Description du lieu patrimonial

New Westminster's Chinatown occupied two different areas of downtown New Westminster, British Columbia, over the course of its three-phase development. The first Chinatown was located on the eastern side of Front Street between the Fraser River and the river escarpment, expanding to create a second Chinatown in the 1880s in what was referred to as "the swamp," a marshy area bordered by McNeeley Street, 10th Street, Columbia Street and Carnarvon Street. Both sites were almost completely destroyed by a fire in 1898. New Westminster's third Chinatown was rebuilt in the "swamp," but was later reduced to an area bounded by 11th Street, Royal Avenue, Blackie Street and Columbia Street. Today the original buildings belonging to the Chinese community have been replaced with high-rise condominiums, an off-leash dog park, commercial buildings, retail shops and a Translink hub.

Valeur patrimoniale

New Westminster's Chinatown is significant for its historical, cultural, scientific, social and spiritual values, particularly as a representation of the unique and pioneering role its Chinese Canadian citizens played in B.C.'s early development.The values of the place are amplified by its almost complete erasure.

Evolving as a distinct Chinese Canadian settlement beginning in the 1860s, New Westminster's Chinatown is valued as a formerly large and expansive area of Chinese Canadian businesses, retail establishments and institutional buildings that formed a large, distinct, and well-defined Chinatown within the city of New Westminster.

The place is significant for its pivotal role as a centre of commerce and transport in the early development of New Westminster, the Fraser Valley and the province, focused first along the riverfront on Front Street, and expanding due to lack of space to a second site in the less desirable "swamp" area that was subject to flooding. Established prior to Vancouver's Chinatown, New Westminster's Chinatown was important as the major Chinese Canadian settlement on the mainland, fittingly known as "Yi Fao," or "second port-city," relative to the primary port in Victoria.

First used as a base for Chinese miners during the Fraser River gold rush and continuing to expand during the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s, New Westminster's Chinatown was important as the primary community for Chinese Canadian workers in the region. They were a key part of the labour force in the Fraser River salmon canning industry, the sawmills and shingle mills that were a major part of New Westminster's economy, and in many other occupations, including cooks, servants, laundrymen, barbers, merchants, doctors, teachers and vegetable sellers. Also important is the size of the Chinese Canadian population in New Westminster, as seen in an 1885 Royal Commission which reported 1,680 Chinese Canadians living in New Westminster - a substantial proportion of the total population of 4,000 in that year.

New Westminster's Chinatown is significant for being a cultural, social and economic centre for the city and the province. Rebuilt in a third phase after a devastating 1898 fire destroyed the first two sites, Chinatown continued to develop into a place of thriving businesses of all kinds, with wealthy merchants who imported and distributed Chinese goods all over B.C. Political, fraternal and clan associations, churches, funerals, celebrations and customs were important contributors to this vital society.

Flourishing before obstructive immigration policies were enacted in 1923, the three phases of New Westminster's Chinatown are important for embodying the discriminatory policies faced by Chinese Canadian immigrants at the time. In the decades after World War I, restrictive zoning policies, economic challenges, and exclusionary legislation combined to thwart efforts to retain Chinatown in its former size and vibrancy. Also of note is the cultural disregard seen in planning decisions made by the city in the 1940s to re-develop the area occupied by Chinatown. The large size of the community makes it a particularly noticeable example of the trend in the province to demolish Chinese communities and structures.

While there are few visible remains to remind residents and visitors of the early vitality of New Westminster's Chinatown, scientific value is found in the potential for archaeological investigations on these sites. The lack of buildings and community spaces does not lessen the social, cultural and spiritual value of the place to the descendants of the people who built it, and the intangible heritage of the place is alive in the family stories of those who live in New Westminster and beyond.

Source: Province of British Columbia, Heritage Branch

Éléments caractéristiques

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