding of the Barnet Mill after the fire of 1909. The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
The Depot. Barnet BC
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1907]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w postcard ; 8.5 x 1 4cm
- Scope and Content
- Photographic postcard of a Canadian Pacific Railway train pulling into the train station at Barnet. The caption on the bottom of the card reads: "The Depot. Barnet B.C."
Mills Burning at Barnet
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- May 6, 1909
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8 x 13.4 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photographic postcard of the line of buildings burning at the North Pacific Lumber Company, with flames and smoke visible rising from the structures. A caption stamped at the top of the postcard reads: "Mills burning at Barnet BC. 1:30a.m. May 6th, 1909."
Nichols Chemical Co. Ltd. - Sulphide Works
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 8 Sep. 1906
- Collection/Fonds
- Nichols Chemical Company fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 technical drawing : blueprint ; 75.5 x 102 cm
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a technical drawing of "Nichols Chemical Co. of Can. Ltd. Sulphide Works". Index No. 450 Sheet V.
Nichols Chemical Co. Ltd. - Sulphide Works
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 14 Sep. 1906
- Collection/Fonds
- Nichols Chemical Company fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 technical drawing : blueprint ; 75 x 68 cm
- Scope and Content
- Item consists of a technical drawing of "Nichols Chemical Co. of Can. Ltd. Sulphide Works". Index No. 450 Sheet V.
Our Mill and Harbour Barnet BC
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1907]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia postcard ; 8.4 x 13.5 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photographic postcard of the mill at Barnet. The caption stamped at the top of the card reads: "Our Mill and Harbor. Barnet B.C." The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
Ship at Barnet Mill
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1910] (date of original), copied [1998]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 10 x 15 cm print
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of a ship docked next to the mill at Barnet.
The Barnet Mill was called the North Pacific Lumber Company from 1889 to 1914.
Some of our homes
- Repository
- City of Burnaby Archives
- Date
- [1907]
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Historical Society fonds
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w postcard ; 8.5 x 14 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photographic postcard of three houses at Barnet as well as the railway station. A caption on the card reads: "Some of our homes / Barnet B.C."