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Community of Villages : Fairfield Island
The Land

Colonial Settlers

Community of Villages

Pre-emptions

Agriculture

Timelines

Image Gallery 

Bordered by the Fraser River to the north and the Hope Slough to the south, Fairfield Island is a patchwork of rich farmland. The first colonial settlers to pre-empt land in the north west corner of Fairfield Island prior to 1871 were G. Butter, Pre-emption No. 372, C. Grafton, Pre-emption No. 373, and J. Craswell, Pre-emption No. 421 and 422.

The Provincial government created the School District of Fairfield Island on May 11, 1892, and a one room school was constructed that same year and opened in November. The first teacher at the school was Miss Ida M. Templar.

The community on Fairfield Island continued to grow, and it became necessary to construct a two-room school in 1912. Forty years later, in 1952, a new school was constructed on Fairfield Road, a short distance from the old building. This new school had an enrolment of 65 students from grades one to six, with Mr. D. Rempel as Principal.

 Early view of the McSween home on Fairfield Island which was built in 1894, and bought by James Grieve in 1908. P1231.
Early view of the McSween home on Fairfield Island which was built in 1894, and bought by James Grieve in 1908. P1231.
  Strathcona Elementary School as it appeared in the summer of 1961. P3872.
Strathcona Elementary School as it appeared in the summer of 1961. P3872.
 

Horse and carriage entering the water at the ford at Hope Slough, ca. 1908. P1987 167 18.
Horse and carriage entering the water at the ford at Hope Slough, ca. 1908. P1987 167 18.
A second school on Fairfield Island, Strathcona Elementary, was constructed as a two-room building in 1909. Strathcona Elementary sat unused for a period of years during the late 1950s, but was reconditioned and opened in September 1961, with the development of the area as a residential district. The original two-room section of Strathcona was torn down around the beginning of May 1999, to make way for the construction of a new addition.

Minutes of the Fairfield Island Community Hall for March 27, 1923, describe how a meeting was held at the home of Mr. George Clark. During that meeting an executive was elected and a business meeting held. With an executive comprised of Charles Hawthorn, President, James Swan, Vice President, and A.B. Sim, Secretary/Treasurer, they moved that Mr. Clark and Mr. Law "secure the deed to the sight [sic] and hold it in trust for the future trustees of Fairfield Island Community Hall."

The minutes of a May 10, 1923 meeting record a motion that the secretary "be entrusted to put notice of clearing bee and picnic, to be held at Hall sight [sic] on May 24th in the Chilliwack Progress." Fairfield Island today is a mixture of residential subdivisions, commercial e.g., Minter Country Garden on Young Road, industrial, e.g., Steelhead Aggregates on Tower Road, and the continued presence of mixed agricultural lands.
 

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