FVC History Edition - April 23, 2025 - Mennonite families settle in Abbotsford

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Good morning!

You may have noticed our coverage has been dominated by the federal election recently, and for good reason. But today, we are taking a break—leaving the campaign trail and driving down memory lane instead.

Tyler (who has been working his typing fingers to the bone all week) is bringing you today’s main story on Stó:lō military defences in the pre-contact era. We’ve also got snippets on Mennonite school children in Abbotsford, an H-bomb survival handbook, and an old Chilliwack house set for demolition.

We always love to hear your stories about the past. You can share your personal memories of the Fraser Valley through this form, and we may feature it in a future History Edition.

– Grace

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HISTORY

The walls of Xelhálh

Put yourself in the shoes of a military commander considering how to take an army up the Fraser Canyon against a hostile opponent.

You wouldn’t be the first to look up at the canyon’s cliffs, its swirling waters, and dark forests and consider turning back.

On its own, the Fraser Canyon would seem to offer some of the most defensible natural terrain anywhere in the world. Whether by foot or by boat, an invading party would be immensely vulnerable to a sudden ambush. An experienced commander would know this. But it didn’t stop people from attempting to invade the canyon anyways.

Centuries ago, raiders once paddled up the Stó:lō and into the Fraser Canyon to steal supplies and take slaves. But the raiders faced an opponent that had prepared for the attack, creating a network of stone walls and defences specifically designed to increase their odds of repelling invaders.

You can still see the traces today, if you know where to look.

The walls tell a story of a community’s ingenuity and quest for self-defence. But they also provide a vital look at important political dynamics that settlers and academics have often failed to appreciate.

• Today, Tyler writes about what the Fraser Canyon’s defensive walls tell us about pre-contact warfare, communities, and regional politics.

Related

⚖ April 30, 1866: Four burglars were arrested by a posse wielding six shooters after flour and bacon were stolen from a stage coach in Lytton [British Columbia Tribune]

🎂 April 26, 1895: Langley residents prepared to celebrate Queen Victoria’s birthday with games, prizes, and a carnival [Surrey Times]

🏙 April 6, 1907: Chilliwack was set to become a city after petitions from passionate residents; the Township of Chilliwhack had been incorporated 30 years earlier [Fraser Advance]

📰 April 14, 1911: The cornerstone was laid for the new Abbotsford CPR station; a copy of the Abbotsford Post, a CPR timetable, and a coin were placed in the concrete [Abbotsford Post]

🥛 April 16, 1920: Construction began on a new $300,000 milk-condensing plant in Abbotsford [Abbotsford Post]

🎖 April 23, 1921: Langley held a memorial day event to honour the local men who died in the First World War [Valley Sentinel]

🔥 April 11, 1945: An Agassiz hay barn was destroyed by a ‘spectacular fire’ of unknown causes [Agassiz-Harrison Advance]

🌼 April 10, 1958: The Bradner Flower Show set a new attendance record, with more than 2,500 visitors [Aldergrove and District News]

🍺 April 4, 1973: Chilliwhack voters were set to decide if alcoholic beverages could be sold in the community, which was one of the few remaining ‘dry’ areas in BC [Chilliwack Progress]

New in history

🏫 Abbotsford’s ‘What’s in a Name’ project chronicling the origin of school names is now complete [Abbotsford News] / The Current used the information from the project for our story on Abbotsford school history [FVC]

⚒ The Fort Langley cenotaph is in need of major repairs, but the Township of Langley may simply replace the memorial instead [FVC]

🔎 Remediation work began at the old Hope Station House site, with archeologists and cultural monitors with the Chawathil First Nation observing [Hope Standard]

🐋 Rebuilding has begun on Telegraph Cove’s popular whale interpretive centre which burned down last year [The Tyee]

Mennonite families settle in Abbotsford

In the 1920s and 1930s, Mennonite families from the Soviet Union began to settle in the central Fraser Valley. The families were escaping persecution and mandatory military service in the Soviet Union, and settled in Yarrow, Huntingdon, Clearbrook, Langley, and elsewhere. (A small group also settled in Agassiz, but eventually moved elsewhere.)

After the first Mennonite church was built in Abbotsford in 1932, a school opened in Huntingdon the following year at the request of the community. Built by former trustee H.C. Green, the one-room school had no electricity, furnace, or plumbing. Drinking water was brought each day by bucket from Green’s farm.

The South Poplar Elementary opened with 28 children from Grades 1 to 7 in 1933. Two years later, the population had doubled—and a school inspector declared plumbing, a paper cutter, paper towels, and toilet paper.

Students continued to learn in the original red school house until the early 1950s, when it was replaced by a new building. In 1943, Vancouver News-Herald photographer Jack Lindsay came to take pictures of the school and the students.

The students captured by Lindsay in his photos were living through a tumultuous time. With the Second World War underway, Canadians were suspicious of Mennonites. The Mennonite faith doesn’t allow its followers to bear arms, and although some men served in the Canadian forces during the Second World War, others were sent to work camps for being conscientious objectors.

In Chilliwack, non-Mennonites expressed concern about Mennonites using “the Hitler language” in their churches, and publicly wondered where their allegiance lay. The allegations strained relationships between Mennonites and other Canadians for many years.

Century-old Chilliwack house officially set for demolition

Chilliwack council has agreed to spend $120,000 to demolish a 118-year-old home to make way for a parking lot downtown.

The Young Road home is not included in Chilliwack’s Heritage Interest Inventory, which outlines potential heritage resources in the community. (It is also not the first old home to be demolished in Chilliwack, as The Current reported in 2021.) It is currently located on land that Chilliwack plans to turn into a parking lot.

The demolition is expected to get underway shortly. Council expressed concern about the high cost of the project; staff said the money reflected the cost to dispose of hazardous materials like lead paint and asbestos.

Once the house is demolished, staff will begin an archeological survey of the property. If nothing is found during the survey, the city’s engineering department will begin work on the parking lot itself.

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Civil Defence Survival Instructions (1964)

This Cold War-era pamphlet offers instructions to residents between Vancouver and Langley on how to react to a hydrogen bomb attack.

“The Government believes that if Canada were attacked, Vancouver could be one of the more likely target areas,” the pamphlet reads. It gives instructions on what to do when an alert sounds (gather with your family and decide whether to flee), shows the best routes for evacuating the Greater Vancouver area toward Abbotsford (local highways, plus Huntingdon Road), and provides advice for people who plan to shelter in place in the event of an attack (learn first aid and how to put out fires). It also outlines the effects of radiation, the chances of survival in an attack, and what to do if you're in a car and see a bomb explode in your rearview mirror (duck your head but keep going). Free copies of the pamphlet were provided by Municipal Civil Defence Co-ordinators across the region.

“This pamphlet is issued to you, not because Greater Vancouver Target Area Civil Defence is convinced that war will come, but simply to ensure that we are all prepared in case the worst cannot be avoided,” the pamphlet reads. “It is aimed at nothing less than the saving of every possible life.”

This artifact is courtesy of the Aldergrove Museum and Community Archives.

Museum AGM: The Chilliwack Museum and Historical Society hosts its annual general meeting on Thursday, April 24. The formal AGM begins at 7pm, with a behind-the-scenes roundtable with staff beginning at 7:45pm. Details online.

Refugee exhibit: The Mennonite Heritage Museum’s exhibit Hearts of Freedom closes on Friday, April 25. The exhibit focuses on the stories of refugees from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. Details online.

Grand re-opening: The Lytton Chinese History Museum is hosting its grand re-opening on Saturday, May 3 at 11:30am. The ribbon-cutting ceremony is open to the public, with a private lunch for certain invitees. The museum is located at 145 Main Street in Lytton. For more details, email [email protected].

Watercolour exhibit: The Kent Watercolourists open their community art exhibit at the Agassiz-Harrison Museum on Saturday, May 10 at 4pm. The exhibit will be on display until the end of June. Details online.

Mother’s Day: The Kilby Historic Site hosts a Mother’s Day event on Sunday, May 11 from 11am to 3pm. The day includes a presentation on how Victorian children were raised. Details online.

Have a history event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.

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