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Hastings Mill Museum
Hastings Mill was originally a
lumber saw mill that sat on the south banks of the Burrard Inlet,
becoming the first commercial endeavor in the site that would grow
into the city of Vancouver, British Columbia. The mill's first owner
was Captain Edward Stamp, who planned a saw mill in the area, bought
and brought the equipment from England, during 1867, and after
initial hardships and difficulties, was able to build the lumber
mill and start cutting lumber for export. After just two short
years, Stamp retired and closed down the mill, and it went into
receivership until bought by Dickson, DeWolf and Company of San
Francisco; which renamed the mill the Hastings Sawmill Company or
just plain Hastings Mill. As the years passed, the small settlement
grew, at first a company town, with Hastings Mill Store being the
general store used by all those around the area, and the Hastings
Mill School where their children would attend. Soon the school was
teaching children from the opposite side of the inlet, called
Moodyville, and the sawmill was supplying all the needs of the
area's residents and businesses. Sometime during the early 1880s,
the Canadian Pacific Railroad arrived in the small city, which would
become the western terminus for the transcontinental railroad. The
railroad would help the region grow, bringing passengers and
supplies from the east, and other parts of the continent. The
sawmill, however, was still the biggest influence yet in the town,
and would stay an important part of the city's economy until it
closed in the 1920s. After the mill closed down, the building that
is was held in was then transported to the foot of Alma Street,
where it would become the Old Hastings Mill Store Museum. It is
being managed by the Native Daughters of British Columbia, and
highlights many wonderful Native American, immigrant and pioneer
relics; as well as being one of the few buildings to survive the
great fire of 1886; which allowed it to be used as a hospital and
later morgue for the victims of that fire. The Native
Daughters of British Columbia were able to get the old mill in 1929,
when it was scheduled to be razed, and make room for new
developments that might happen in the city. A committee was created
that would talk with Eric Hamber, the owner of the mill store and
have it moved to the bottom of Alma Road. Mr. Hamber had no
objections, and the old building was then moved by barge along the
river to its new site. In January of 1932, it was officially made a
museum and opened for the public. It was called the "Pioneer
Museum", in memory of the many pioneers that helped build the city
and all therein, but its original name, the Old Hastings Mill Store
Museum, was used more often, and soon the name of the Pioneer Museum
became an old memory and finally forgotten altogether. There are
numerous artifacts and relic s of the period, both from pioneers and
native Americans, with upper floor used as a meeting room and lounge
and the caretaker using the first floor for his needs.
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