William Johnston Fenton was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland, in August 1925. He immigrated to Canada with his Mother, Amelia Arabella, Father, William James, and his Sister, Caroline. After first settling near Prince Albert in northern Saskatchewan, the family made its way to Vancouver in April, 1936. The connection between the Fenton Family and forest products began when William James Fenton got a job with the Canadian Western Lumber Company Ltd at Fraser Mills on August 1st, 1936, commuting from Vancouver via interurban streetcar. In 1938, the family purchased land and built a house on Alderson Ave in Maillardville so as to be closer to the mill. Over the next few years, the family grew to include Jim, Irene, Phyllis, Mickey, and Colleen. William James became Personnel Manager but his career was interrupted by ill health and he died on July 4th, 1955 at the age of 52.

William Johnston Fenton (most commonly known as John Fenton) and all of his siblings worked at Fraser Mills or with other forest product operations in the area. John started as a casual labourer in the shipping department in 1942 and moved to the plywood plant shortly thereafter. He joined the Canadian Army in June 1944, was discharged in August, 1946, and returned to the mill. He worked as a clerk in the Traffic Department before becoming an Invoice Clerk in 1948. In 1952, he was assigned to Calgary not long after his marriage in 1951. They moved back to Coquitlam in 1954 and John then worked for the Sales Department of what was by that point, Crown Zellerbach. He moved through the managerial ranks, ultimately becoming Sales Manager for British Columbia. During this time, he built two houses on Quadling Avenue, and was a prominent community volunteer for the Coquitlam School Board and the local United Way.

In 1966, he was transferred to Toronto to be the Manager of the Ontario Sales Region and soon was responsible for sales in Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes. He returned to Coquitlam in 1970 and held various management positions before moving to Kelowna in 1984, where he retired as Manager of Marketing in 1990. During the later years of his career, John became an industry guru regarding wood products, with a particular emphasis on plywood. He was active as an industry representative who facilitated market expansion in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, and Japan. His knowledge of plywood production and forest products manufacturing helped inform early negotiations with the United States on a Softwood Lumber Trade Agreement and he assisted in developing product standards through the Canada Standards Association.

Ronald James Fielding was born in Vancouver in 1910 to Thomas and Sarah Fielding. Fielding married Barbara May MacDonald in 1936. Fielding was a member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows Excelsior Lodge #7 in Chilliwack for 70 years and associate member of Royal City/Burnaby Lodge #3.

In 1889, the Ross, McLaren Mill was opened at Millside, an area near New Westminster, British Columbia. The mill had cost $350,000 to build, and was headed by President James McLaren, a Quebec timber investor and President of the Bank of Ottawa, and Vice-President Frank Ross. Production at the mill began in 1890. In addition to new facilities and a large amount of capital to support it, the mill also possessed the transportation benefits of frontage on the Fraser River and a spur line to the Canadian Pacific Railway system. However, despite these advantages, the mill soon faced several events that affected its production in a negative way. In addition to the death of McLaren, the mill also experienced a decreased demand for timber due to a general economic depression in 1892. Even when other mills began to recover in 1895, Ross, McLaren’s productivity was curtailed by the silting of the Fraser River, which made it impossible for large vessels to reach the mill.

All of these factors contributed to the company’s decision in 1899 to place the mill and its timber rights up for sale. An American investment syndicate, headed by Lester David of Seattle and Mr. Jenkins of Minneapolis eventually purchased the mill in 1903. The new owners sought to resolve the mill’s difficulties by dyking the area, and holding the federal government accountable for dredging the Fraser River channel and ensuring its accessibility to ships. Now called Fraser River Saw Mills, the mill was finally re-opened in 1905, as the largest mill in the Pacific Northwest. By 1906, the mill was already setting records for production levels and over 250 labourers were employed. As a result of the increased production levels and staff, both the mill and Millside were expanded; this included the construction of the Fraser Mills Sash, Door & Shingle Company Limited.

Production at the mill was so high by 1907, in fact, that the mill was nearly shut down due to a lack of available labour. The mill was taken over by an investment syndicate headed by A.D. McRae of Winnipeg and Senator Peter Jansen of Nebraska. The new owners instituted a major re-organization of the business. A half million dollar renovation and expansion of the original mill buildings was implemented and improvements made to increase transportation access to the mill via the Fraser River. The name of the town was changed from Millside to Fraser Mills.

The re-organization of the business culminated in 1910, with the purchase of enough timber rights in the Lower Mainland and on Vancouver Island for the company, now called the Canadian Western Lumber Company Limited, to be considered to have the largest private holdings in the world. Through direct or indirect purchase, the Canadian Western Lumber Company Limited acquired full or partial ownership of the following companies by 1916: Canadian Tugboat Company Limited; Coast Lumber & Fuel Company Limited; Coast Lumber Yards Limited; The Columbia River Company Limited; Columbia Western Lumber Yards Ltd.; Comox Logging and Railway Company; Crown Lumber Company, Limited; Fraser Mills Sash, Door, and Shingle Company Limited; Lumber Manufacturers’ Yard Limited; Security Lumber Company Limited.; and Western Canada Sawmill Yards Limited. Later acquisitions include The Golden Light, Power and Water Company Limited. In 1954, the Canadian Western Lumber Company, Limited was acquired by Crown Zellerbach Canada Limited. The immediate successor company to Crown Zellerbach Canada Limited was Fletcher Challenge Limited of New Zealand, which purchased the company in 1983 and, with further acquisitions, became Fletcher Challenge Canada Limited in 1987. In 2000, Norske Skog, a Norwegian paper company, acquired all of Fletcher Challenge's pulp and paper assets, and a majority interest in Fletcher Challenge Canada Limited. This resulted in the formation of Norske Skog Canada Limited.

Valda Vidners and Don Luxton of Foundation Group Designs Ltd. surveyed a selection of properties in the Maillardville and Fraser Mills areas on October 5, 1986. The surveyed properties were included in a combined document entitled "Heritage Maillardville: Building Inventory." The inventory was "intended to provide a starting point for the planning and implementation of future heritage policies in the Maillardville and Fraser Mills area."

The study divided the properties into the following categories: Primary, Secondary, and Support. "Criteria focussed on the architectural, historical and contextual significance of each structure. Buildings in the primary category were generally deemed to have merit in all three criteria, while secondary buildings were deemed to be strong in two of the criteria. Support buildings were either of architectural, historical or contextual merit."

"Architectural: means that the building is of interest due to style, materials, structure, detailing, design or architect."

"Historical: means that there are events, trends or people of civic, provincial or national interest associated with the building."

"Contextual: means that the building exists in conjunction with other historic resources or settings."

Four Acres Trailer Court was a mobile home park located at 675 Lougheed Highway. It was owned and operated by Fabian and Helen Stiglish from the 1950s until 1979 when the trailer court was sold to Walter and Dennis Hohn. The mobile home park was rezoned and redeveloped by Mosaic Homes after 2006.

Leonard Frank was a well-known professional photographer in British Columbia between 1910-1944. He was born in Germany and first moved to San Francisco, before travelling to Alberni, B.C., to work in the mining industry. He began his photography interest there. In 1916, he moved to Vancouver and began to work as a photographer.

Son of one of Germany's earliest professional photographers, Leonard Frank was born in Berne, Germany in 1870. In 1892 he was struck with gold fever and emigrated to San Francisco, moving to Alberni on Vancouver Island two years later intending to prospect for gold. Frank never discovered gold, but by chance won a raffle prize of a camera which sparked his lifelong passion. While managing a general store and continuing to prospect, Frank took pictures of the surrounding country until photography became his chosen profession.

In 1917, Frank moved to Vancouver and quickly became the leading commercial / industrial photographer in the city. Frank 's photographs form a unique document of Vancouver and British Columbia's history between the wars. Whether in woods, shooting the activities of the lumber industry, or on Vancouver's waterfront, recording the contents of warehouses, Frank invariably managed to produce photographs which not only included the required factual information, but also the most exquisite natural light effects. He was frequently commissioned to photograph for both the provincial and federal governments, as well as being the official photographer for the Vancouver Board of Trade. Frank was an associate member of the Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, the first in Vancouver to receive the coveted award. He later established Leonard Frank Photos studio. After Frank's death, his photographic studio was purchased by Otto Landauer, and closed in 1983.

Del Gachallan was born in the Phillipines and moved to Coquitlam. Gachallan is a retired engineer, musician and author. In 1991, he composed a song in honour of the city's centennial year, entitled "Coquitlam, My Town."

Glacier Media Group was founded on March 23, 1988. It provides business intelligence, marketing and advertising, and community media services. The company owns a large number (60 as of 2020) of community newspapers in British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan.

John Graham was a Chartered Accountant in New Wesminster, British Columbia. He was born in Fossoway, Scotland in 1887 and emigrated to Canada a around 1910. He married Maude Mabel Sworder in 1913. Graham died in 1952.

The Greater Vancouver Transit System provided bus, SeaBus, and Skytrain service in the Metro Vancouver area as GVTS from 1973 until 1983. It operated under contract by the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority until March 31, 1980. In the 1970s, the system was commonly still referred to by the general public as BC Hydro Transit (or the "Hydro Buses").

On April 1, 1980, GVTS was operated by the Metro Transit Operating Company and was branded commonly as Metro Transit. In 1983, the system was renamed the Vancouver Regional Transit System. From 1983 until 1999, the system was generally referred to as BC Transit. VRTS continued operation until April 1, 1999, when it was taken over by The South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority, now known as Translink.

Grover, Elliott & Co. Ltd. was founded on January 2nd, 1974 by three real estate appraisers who took over an existing appraisal office located at 5685 Cambie Street in Vancouver. In June 1985, the company moved to its present offices on West Georgia St. in Vancouver so as to be closer to the Land Titles Office, which facilitated much of their research. The company provides appraisals for all types of real estate including land, multifamily residential, industrial properties, and commercial properties.

Hannah Hollingsworth was born in Bredsall, England. She moved to Canada and married Joseph William Harris and they had two children, John Edward and Wilfred. She passed away on March 6, 1956.

John Edward Harris was born in 1910 in Derbyshire, England, to Joseph William and Hannah Harris. They emigrated to Canada. Harris was a mill worker. He married Gladys Hannah Larson in 1936. He died in 1983.

Joseph William Harris was born on April 29, 1876. He was a rancher and labourer from Handbury, England who immigrated to Canada in 1909 and lived in Grand Forks, B.C. before settling in Coquitlam. He was married to Hannah Hollingworth and they had two children, John Edward and Wilfred. Harris enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force on June 2, 1916 at the age of 40 and served with the 225th Overseas Battalion. He was discharged as medically unfit on January 22, 1917. He passed away on November 18, 1955. It is believed that Harris Ave is named after him.

Linda Harris is the daughter of Wilfred and Katherine Margaret Harris.

Wilfred Harris was born in Grand Forks, British Columbia in 1911 to Joseph William and Hannah Harris. Wilfred worked as a lumber grader. He married Katherine Margaret Sitter in 1942 in New Westminster and they had a daughter, Linda Harris. Wilfred Harris died in 1998.

Ken Haywood was the General Sales Manager at Fogg Motors Limited of New Westminster and had a long history with Westwood Racetrack. He served as President of the Westwood Karting Association and organized twelve go-kart meets every summer in the 1960s. His three sons and his daughter all raced in the karting series at Westwood.
Haywood also served as a Director and Membership Chairman for the Kiwanis Club and was instrumental in developing the club’s defensive driving program.

Russell Hellard was born in 1924 in Toronto, Ontario. He worked briefly as a laboratory assistant at the Ontario Research Foundation before enlisting with the Canadian Army in 1943. He trained at Camp Ipperwash in Ontario, then was sent for a Special Wireless Course at Vimy Barracks (the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals and Canadian Signal Training Centre), before being sent to Vancouver and then on to Victoria, British Columbia to await deployment to Australia. He served with the No.1 Special Wireless Group in Darwin monitoring Japanese wireless signals until the conclusion of the war in 1945. Once the war was over, it took six months to travel back to Canada with all of the equipment that had been shipped to Australia during the war. Mr. Hellard's unit returned to Canada in February, 1946.

Russell Hellard, his wife Kay and daughter Susan lived in Toronto before his company, Calgon, relocated him briefly to Edmonton for two years. The family then moved to Coquitlam in 1959. Hellard worked for 30 years in industrial water treatment and retired in 1981. During his retirement he became very active across British Columbia as a professional dog show photographer. He was very active in the area of crime prevention within the Coquitlam community between 1984 and 1997, serving as chairman of the Crime Prevention Committee from 1989-1991 and the Community Policing Committee from 1992-1996. He was also actively involved with the Crime Watch Patrol, Block Watch, Court Watch, and Vandal Watch programs. He volunteered his photographic skills for several large community events in Coquitlam, including the BC Summer Games and Centennial celebrations, both in 1991. Hellard has also been an active volunteer and activity group leader at Dogwood Pavilion with the Lifewriters Group, which began in 1999, the Veterans Group, and the Volunteer Improvement Program. He has also photographed many Dogwood Pavilion events over the years. Russell died on February 25 2023.

James (Jim) Hinds served as the Manager of the Coquitlam Satellites Women's Hockey Team between 1971 and 1982. He worked for BC Hydro from 1964 until 2001 and was elected to Council in Mission in 2014. He is currently serving as a Councillor in Mission, BC.

Craig Hodge was born May 1, 1957, at the Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster, the same hospital where his father was born. His father Robert Hodge was the financial services manager for the Coquitlam School Board while his mother Margaret Hodge was a Burnaby school teacher. The family moved to Coquitlam in 1964.

After finishing grade school at Hillcrest elementary, he attended a brand new school called Dr. Charles Best junior secondary where he became interested in photography as he worked on the school’s first annual.

When he advanced to Centennial secondary in 1973, he volunteered to work on the school’s award-winning newspaper, The Catalyst, under the direction of teachers Ward Eby and Frank Shepard. While a number of Catalyst students went on to careers in journalism, Craig’s break came while he was still in Grade 11 when The Columbian newspaper sent its chief photographer Basil King to take pictures of the students for a story about a national award they had won. Craig didn’t realize that as the students waited for their classmates to gather, Basil was looking over Craig’s pictures scattered on the table. A month later, Basil offered Craig a job as a photographer for the summer.

The Columbian newspaper was British Columbia’s oldest daily newspaper. It started in New Westminster before relocating to a former car dealership at 329 North Rd. in Coquitlam. It served the Vancouver suburbs and tried to compete against the Vancouver Sun and Province.

When the summer ended, Craig returned to Centennial for his final year but Basil kept him on to work weekends until he graduated. During his 10 years of working at The Columbian, Craig covered all the major provincial and local stories before the newspaper closed doors in 1984.

By then, Craig had developed a close working relationship with local police and firefighters, and had become the top spot news photographer in the Lower Mainland. This led to him to being hired in 1985 by Gordy Robson, the owner of the Maple Ridge News. Gordy was interested in expanding his weekly publication into the Coquitlam and Burnaby markets to fill the void left by The Columbian. He also wanted to compete with the Now newspaper chain that had just been started by a group of former Columbian employees.

Originally launched as a regional Sunday magazine format — featuring a full front page colour photograph — plans were soon made to start individual Wednesday news editions in the Burnaby, New Westminster and Coquitlam markets.

It was in a management meeting to pick a name for the new Coquitlam paper that Craig argued against calling the publication The Pocomo News or the District 43 News. Rather, his idea was to call it The Tri-City News. The term had not been used in the area before and his suggestion was rejected by several mayors who were then fighting against calls for amalgamation. Despite the opposition, Craig convinced the newspaper owners and, today, the name is commonly used to reference the Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody region.

Shortly after the expansion, Gordy Robson sold the papers to Hacker Press — the owner of the Abbotsford News and Chilliwack Progress. The company built a regional production facility on Broadway Avenue in Port Coquitlam and it was there that Craig established a photography department to cover the territory from Whonnock to Vancouver.

Craig hired a team of photographers to staff the region seven days a week. Between the years 1985 and 2011, his team won more than 80 local, national and international photo journalism awards — half of them for Craig’s images.

During his 35 years working for local newspapers, Craig covered many events that shaped the community and documented the changing city. He photographed high school sports, Rick Hansen climbing the Thermal Drive Hill, opening day of Coquitlam Centre Mall, races at Westwood Track, building openings and every big news event.

While at The Tri-City News, he also began working part-time as a staff photographer for the Vancouver Sun. There, he covered major sports, concerts, and historic events such as Expo 86 and the royal tour of Prince Charles and Princess Diana.

In addition to his professional responsibilities, Craig served as president of the Tri-Cities Chamber of Commerce in 1999, and later as president of the Coquitlam Heritage Society.

He and his wife Darla Furlani, also a photographer, had three sons and Craig volunteered as a soccer coach, ball hockey coach, and a Scout leader.
Craig was the photo co-ordinator for Coquitlam’s centennial history book, Coquitlam 100 Years, in which — over a two-year period — he sourced all the images for the publication, now preserved at the City of Coquitlam Archives.

In 2011, Craig left the newspaper industry and was elected to Coquitlam city council.

Photograph studio operated by Thorvald Horshauge.

Geoffrey (Geoff) and Margaret (Marg) Hortin became members of the Sports Car Club of British Columbia (SCCBC) in 1958. They assisted with the building of the Westwood Racetrack, and Geoff was an active racer. He first built his own race car, which was dubbed the "G.A.S.P." (Geoff's Available Spare Parts), and then went on to race for Clemente European Motors in a Fiat 850 modified. Geoff was active in the club until 1972.

Margaret (Marg) and Geoffrey (Geoff) Hortin became members of the Sports Car Club of British Columbia (SCCBC) in 1958. They assisted with the building of the Westwood Racetrack, and Geoff was an active racer. Marg raced an MGA coupe in what were known as "powder puff" races. She also helped out with lap scoring and was part of the Ladies Division, which ran a concession stand that raised enough money to pay for the taxes on the racetrack each year. Margaret Hortin passed away on July 5, 2019.