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Gibsons Culture and History |
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Located just a 40-minute ferry ride north of Vancouver, Gibsons is known worldwide as the home of the hit CBC TV series The Beachcombers, which ran for 19 seasons. The quaint, quirky community has a rich history that goes back more than a century, and it all began in the hillside Town’s sheltered harbour facing Howe Sound.
Information and pictures courtesy of the Sunshine Coast Museum & Archives, 716 Winn Road, Gibsons, BC
Long before the arrival of European settlers, the Chekwelps of the Squamish First Nations people occupied a summer village just east of the Gibsons harbour, near present-day Armours Beach. The location they chose offered fresh water, a sheltered shoreline, and easy access to the sea, as well as clear views through “the Gap” between Keats Island and The Bluff, a precaution against the unexpected arrival of unknown people.
The Chekwelps probably lived here for several thousand years until a smallpox outbreak in the 1890’s resulted in the relocation of the remaining Chekwelps to Squamish, ending the occupation of the aboriginal settlers. Evidence of early settlement in the form of middens has been found throughout the area.
The first European contact was probably during the voyage of Juan de Fuca in 1592, where he reported discovery of an inland sea at a latitude of 48 degrees north. Major exploration of the area was made by the Spaniards Galiano and Valdez and by Captain George Vancouver. Captain Richards, sailing on the survey vessel Plumper, named virtually all of the local islands and point during the years 1859 and 1860.
Gibsons, along with Sechelt and Pender Harbour, is one of the three main population centres on the Sunshine Coast. It is often called “The Gateway to the Sunshine Coast”. The Town derives its name from a man named George William Gibson, the first European to establish a homesite here.
GEORGE GIBSON – THE FAMILY BEHIND THE NAME
The first European settler to the Gibsons area (almost one hundred years after initial exploration) was George Gibson, a dour ex-British naval officer. George was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, England, on January 31st, 1829. He retired from the Royal Navy and moved to Chatham, Ontario where he met his wife Augusta Charlotte Purdee. They moved to BC from Ontario where he had been a successful market gardener. After a short stay in Vancouver, George and his sons built the Swamp Angel and traveled to Howe Sound to pre-empt District Lot 686 on May 24, 1886.
George was very active in the community that developed, generously donating land for the school and church. He was also the postmaster for many years and a jovial host to any visitors that might tie up at his wharf.
Gibsons’ got a boost in 1905 from an influx of Finnish settlers. The Finns built community halls and planted succulent fruit crops. The opening of a pulp and paper mill at nearby Port Mellon in 1907 would prove to be another cornerstone of Gibsons’ economy in the years to come.
A LASTING LEGACY
George and his wife Charlotte were a hard-working, intelligent and community-minded couple. They encouraged others to settle here and took pains to see that a community developed to serve their needs. They had eight children, two boys and six girls. Charlotte died in 1910, George in 1913. They are buried in what is now known as Pioneer Park, but was originally the Gibson family cemetery, located at the head of the wharf where it all started.
The settlement was named Gibson’s Landing in 1907 in honour of this hardworking pioneer.
A COMMUNITY BUILT AROUND THE HARBOUR
As with all isolated coastal communities along the BC coast, a wharf was essential to provide access to the outside world and to enable supplies to be brought in. Knowing this, Gibson build a wharf very close to the site of the present day wharf and the community began to develop around this transportation centre. Logging, fishing, farming and agriculture were the main economic supports, but many still found it necessary to travel back and forth to Vancouver to make ends meet, a situation which continues today for a small percentage of the population.
LOGGING AND OTHER INDUSTRIES
The mainstay of employment for the early pioneers was related to logging and shingle bolting. Originally logging was done by hand with horse or oxen-drawn carts pulling the logs on skid roads to the nearest waterway. Flumes were built where carts were not practical, and later the railroad contributed to the removal of most of the old-growth forest in the entire region.
Between 1900 and 1930, there were three lumber mills at the head of Chaster Creek (then Payne Creek), a charcoal manufacturing effort in what is now the Hillcrest subdivision and a factory producing sawdust for use as a household fuel. Fishing was as lucrative a venture as logging. Gillnetters were thick in the Rivers Inlet area, and almost every Vancouver fish company had a subsidiary camp in Gibsons Harbour.
The Town was incorporated on March 4th, 1929 with the name “The Corporation of the Village of Gibson’s Landing”.
After undergoing several names changes, Gibsons settled on “Village of Gibsons Landing” in 1948 and in 1983 the Town was incorporated as the “Town of Gibsons”
GIBSONS TODAY
Quirky, arts-minded and friendly, the people of Gibsons (population: 4,182) are happy to help visitors learn about local landmarks, waterfront shopping, artists and art galleries, festivals and events, and nearby natural getaways. The Gibsons area has lost none of its original natural beauty – ocean, mountains, forests, and wildlife – and chilling out is definitely on the list of things to do here.
On February 26th, 2005, the Town won an award in Berkley Springs, West Virginia, for having the “Best Water in the World”,” and in 2009, at the International Awards for Liveable Communities, held in Pilsen, Czech Republic, the Town won 1st place for a community under 20,000 for being the ”Most Liveable Community in the World” and 1st place for “Planning for the Future”.
The Town is pro-active and progressive in planning for the future, as with the development of its geo-thermal exchange project, which testifies to the fact that we truly are the Most Liveable Community in the World!
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