Halfmoon Bay History

THE SHSIHALH:
The Halfmoon Bay area was originally occupied by natives of the Coast Salish nation, specifically the shishalh tribe, from which the town of Sechelt took its name. Archaeological studies have recorded 38 recognized sites containing shell middens, rock shelters and stone fish traps, now protected by the provincial Heritage Conservation Branch. European exploration of the area began in the late 1700s by the Spanish (Captain Galiano and Captain Valdes) and the British (Captain Vancouver).

FIRST EUROPEANS:
One if the first European settlers to the area was Frederick Sargeant, after whom Sargeant Bay was named. He pre-empted land at the head of the bay, marshland that attracted a wide variety of bird and animal life. Sargeant was determined to farm the land and spent much of the first years there ditching, dyking, constructing a dam and building floodgates. He also logged the property and set up a steam-driven sawmill at the mouth of Colvin Creek.

Extensive forest stands and the ease of water transport to Vancouver made logging a major activity in Halfmoon Bay. Abundant year round fishery stocks also helped shape the development of the area. Originally known as Cod Fish Bay, commercial canneries once dotted the intricate coastline.

North of Sargeant Bay, James Rawding and Ephraim Walker jointly filed on the beautiful stretch of shore known as Welcome Beach. Sargeant purchased a further 160 acres, a narrow waterfront lot along the coast to the north, acquiring the entire Redrooffs shoreline from Welcome Beach to Halfmoon Bay.

REDROOFFS:
Sargeant sold his land in 1909 to B.G. Wolfe-Merton and Hubert Kitchin, who developed the summer resort known as Redrooffs. (The double "ff" comes from the old English spelling of the word.) They moved six log houses with red roofs onto what is now the Coopers Green park site, then built six smaller cabins, the first wharf, the original Halfmoon Bay store and a recreation hall, providing a social focus for the community and visitors. In 1914, the wharf was washed away in a storm. Not until 1920 was it replaced by the official government wharf, constructed at its present site. In the six year interim, residents were forced to resort to small boats meeting the coastal steamers offshore.

Clara Preistland (later Clara Lyall) was one of the area's notable pioneers. She came to Halfmoon Bay in 1890 and pre-empted 160 acres of land at the head of the bay, which remained her home for over fifty years. She was the first post officer, a job which required her to row out into the bay to pick up mail from the Union Steamships vessels. In 1914 she donated part of her property for a school. The original one-room wooden school off Trout Lake Road is still standing, although it has been converted from wood to electric heat, and a permanent structure and two portables have been added to the site.

Railroad logging operated at the turn of the century in an area of 2470 acres north of Trout Lake. The railroad was dismantled in 1913, and rails and machinery were shipped to Powell River. Remnants of the original railbed, ties and spikes can be seen near Trout Lake. Railroads were replaced by plank roads which tended to run at right angles to the shoreline following the grade of creeks.

The Halfmoon Bay region was not connected to the rest of the Sechelt Peninsula by road until 1928 - transport until then was by water. The Union Steamship Company played a major role in the development of the area at this time, providing a vital link to the outside world. The first record of Union Steamship activities in the area was in 1895, providing passenger, mail and freight service. The name Redrooffs was given to this part of the Halfmoon Bay area because the predominantly red roofs of summer cottages could easily be seen by these ships entering the bay.

By 1933 two main plank roads extended from the present site of the Halfmoon Bay government dock - the west road followed Halfmoon Creek, the east road followed Milne Creek and joined the main motor road (presently Highway 101) at the north end of Trout Lake. Sargeant Bay was another hub for a network of logging roads, following Kenyon and Colvin Creeks.

Logging during 1910-13 and 1929-33 was primarily done by the Halfmoon Bay Logging Company. They had an average daily capacity of 120,000 board feet, taken mostly from areas around Trout Lake and south of Crowston Lake, which produced 65,000 board feet per acre of hemlock, fir and cedar.

William T. Franklin was the area's first lighthouse keeper (at a salary of $360 per year). He and his wife manned the light on Merry Island for thirty years, a welcome sight to a community dependent on safe maritime passage along a rugged coastline. He eventually pre-empted part of the island as a farm and lived there in retirement for another twenty years.

Smuggler Cove takes its name from the infamous pirate William Kelly, the King of Smugglers. He transported illegal Chinese immigrants from Vancouver across the US border by sea, for the hefty fee of one dollar each. He evaded arrest by hiding in Smuggler Cove. During the Prohibition of the 20's, the cove was used to store bootleg liquor enroute from the stills on Texada Island to the rum-running boats heading to the States.

Information in these pages was gratefully gleaned from the following sources:

by Howard White, Harbour Publishing

by Betty C. Keller and Rosella M.Leslie, Horsdal & Schubart Publisher

edited by Peter A. Robson, Harbour Publishing

the excellent series Technical Background Report, produced by the Sunshine Coast Regional District for each area in their jurisdiction, including Roberts Creek (Area D), Halfmoon Bay (Area B), West Howe Sound (Area F), Elphinstone (Area E), and Pender Harbour, Garden Bay and Egmont (Area A)

the helpful folks at Sunshine Coast Museum & Archives

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Halfmoon Bay History

ABOUT HALFMOON BAY

COMMUNITY INFO

WHERE TO STAY

WHAT TO DO

DINING

ABOUT THE COAST

TRAVEL EXTRAS

CONVENTIONS/ GROUP TRAVEL

CONTACT US

SEARCH/HELP

ADVERTISE ON THIS SITE

Halfmoon Bay History

ABOUT
HALFMOON BAY

CONVENTIONS/
GROUP TRAVEL