Port Coquitlam: Where Rails Meet Rivers

Davis, Chuck

ISBN 10: 1550172212 / ISBN 13: 9781550172218

Published by Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, BC, 2000

About this Item

A near-fine volume in a nea-fine DJ. Dust jacket in Mylar jacket protector. ; Square Small 4to 9" - 11" tall; 204 pages; "Port Coquitlam is one tough little city with a colourful history. From its beginnings as a humble settlement on the crossroads of two CPR lines, it grew to become one of the five fastest growing cities in Canada, with a population of just over 50,000. In the early years it survived a tragic depression, only to be hit with the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918. The city then pulled through the devastating - and embarrassing - fire of 1920, which destroyed almost the entire downtown shopping district. Its most famous citizen is the late Terry Fox, a genuine Canadian hero whose Marathon of Hope raised millions of dollars in the fight against cancer. ".

Seller Inventory # 22703

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Port Coquitlam: Where Rails Meet Rivers
• Publisher: Harbour Publishing, Madeira Park, BC
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1550172212
• ISBN 13: 9781550172218
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Edition.
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • History::Canada
  • Community History

About this title

Synopsis

Port Coquitlam is one tough little city with a colourful history. From its beginnings as a humble settlement on the crossroads of two CPR lines, it grew to become one of the five fastest growing cities in Canada, with a population of just over 50,000.

In the early years it survived a tragic depression, only to be hit with the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918. The city then pulled through the devastating - and embarrassing - fire of 1920, which destroyed almost the entire downtown shopping district. (The fire started in the kitchen of the fire chief, who had never fought a fire in his life. The first building to burn down was the fire hall.) One disaster followed another when the Coquitlam River flooded and swept away many notable buildings.

The advent of the Coquitlam Mental Hospital, now known as Riverview, provided a much-needed economic boost to the struggling city, and Port Coquitlam continues to prosper. Its most famous citizen is the late Terry Fox, a genuine Canadian hero whose Marathon of Hope raised millions of dollars in the fight against cancer. The Terry Fox Run
has become the largest one-day cancer fundraising event in the world, with thousands of people in more than 50 countries participating.

About the Author

Chuck Davis (1935-2010) devoted his life to being the expert on the city's history. In 2010 he was awarded the George Woodcock Award for an outstanding literary career in British Columbia.


Chuck has prepared a comprehensive social and economic history with the care and attention to detail of a historian, and with the exuberance and flair for storytelling that have made him one of Vancouver's most successful and beloved journalist/broadcasters. Davis takes an informal, anecdotal approach to his material, retelling the city's history in a clear and entertaining style. His work is a fascinating account of the rich and colourful past of a unique coastal city, and a must-read for historians, visitors and locals alike.