Looking back article from May 2017

*This image features the installation of the flood gate at the end of Baynes Road, at the men after working are drinking from bottles c. 1920s

It is 1919, WWI is over and most of the local enlistees have returned to the community.  Their names will be listed on a hand rendered Roll of Honor still hangs in the Community Church on Harris Road.  John Blaney is, once again, Reeve and Canada’s Prime Minister is Robert Borden.  The 1918 flu pandemic is still with us but is waning after killing more than 30,000 Canadians including one Pitt Meadows resident, Jim McMyn. The country is rebuilding and this includes accomplishments such as the establishment of the Canadian National Railway in June, but also includes labour unrest due to high unemployment and low wages for returning veterans resulting in actions such as the Winnipeg General Strike in March of that year.

And then the 1920’s are upon us.  In the first year of the decade the Royal Canadian Mounted Police are formed from the NW Mounted Police, the Indian Act is amended to give aboriginal Canadians the right to vote, and the first airplane flies across Canada. 1921 is a year to celebrate when prohibition ends in BC and the Vancouver Millionaires win the Stanley Cup.  In Pitt Meadows, the Women’s Institute forms and begins more than 40 years of community involvement, and it is also the year the Struthers family purchases the General Store building (now the Museum).  1922 begins with British Columbians now driving on the right side of the road and Banting and Best bring insulin to Canada and, soon after, the world.  In Pitt Meadows, the Community Church Society forms and buys the 7th Day Adventist Church, and it remains a community church to present day.  From 1923 through 1927 Marijuana use is made illegal in Canada, the Chinese immigration Act is passed, the Canadian Red Ensign becomes the flag of our government, Canada’s National Museum is established, and the ground work is laid for OAP. 1928 marks the start of the “person’s case” with the Supreme Court of Canada denying women the right to hold office based on the fact they are not “persons”, and Canada’s first major airline disaster happens with the crash of a BC Airways plane off the coast of Washington State.  It is also the year Canada wins an Olympic Gold in Hockey and Vancouverite Percy Williams wins a Gold for both the 100 and 200 meter races at the summer Olympics.  1928 was also a good year for Pitt Meadows with electric lights a reality by May and recreation hall construction well under way.

1929 starts off well with the Privy Council in England reversing the decision of the Supreme Court of Canada by stating that women were indeed “persons” and, therefore, able to take office in Canada, but he last part of the year marks the beginning of a dark period across the country and around the world with the crash of the NYSE on the 29th of October.  With the crash, the Great Depression began hitting Canadians hard, including those farming in Pitt Meadows.  An additional disaster hit Pitt Meadows when in December 1930 the municipal/recreation hall burnt to the ground.  The community rallied and rebuilt their Hall in 1931, and the finished structure stands today and is now referred to as the Heritage Hall.  Early 1930’s events reflect the new financial reality with the formation of the CCF and Social Credit parties, a coal miners strike in Alberta, the formation of the Bank of Canada and the Canadian Wheat Board, the “On to Ottawa” Trek that started in Vancouver, and the Regina Riot.  It is also the beginning of some iconic Candiana including the CBC, the Globe and Mail, Trans Canada Airlines (now Air Canada),and the Governor General’s Awards.  In Pitt Meadows times are tough but one of our iconic traditions began -- Miss Pitt Meadows Days in 1938.  Other local accomplishments during this decade were the completion of the Lougheed Highway through the area (1931),the planting of a Royal Oak on the lawn outside what is now the Heritage Hall (1937),the first library van’s arrival (1931),the establishment of the Athletic Association and lacrosse team (1938) and a new employer -- Alouette Peat on McTavish Road. 

At the end of the Depression Pitt Meadows and Canada are on the cusp of War, and, once again, many of this community’s men would leave to fight.   

Leslie Norman, Curator of the Pitt Meadows Museum