Before the arrival of Euro-Canadians, the Sto:lo lived and traveled through the area. Archaeological sites, especially in the vicinity of Mount Shannon, attest to the earlier Sto:lo presence.
The first Euro-Canadians to arrive came from Ontario. Local roads or other geographical features remind us of the names of some of these people. Gibson, Gillanders, Ryder, Shannon, McConnell and Reeves commemorate some, but not all, of these first families. Missing from this list is David Nelmes, another transplanted Ontario resident, who is credited with being the first to pre-empt land in Cheam. By 1875, the area population was large enough that the first school was built. In 1877, the Anglican Church built a meeting-house on the banks of Hope Slough, near Banford Road. It was poorly built however and collapsed about ten years later. By 1890, local Methodists raised the funds and built the first Methodist Church. This church is no longer standing.
Cheam has remained primarily an agricultural community although urban development is encroaching.
View through the trees onto the new Meadowlands golf course. P2548.
Front view of the William Walker concrete block house at Cheam. Ron Denman photo 1999.
Overhead view of the early Shannon / Little Mountain cemetery. P1012.
Original watercolour painting of the Cheam United Church, and Cheam Hall. 1998 30 1.