Hidden History: Heating and Lighting in BC

BUNTZEN LAKE POWERHOUSE NUMBER 1, ORIGINALLY BUILT IN 1903. CITY OF COQUITLAM ARCHIVES CA CCOQ C6-S01-C6.912

“We had lamps when we first went to Coquitlam and for heat we had a wood-and-coal furnace. We also had to have a stove upstairs for heating. We got the firewood delivered from the mill, of course.” -Sydney Parker Skerry, Coquitlam 100 Years

BC has had power, at least in public spaces, since before Confederation. In 1862 the first gas lamp was lit in Victoria, and by the late 1880s they were also found in Vancouver and New Westminster. At the time, gas-powered lamps and heaters were fueled by coal. Coal-powered lights were not very bright, however, and burning coal to provide the gas caused the air quality to suffer, not to mention the soot, so in 1883 the first arc light electric lights appeared in Victoria, powered by a 25 horsepower steam engine. Steam-powered electrical lights were somewhat slow to catch on in Victoria and Vancouver as they were expensive to install and maintain, so local governments were hesitant to adopt the new technology. A few municipalities in the Lower Mainland created their own power plants, but these went bankrupt in the 1890s. BC Electric emerged as the primary company for providing power to BC.

In 1903 BC's first hydroelectric generating station was built on what is new Buntzen Lake, then called Trout Lake and Lake Beautiful, and water-powered electricity lit up Vancouver for the first time on December 19. After that the demand for power skyrocketed and the plant quickly expanded. While there were a few houses in Vancouver and Victoria that used electricity at this time, the majority of the power went toward powering streetcar lines and streetlights. By the 1920s it was about half and half transit and household use.

FRASER MILLS TOWNSITE WITH AN ELECTRICAL POLE IN THE FOREGROUND. CITY OF COQUITLAM ARCHIVES, COQUITLAM HERITAGE COLLECTION.

In early Coquitlam, a lot of homes were not connected to the grid for quite a while. Mackin House, despite being one of the bigger, fancier houses in the area, did not have electricity, heating, or indoor plumbing until the house was renovated and an addition added starting in 1944. Other homes in the area were not wired for electricity until 1945, after the war ended and copper was no longer needed for the war effort. In 1940s Maillardville power came from two sources. Those along Brunette were among the first to receive power to their homes from New Westminster. For those who worked for Fraser Mills, the mill had its own power plant that turned off the power at night so they would have enough power to start up the mill in the morning. The mill powered the company homes until they were demolished in the 1950s. In 1961 the Crown corporation of BC Hydro was established out of the private company that was BC Electric and since then has been providing BC with all the power it needs.

Deconstructed: The Hidden History of Everyday Objects is on display at Mackin House until June 18. Visit us to learn more about the fascinating history of heating and lighting.