“I think that I shall never see, A poem as lovely as a tree.”
Joyce Kilmer’s 1913 poem, “Trees” describes the way that many people feel about trees. Valued for the natural cooling effect of the shade they provide, their addition of oxygen to the environment and the general improvement to the quality of an urban landscape, most people prefer the presence of trees in spite of the mess made by falling leaves, damage from falling branches and trunks, damage to infrastructure by root systems and getting in the way of development.
Native and Introduced Species
Richmond’s native tree species are adapted to a high water table and peat and silt loam soil. The most common native species in Richmond before non-Indigenous settlement were Shore Pine, Sitka Spruce, Pacific Crabapple, Willow, Black Cottonwood and Black Hawthorn. These trees, many little more than shrubs, lined the shores of Lulu and Sea Islands, shaded the paths of sloughs and grew in groves in areas of prairie grasslands. An ancient beach berm along the west side of Lulu Island, once lined with native crabapple trees, is followed today by the Crabapple Ridge bike route. A large conifer at Garry point, most likely a spruce, was used as a navigation marker, guiding ships and boats into the channel at the mouth of the Fraser River until it was washed away in the flood of 1891.
Native shrubs and trees line the path of this slough just west of the London Farm house in 1977. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1984 4 21.
Trees native to Richmond are not generally long-lived, 100 to 300 years at most, and often die before maturity due to bog fires, diseases and other reasons. Native tree species, important to the natural history of Richmond, are protected by the acquisition of land by the City and by the declaration of environmentally sensitive areas, the emphasis being the preservation of forested areas and allowing natural regeneration rather than the protection of individual trees.
This map shows the types of vegetation existing in Richmond and the rest of the Fraser Lowlands between 1858 and 1880. City of Richmond Archives Map 1987 76 8.
Around 1860, non-Indigenous settlers began arriving in present day Richmond. Wanting farmland, they cleared native vegetation and dyked and drained the land. They also planted non-native trees which provided shade and shelter for livestock, protected crops from wind and produced fruit and nuts. Non-native trees planted by settlers or later residents of Richmond, depending on their age, size, species, setting, landmark, ecological value, aesthetics, and condition are often be considered to be heritage trees or trees of significance.
Protecting Trees
Early in 1987, with an eye towards preservation, the City sponsored a Tree Contest to make use of citizen’s local knowledge of possibly significant trees. Ads in the Richmond Review invited people to submit an entry form with a photograph and location of trees in Richmond which they thought might win in one of four categories, oldest tree, tallest tree, rarest tree and most interesting tree. A $100 prize was awarded for the winner in each category. About 100 entries and photographs of trees from all over town were submitted during the month-long contest which was judged by the City’s Environmental Control Officer and a professional Forester.
This ad and entry form appeared in the May 1, 1987 edition of the Richmond Review,
Winner of the oldest tree was a Giant Sequoia on No.4 Road which was 104 years old at the time. Honorable Mention went to another Sequoia at Cambie and No.4 Road which was 95 years old. The tallest tree winner was a Douglas Fir at Chatham and First Ave. which was 114 feet tall, Honorable Mention was a Hemlock on Garden City Road at 103 feet.
Winner of the tallest tree category was this Douglas Fir located on Chatham Street just east of First Avenue, submitted by the residents of the Lions Manor in Steveston. City of Richmond Archives Accession 1987 60.
Rarest tree was an Ontario Sugar Maple on Sexsmith Road, planted in 1910 by a member of the Sexsmith Family. Honorable Mention in that category was a Fig Tree on Glenacres Drive. The prize for the Most Interesting Tree was won by a Chinese Dawn Redwood on Alexandra Road. The Honorable Mention went to a Pear Tree near General Currie School with four varieties of fruit grafted to it.
This Weeping Willow tree under the Arthur Laing Bridge was planted by the Grauer Family to commemorate the birth of a child and was considered a tree of significance. Grauer’s Store can be seen in the background. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1997 42 1 440.
A few years later the City hired a Landscape Architect to create Richmond’s first professionally prepared list of Heritage Trees. The Consultant identified 127 significant trees or groves of trees, a list that was enhanced by the collection of historical data by other consultants and a citizen’s advisory committee. All of this groundwork was intended to lead to a way to preserve trees of significance, a challenging prospect considering the subjective nature of determining exactly what criteria identifies a Heritage tree. Attempts at protecting specific trees with bylaws or by heritage designation proved to be impractical and today those protections have been superseded by Tree Protection Bylaw 8057 which offers much broader protection to all trees 20cm or greater diameter as measured 1.4 m above the ground. Even with this bylaw it has to be recognized that at some point in a tree’s life they can get old, diseased, get costly and difficult to maintain and become hazardous and need to be removed. There is also a limit to what a city can do to with respect to tree preservation on private property.
A Richmond Tree
As an example of a tree of significance, let’s focus on one that has been in the public eye since it was planted around 1920. After the end of World War One the former Minoru Racetrack reopened as Brighouse Park Racetrack.
Race fans crowd the rail in front of the clubhouse to watch the Parade to the Post at Brighouse Park Racetrack, ca. 1924. At the centre of the photograph, the young American Elm grows. City of Richmond Archives photograph 2001 9 30.
Michael Wilkinson Brighouse purchased the racetrack property and made several changes, improving and enlarging the grandstands, clubhouse and grounds and planting a number of trees. Quite a few of those trees are still standing but one in particular stands out, planted on its own rather than in a group and in an area that has been photographed many times over the years.
This aerial image taken in 1951 shows the now defunct Brighouse Park Racetrack and Richmond Town Hall. The grandstand has been removed but the clubhouse is still there and the Elm tree, much larger and full of foliage, still stands beside the track. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1984 17 5.
This tree, an American Elm (Ulmus americana), has stayed rooted in the same spot for about 100 years, while the City has changed around it. Once a small trackside shade tree it has seen the demise of horse racing in Richmond, had a road built past it separating it from some of its fellow racetrack trees, shaded the back of the Richmond Twin Theatres, the Richmond Centre parkade and now is dwarfed by high-rise buildings behind it.
Workmen lay foundations for the Richmond Twin Theatres under the boughs of the American Elm in this January, 1968 Richmond Review picture. Other trees from the racetrack grow in the background. City of Richmond Archives, Richmond Review, Frank Dawson photograph.
The American Elm tree is located on City property and can be more easily maintained and protected by the City than trees located on private property. Many trees considered to be of heritage value have been lost to disease, out growing their locations, age or safety but many have also been saved through the work of private citizens and City staff.
Looking west toward the Minoru Cultural Centre ca. 1995. The American Elm stands close to the Richmond Centre Parkade. City of Richmond Archives photograph 2008 39 1 184.The American Elm today with new buildings rising behind. John Campbell photograph.
Hopefully this tree and others like it will be preserved so that future generations can appreciate their beauty as well as their significance to the heritage of our City. As Joyce Kilmer closed his poem,
“Poems are made by fools like me, But only God can make a tree”
The place now known as the City of Richmond is located in the traditional and unceded territory of the hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓ (Hunquminum) speaking people. They lived on and moved throughout the area using the many natural resources available to support themselves and their culture.
The arrival of non-Indigenous settlers in the 1800s began changing the land into what we know today. Mostly farmers, they began the process of dyking and draining and the construction of roads. Eventually they organized and submitted a petition to the Lieutenant-Governor in Council requesting the incorporation of a municipality under the name of the Township of Richmond, allowing them to collect taxes to help pay for continued development.
Richmond, North Yorkshire was the first place to have the name. It was founded about 800 years before Richmond, British Columbia. Photograph from https://www.richmond.org/Visit.
Richmond is believed to be the most common place name in the world. There are at least 105 locations on the planet called Richmond, six in Canada including this one. The original Richmond was founded in 1071 in what is now Yorkshire by Count Alan Rufus on lands granted to him by William the Conqueror after the Norman Invasion of Britain in 1066. The name comes from Norman French, “Richemonte,” meaning “Strong Hill.” Count Alan built a Norman Castle on the banks of the River Swale and the town grew up around it. The area became the seat of the Dukes of Richmond whose descendants travelled around the world naming the places they found after themselves. Other places were named Richmond by people who had a connection with older Richmonds, spreading the name even further.
The naming of Richmond, British Columbia is one of those historic events in which the reason for choosing the name was not officially documented. We know when it took place and who the participants were but not the motive behind it. This is further complicated by there being a number of people involved who had a connection to other places named “Richmond.”
Hugh and Jennie McRoberts – Richmond, New South Wales, Australia
Hugh McRoberts is acknowledged to be the first non-Indigenous settler in what is now Richmond. He was born in Belfast, Ireland in 1814 and emigrated to Australia with his wife in the 1840s where his daughter Jennie was born. In 1849 he set off for North America and made unsuccessful attempts at gold mining in California and at Yale on the Fraser River.
Hugh McRoberts, BC pioneer and Richmond’s first farmer. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1978 2 29.
After failing to make his fortune gold mining, he was awarded a contract from the Colonial Government to build a road between Yale and Boston Bar and a trail from New Westminster to the river mouth, earning enough to bring Jennie to British Columbia and to buy some land. Around 1860 McRoberts pre-empted 1600 acres on the Vancouver side of the North Arm and on Sea Island where he built a house and established a farm, built the first dykes in what is now Richmond and raised crops such as wheat, apples, plums, cherries, pears and potatoes and raised cattle.
A sketch of “Richmond View” by an admirer of Jennie McRoberts done in 1863. He described it as “a poor attempt to represent on paper one of the most lovely spots in B.C.” City of Richmond Archives photograph 1987 30 6.
Before long he owned nearly half of Sea Island, which people of the day referred to as “McRoberts’ Island.” His daughter Jenny named the house he built at the farm “Richmond Place” and their farm “Richmond View” because it reminded her of “Richmond” New South Wales, near where she grew up. This was the first time that the name “Richmond” was associated with the place we now call Richmond.
Hugh McRoberts’ house on his Sea Island Farm, Richmond View. By 1862 Richmond View Farm was harvesting wheat and other crops for sale in New Westminster. The farm was acquired by Thomas Laing in 1894. City of Richmond Archives photograph RCF 23.
Hugh McRoberts had sold his farm by the early 1870s and moved to New Westminster where he had a dairy business. He passed away in 1883, “Leaving a long and interesting record as a pioneer, a good sturdy man of the best type,” in the words of early Richmond historian, Thomas Kidd. Jennie had married and moved to Victoria in 1864 so neither she or her father could be credited with influencing the original petitioners to name the new municipality Richmond, although they and their farm were well known, which may have had some bearing.
Hugh and Mary Boyd – Richmond, Yorkshire, England
Hugh Boyd was born in 1842 in the same part of Northern Ireland as Hugh McRoberts and came to British Columbia in 1862. He, like so many, made an unsuccessful attempt at gold mining in the Cariboo. Returning to New Westminster, he worked building the trail from New Westminster to the mouth of the Fraser River in association with Hugh McRoberts, the McCleery Brothers, Alexander Kilgour and J. Mackie. In 1866 he partnered with Alexander Kilgour and they homesteaded on Sea Island on property abutting Hugh McRoberts’ Richmond View Farm. The property was known as Rosebrook Farm.
This map of McRoberts (Sea) Island shows the locations of Hugh McRoberts’ Richmond View Farm and Hugh Boyd and Alexander Kilgour’s Rosebrook Farm. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1997 42 4 56.
In 1873 Hugh Boyd married Mary Ann McColl, the daughter of Sgt. William McColl of the Royal Engineers in New Westminster. Miss McColl was born in the original Richmond in Yorkshire, England. On November 10, 1879, when Hugh Boyd and the 24 other petitioners signed the request for the incorporation of the Township of Richmond, they did so in the dining room of the Boyd’s house at Rosebrook Farm. Hugh Boyd was selected as the first “Warden” (Reeve) of the new Municipality and Council meetings were held in the Boyd’s dining room for the next year until the first Town Hall could be built.
Hugh Boyd, the first Reeve of the Township of Richmond. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1978 2 5.
The Boyds left British Columbia and returned to Ireland in 1887 where they lived until their deaths, he in October 1931 and she in January 1952 at the age of 97 years. They named their home in Bangor, Northern Ireland, “Richmond.” Mrs. Boyd maintained that Richmond was named in her honour. In a letter to Major Matthews, the City of Vancouver Archivist, in 1944 she said, “The name of Richmond was decided on as an honour to me, and the name of the town I was born in somewhere in Yorkshire; also for allowing my dining room as Council Chamber until a hall was built.”
Mrs. Hugh Boyd, nee Mary Ann McColl, whose dining room was used as Richmond’s Council Chamber for a year before the first Town Hall was built. Image cropped from City of Richmond Archives photograph 1987 49 1.
W.D. Ferris- Richmond, Surrey, England
William Douglas Ferris was born in Richmond, Surrey, England and immigrated to Eastern Canada where he lived for many years before moving west to British Columbia, settling in New Westminster. As Thomas Kidd said in his book History of Richmond Municipality, Ferris had “all the spirit of a pioneer” and in 1866 at the age of 51 years he took a farm on Lulu Island, moving there with his wife and family. In 1877, now in his sixties and feeling too old to continue farming, he sold his farm to J.W. Sexsmith and moved back to New Westminster where he served as a Justice of the Peace and was elected as Mayor in 1879.
The petition, handwritten by W.D. Ferris, asking the Lieutenant Governor in Council to incorporate the Township of Richmond. City of Richmond Archives image RCF 39.
He maintained an interest and friendships with the settlers on Lulu and Sea Islands and, although he was not eligible to sign the document, he drew up the hand-written petition urging the Lieutenant Governor in Council to incorporate the Township of Richmond. Thomas Kidd related that he “has a dim remembrance of being told at the time of circulation that Mr. Ferris had chosen the name of Richmond for the Municipality to commemorate the name of his own native place in England.”
W.D. Ferris in 1879 when he was Mayor of New Westminster. New Westminster Archives Item IHP 1874.
John Wesley Sexsmith – Richmond Township, Lennox County, (Upper Canada, Canada West) Ontario
John Wesley Sexsmith was one of the most influential people in Richmond’s early history. He was born on May 10, 1830 in Richmond Township, Lennox County, Upper Canada where he grew up, attended school and worked on the family farm. At age 25 he went into business, opening a dry goods, grocery and hardware store in the Hamlet of Selby with his brother and brother-in-law and running a cheese factory with a partner. He also became active in public affairs and was the Treasurer of the Township of Richmond, Lennox and Addington for 18 years. In 1876 he and his family moved from Ontario to British Columbia and purchased 160 acres from W.D Ferris on the North Arm of the Fraser in 1877.
John Wesley Sexsmith, Richmond Reeve, farmer, businessman and community leader. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1994 18 1.
In 1879, he and his son, Charles Garret Sexsmith, signed the petition for incorporation. There is little doubt that J.W. Sexsmith’s experience and leadership had a great bearing on the formation of Richmond. As a rural area with small pockets of population here and there under a single administration, Richmond certainly followed the Ontario model of the Township Municipality from the 1800s. Mr. Sexsmith’s 18 years of experience in the municipal government of Richmond Township before moving to BC must have made him a leader in the discussions around incorporation.
The Sexsmith family home on River Road with family members standing in front, ca. 1890. J.W. Sexsmith and his wife Alice Mary Tuttle Sexsmith on the right. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1999 8 6.
J.W. Sexsmith was the only one of the aforementioned people who stayed in Richmond and took a lifelong part in community and business life here. He served as the Reeve of the Municipality for four terms and was the first Postmaster. He helped build, support and preached at the Richmond Methodist Church (now Minoru Chapel). He was one of the first School Board Trustees and founded the North Arm School District in 1877, the Lower Mainland’s first, and founded and was first president of the Richmond Agricultural Society. In business he built and operated a cheese factory on his farm, was one of the partners in the construction and operation of the Provincial Cannery, operated a steamboat service between Richmond and New Westminster, and was a financial backer of the Easterbrook Flour Mill. As Reeve and as a private citizen Mr. Sexsmith led and supported many of the significant developments in Richmond’s history, including the first telephone, bridges connecting Lulu and Sea Islands to the mainland across the North and Middle Arms, the railway to Steveston and the supply of electricity. He retired in 1908 and lived the rest of his life in his home on River Road, passing away in 1920 after a long and productive life. Descendants of Mr. Sexsmith maintain he that named our Richmond after his birthplace.
The first Richmond Town Hall, located near the intersection of Cambie and River Roads, ca. 1888. As a School Trustee J.W. Sexsmith applied for use of the hall for school purposes. This image shows school children playing outside, including four Sexsmith family members. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1984 17 77.
The Corporation of the Township of Richmond, British Columbia
It is difficult to conclude that any one person can be said to have named Richmond. There are twenty-five signatures on the petition requesting incorporation so, obviously, a suggestion was made and a consensus was reached and, ironically, these flat, boggy islands were given a name that means “Strong Hill”. On December 3, 1990, Richmond lost its longtime designation as a Township and became the City of Richmond, having grown from a small farming district of 200 to 400 people into a diverse, multicultural city of over 200,000.
Movie theatres are usually marked by a well lit marquee to attract the eye and advertise the features playing there. This example is from the Richmond Square Twin Theatres. City of Richmond Archives photograph 2008 39 2 16.
Motion Pictures have been entertaining people since the first public showings in the 1890s. In 1898, Vancouver’s first motion picture was played in a warehouse on Cordova Street by John A. Shuberg, a Swedish immigrant who had purchased one of Edison’s Kinetograph machines, the first commercially available projector. The show featured moving images from the Spanish-American War with Shuberg adding sound effects from behind the screen by banging sheets of tin and shooting guns. After a two-week sold out run he took the show on the road, building a portable tent theatre and touring around Canada and the United States. Upon returning to Vancouver in 1902 Shuberg opened the “Edison Electric Theatre” on Cordova Street, converting the Central Hotel into Canada’s first movie house. The movie industry has grown exponentially since those days, surviving the Great Depression, World Wars and predictions of its impending doom because of influences like television, home movie rentals and streaming services. Richmond has had a number of venues where locals could enjoy a the latest Hollywood release without leaving the community. Here are the places that they could go to enjoy a movie over the years.
This marquee pointed the way to Richmond’s Delta Drive-In Theatre. City of Richmond Archives, George Bergson photograph 2016 19 18217.
The Richmond Theatre
Eugene Greczmiel was a well-known and respected resident of Richmond whose life story is filled with tales of entrepreneurial determination and success. In 1929 he opened the Richmond Theatre, the first one in town. The theatre was located on Moncton Street in a building which survived the 1918 Steveston Fire and still stands today. Greczmiel played silent movies twice a week at the picture show and included imported Japanese films to attract moviegoers from the large Japanese Canadian population in Steveston.
This image of athletes participating in the first Kendo tournament held in Steveston is believed to have been taken inside the Richmond Theatre. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1977 7 4.
When “talkies” became the latest thing he built his own sound head for the projector for a cost of $175, saving thousands on the cost of buying one. In his own words, “It worked, but it wasn’t very good.” “Lots of music, little speech.” Around 1932 Mr. Greczmiel opened the Marpole Theatre on the Vancouver side of the River and the Richmond Theatre was closed. The building at 3700 Moncton Street was the location of the Redden Net Company for many years and at present is a dental office.
This building at 3700 Moncton Street was the location of Richmond’s first moving picture show. City of Richmond Archives, Graham Turnbull photograph.
The Steva Theatre
Richmond’s next movie theatre was also located in Steveston. In 1945, Washington Thorne moved to Richmond from Saskatchewan, along with his wife Helen and son Brian. Bemoaning the fact that Richmondites had to travel all the way to Vancouver to go to a movie, in 1946 he began the transformation of the former Japanese Buddhist Temple on First Avenue into a 420 seat movie house.
The Steva Theatre is shown here, ca. 1950. Playing the week the picture was taken were “The Flame and the Arrow” (1950) with Burt Lancaster and Virginia Mayo, “The White Tower” (1950) with Claude Rains and Glenn Ford and “Road Show” (1941) with Adolphe Menjou and Carole Landis. City of Richmond Archives photograph 2010 51 1.
The building was rewired and a decorative façade added to the front. Red leather seating with wooden arm rests were installed, a stage was erected and “teaser” curtains hung on either side to frame the twelve by sixteen foot, glass beaded movie screen.
A pair of reupholstered seats from the Steva Theatre are preserved in the Richmond Museum’s artefact collection. City of Richmond Collection 020.15.1
Restrooms, a concession stand and projection room were constructed. The Steva Theatre opened for business on October 3, 1947 with a sold-out showing of “Black Beauty” starring Mona Freeman and Richard Denning.
A light box sign from the Steva Theatre ticket office window. City of Richmond Collection 023.23.2
There were living quarters in the back of the theatre that the Thorne family occupied. The family also made up most of the theatre’s staff, Wash Thorne doing promotional work as well as operating one of the two projectors along with a hired projectionist, Helen and a friend took care of the ticket booth and concession stand and Brian sold popcorn outside to the people lined up on the sidewalk. Janitorial duties were shared by everyone. Three different movies were played each week and matinees for the kids were played on Saturdays. Even with a busy showing schedule like this, there was seldom an empty theatre. Mr. Thorne’s prowess at bidding for movies often resulted in new releases being shown at the Steva before they hit the theatres in Vancouver. Admission in the late 1940s was ten cents for features and five cents for matinees.
Special events to attract movie goers were another factor in the Steva’s success. “Foto Nites” were one event used by theatres around North America. Audience members and participants in an amateur contest would be given numbers. The winner of the contest would reveal their number and if an member of the audience had the same number they would have their “Foto” taken and be awarded the prize of $200, a nice sum in the 1950s! The “Foto” would be posted at the theatre, the whole procedure necessary to avoid breaking any laws about gambling or lotteries.
A program for movies showing at the Steva in February and March 1951. City of Richmond Collection S980.59.1
To take advantage of the 1950s 3-D movie craze, Mr. Thorne upgraded the theatre, installing a 20 HP generator, a new sound system and a polarized screen. In August 1953 Paramount’s first 3-D picture, “Sangaree,” played for a full week, followed by “House Of Wax” with Vincent Price in September. Cardboard 3-D glasses were included in the price of admission.
Ad for the first 3-D movie in August 1953. City of Richmond Archives Reference Files.
The Steva Theatre closed in 1960 and the building was sold in 1972. Today in the building where excited children filled the seats to see the latest Western, other children attend a daycare and children’s learning centre.
The Lulu Theatre
The March 5, 1947 issue of the Richmond Review announced the granting of two licenses for “Two New Theatres For Richmond – One at Steveston, One at Brighouse.” The one at Steveston was of course the Steva Theatre. The second, the “Brighouse Theatre” proposed by Peter Barnes of the Photo Night Company and backed by Harry Reifel, required the construction of a new building. There were many delays that affected the building of this theatre. Another company had already been granted a license in 1946 to build a theatre in the Brighouse area which stipulated that no other theatre could be built within two and one half miles. The failure of this company to show any progress on the project resulted in the withdrawal of their license allowing construction to begin. The building at 608 No. 3 Road was put up by Alex Mudry, A.G. Silverton and William Thomson who then sold it to Peter Barnes, “an expert at the business” who owned and operated theatres around the lower mainland and in Ontario.
The Lulu Theatre, shown here in 1958, was in the heart of Brighouse at 608 No.3 Road. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1988 18 31.
Barnes changed the theatre’s name to The Lulu Theatre and outfitted it with the “very newest of equipment.” The front of the building featured a neon lit marquee topped by a tall vertical floodlit structure with three foot tall red letters spelling the word “LULU”.
The interior of the theatre was decorated in shades of red and blue. Seating for 449 people was provided, upholstered in wine coloured fabric with wood arms. Carpeting was wine coloured and the draw curtain in front of the screen was in magenta with gold satin trim.
This January 4, 1956 ad from the Richmond Review shows the Thursday night prize for “Foto Nite” at the Lulu. “Foto Nite” promotions were used to attract patrons to theatres on normally low attendance nights in the 50s.
The Lulu had its first showing on May 12, 1948 with “Blue Skies” starring Bing Crosby, Fred Astaire and Joan Caulfield, a musical comedy based on a story by Irving Berlin. Opening night was attended by Reeve R.M. Grauer who congratulated Alex Mudry, A.G. Silverton and William Thomson on the accomplishment of having the theatre built and ready in only four months, introduced the owner and operator Peter Barnes and declared the theatre open. The Lulu played three different movies a week, featured “Foto-Nite” contests on Wednesday and Thursday and Saturday matinees. Admission for adults was 40 cents, children 20 cents, matinees were 25 cents for adults and children 5 cents.
This Lulu Theatre program advertises what’s on in October 1956. City of Richmond Reference Files.
It is not known exactly when movies stopped being shown at the Lulu Theatre but advertising for coming features in the Richmond Review newspaper stopped after the March 26, 1958 edition. The building remained in use as the home for a variety of businesses until it was demolished in the late 1990s.
The Delta Drive-In
The headline in the January 21, 1953 Richmond Review read, “Richmond to Have Drive-in Theatre For This Summer.” The Chechik Brothers from Mayer Enterprises had requested to Municipal Council that 40 acres of land purchased from L.F. Mitchell on No.5 Road, just north of Mitchell School, be rezoned to allow the construction of the “Fraser Drive-In Theatre.” The brothers were well prepared for their presentation to Council, with plans for dealing with traffic and noise and with references and photos from other communities where Mayer Enterprises had set up and operated other Drive-ins, proving that the development would be a “credit to the community.” The rezoning was granted after the obligatory waiting period and construction began.
An article in the Richmond Review announces the proposed Drive-In.
It only took ten weeks for construction to be completed. This included the laying of forty thousand yards of sand, twelve thousand yards of gravel and the driving of 20 piles to support the 50 foot wide screen. A building was erected to house the cafeteria style snack bar and projection room equipped with a 100 amp water cooled projector powered by a 20 horsepower generator. A playground was installed to keep the kids occupied while Mom and Dad enjoyed the movie with sound track provided by speakers which hooked inside the window of the car. The name of the drive-in had also been changed to the “Delta Drive-In”
This artist’s conception printed in the Richmond Review shows the plan for the proposed Drive-In Theatre.
In March a request to council was made on behalf of the owner of the Lulu Theatre for the rezoning of land next to the unfinished Delta Drive-In for the building of a second drive-in. This request was objected to by the RCMP, Public Works and community groups and was subsequently rejected.
The opening night announcement published in the Richmond Review on May 13, 1953.
The Delta Drive-In opened for business on Wednesday, May 13, 1953 with a showing of “Ten Tall Men,” a French Foreign Legion Action, Adventure movie starring Burt Lancaster. Also shown was the Walt Disney live animal Feature “Beaver Valley” and a cartoon. Admission for adults was 60 cents on weekdays, 75 cents on Saturdays and holidays, students (12 to 18 years) 40 cents on weekdays and 50 cents Saturdays and holidays. Children under 12 got in free.
This 1977 aerial view shows the Delta Drive-In with No.5 Road running diagonally behind the screen. City of Richmond Archives, George McNutt photograph.
The Delta Drive-In operated until 1980, featuring films of every genre and offering space for well attended “Swap Meets” on Sundays. By 1984 the land was being redeveloped for townhouse complexes and single family dwellings and the old entrance to the Delta Drive-In was replaced by Greenland Drive.
This 1981 image shows the Delta Drive-In sign, the speaker stands and the snack bar and projection building being torn down in the background. City of Richmond Archives, George Bergson photograph 2016 19 18218.
The Famous Players Richmond Square Twin Theatres
The Richmond Square Twin Theatres were located in the west parking lot at the Richmond Square Shopping Centre in a stand alone concrete building. It was Richmond’s first multi-screen cinema.
This image from the January 17, 1968 Richmond review shows the beginnings of construction on the Twin Theatres.The Famous Players Richmond Square Twin Theatres. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1983 7 1.
The theatre opened on June 27, 1968 with the features “The Odd Couple,” starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau and a Disney feature, “The One and Only, Genuine, Original Family Band” with Walter Brennan, Buddy Ebsen, Disney staple Kurt Russell and the film debut of his future wife, Goldie Hawn.
An opening night advertisement from the Vancouver Sun newspaper.
The theatre expanded to three screens in 1980 and had seats for 1126 people. In 1990 the theatres were closed and the building was demolished to make room for the construction of the Richmond Centre Mall parkade.
The demolition of the Richmond Square Theatres in 1990. City of Richmond Archives photograph 2008 39 4 591.
The Famous Players Richport Cinemas
Famous Players opened the Richport Cinemas on December 13,1985 at the Richport Centre at the intersection of No.3 Road and Ackroyd Road.
The Famous players Richport Cinemas in 1989. City of Richmond Archives photograph 2008 39 2 68.
The Cinemas had two screens, each seating 398 for a total of 796 seats. The feature attractions on opening night were “Rocky IV,” starring Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire and “Spies Like Us” with Chevy Chase and Dan Aykroyd.
A December 10, 1985 Vancouver Province opening night advertisement for the Richport Cinemas.
Richport Cinemas were taken over by Cineplex Odeon following the opening of the Richmond Centre 6 by Famous Players. Due to competition from the SilverCity Riverport, the Richport was closed in 1999 and was renovated for use as retail space.
Famous Players Richmond Centre 6 Cinemas
Famous Players opened the Richmond Centre 6 Cinemas in the Richmond Centre Shopping Mall on November 23, 1990. Famous players President and CEO Ronald Emilio said, “We have created a completely new complex in the Richmond Centre to replace a triple screen theatre. The new complex will bring back a sense of occasion to moviegoing in Richmond.”
The Famous Players Richmond Centre 6 Cinemas marquee outside the west entrance of Richmond Centre Mall. City of Richmond Archives photograph, Accession 2009 16.
The entrance to the theatres was closest to the west entrance of Richmond Centre Mall. The lobby was designed to resemble a night time streetscape with marquees showing theatre names and movie titles. Each of the six screens at the theatre complex had an individual name, Century had 466 seats, Metro had 370, Rialto had 358, Majestic had 285, Olympia had 266 and Regent had 234 for a total of 1979 seats, including 28 wheelchair accessible ones. The theatres were equipped with large screens, Dolby SR sound systems, 70mm film capability and luxurious seating with plenty of legroom.
An opening night newspaper ad.
The feature films played on opening night were “Rocky V” starring Sylvester Stallone and Talia Shire, the Disney animated feature “Rescuers Down Under,” “Ghost” with Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg, the World War Two bomber drama “Memphis Belle,” “Jacob’s Ladder” with Tim Robbins and “Three Men and a Little Lady” with Ted Danson, Tom Selleck and Steve Guttenburg. Cineplex Odeon took over operations of the Richmond Centre 6 in 2005 and the Famous Players Richmond Centre 6 Cinemas closed on March 27, 2011.
The Famous Players Silvercity Riverport complex was built during a huge expansion of the company’s business, taking advantage of the latest advances in cinema and sound technology. The theatre was built at the massive Riverport Sports and Entertainment complex which included attractions like the Richmond Ice Centre, the Watermania Aquatic Centre, a bowling alley, brew pub, White Spot Restaurant, etc.
This image from the November 12, 1997 Richmond News shows the Silvercity Riverport still under construction.
An opening night ad from the December 17, 1997 Richmond News.
Famous Players Director of Public Relations, Dennis Kucherawy stated, “We’re building state-of-the-art theatres that will allow people to see motion pictures as they’re meant to be seen by directors, which is larger than life on a big screen with big sound.”
The $12.7-million, 7200 square metre, 12 screen complex opened on Wednesday December 17, 1997 with a special benefit night. Attendees were treated to the best movies of 1997 for a $2.00 admittance fee and half price food. All proceeds from the night were to benefit Ronald McDonald House. An additional six screens and an IMAX theater were opened on December 18, 1998 bringing the total number of theatres to 19 with seating for a total of 4,508, with the smallest theatre seating 168 and the largest 446.
Cineplex Odeon took over operations in 2005. The Cineplex Odeon Silvercity Riverport remains today as Richmond’s only remaining movie business, but offers more individual screens than all the its predecessors combined.
The Riverport Silvercity Cinemas, 2023. Google Maps photo.
Who knows what the future of the movie theatre will be? In spite of the easy availability of movies, streamed straight to big screen televisions in the comfort of your own home, the experience of going out to the movies with other people still remains popular. Theatres have evolved to entice modern audiences with comfortable seating, amazing sound systems and high definition projection. Concession sales make up a large portion of the profits earned by theatres today and while traditional theatre snacks like popcorn, soft drinks and candy are still there, wraps, sandwiches, hot dogs and nachos are now available, along with a side of fries or poutine. Other features like arcades, bowling alleys and even bars offer other activities for moviegoers. It seems like the days of going to the movies in Richmond will be with us into the foreseeable future.
Richmond has a long and rich history of Japanese immigration and settlement. Various places around Richmond, Sea Island, Don Island and, in particular, Steveston were areas where Japanese immigrants lived, worked, raised families and contributed to the diverse cultural blend of our city.
Steveston looking west along Moncton Street from No.1 Road around 1940. The majority of the businesses along this street were operated by Japanese-Canadian entrepreneurs at the time. City of Richmond Archives photograph RCF 274.
Japanese immigrants (Nikkei) arrived in Steveston around the time that the English Cannery opened in 1882 and by the 1900s made up a large portion of the Steveston population. Mostly male and mostly fishermen, they were accommodated in bunkhouses built by the canneries. During the fishing season Japanese “Bosses,” who had control of twenty or thirty boats, would negotiate contracts with the canneries for them and take care of their needs such as food, clothing and other services in return for a percentage of their wages.
This image taken on November 22, 1936 shows members of the Japanese community gathered outside the Japanese Buddhist Mission on First Avenue to commemorate the ceremony of “Putting in the Buddha.” City of Richmond Archives photograph 1995 3 1.
Although the original intention of many of the men was to return to Japan after working in Canada, many decided to stay permanently. Some returned to Japan to find wives, others had their families back home arrange marriages with suitable women, the so-called “Picture Brides”. Bunkhouses were unsuitable for married couples, so canneries built small houses to accommodate families.
A group of Japanese girls pose for a picture in traditional May Day dress outside the Steveston Japanese School ca. 1926. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1978 1 36.
The Nikkei population grew, the men fishing and their wives working in the canneries and raising families. They diversified, expanding into boatbuilding, buying property, farming and starting businesses. People joined Faith communities, formed sports teams and created a rich community life.
The Steveston Fuji baseball team played in the Vancouver Japanese League with the Asahi Giants, Powell Drugs and Union Fish teams. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1977 7 12.
Contending with discrimination and exclusion, The Japanese Fishermen’s Benevolent Society was formed in 1897 to protect the interests of the Nikkei fishermen and the community, A 1906 decision by the Richmond School Board to ban children of non-property owners effectively deprived most of the Nikkei children of an education and resulted in the construction of the Steveston Japanese School. To ensure that the health needs of the community were met, the Japanese Fishermen’s Hospital was built, Richmond’s first.
The Japanese Fishermen’s Hospital on No.1 Road in Steveston, ca. 1915. City of Richmond Archives photograph 2006 39 47.
By the 1930s the Japanese population had grown to account for two-thirds to three quarters of the total population of Steveston, approximately 3500 people. Nikkei owned businesses and stores of every description lined Moncton Street from No.1 Road to Third Avenue. Grocery stores, meat and fish markets, hardware and general stores, a bicycle shop, the River Garage, a billiard hall and clothing stores operated by Nikkei entrepreneurs could be found on both sides of the street. Five confectioneries (candy and chocolate shops) satisfied those with a craving for sweets.
The Mukai Confectionary stood at the corner of Moncton Street and No.1 Road and had a confectionary in the front, a pool hall in the back and ten bedrooms upstairs. It also housed a taxi business and had space used by a dentist who came to Steveston once a week. The building was lost in a fire sometime between 1942 and 1951 but the location is still known as Mukai Corner. City of Richmond Archives photograph RCF 272.
The density of the Japanese Canadian population in Steveston is very obvious when looking at the meticulous research done by Haruji (Harry) Mizuta who, using maps from the 1936 Waterworks Atlas of Richmond, marked the locations of Nikkei homes and businesses from the Scottish Canadian Cannery in what is now Garry Point Park to the Winch Cannery at the foot of No.2 Road. This is especially true with the map he marked as #30-2 1930s – Gulf of Georgia Cannery and Old Steveston Town – Steveston BC.
This map, created by Haruji (Harry) Mizuta illustrates the quantity of Nikkei homes and businesses, marked by blue and red dots, in Steveston during the Thirties. City of Richmond Archives Reference Files.
The growth of “Japan Town” came to a sudden halt with the forced relocation of Japanese Canadians from the Coast of British Columbia. Families were uprooted, stripped of their property and moved to areas where they had to start over and rebuild their lives, often in harsh circumstances. Steveston became a virtual ghost town with so many of its residents suddenly gone. In 1949 when Nikkei families were permitted to come back to the coast, those who decided to return rebuilt their lives and community again. Today the legacy of Japan Town is a cherished and honoured part of Steveston’s and Richmond’s history.
Haruji (Harry) Mizuta’s research shows some of the businesses and business owners along Moncton Street during the 1930s. City of Richmond Archives Reference files.
Anyone who has lived along the water in areas where the fishing industry operates is familiar with fish net floats. Picked up on beaches while beachcombing, strung on ropes to make ornamental fencing or to decorate the verandas of beach cabins, floats are an instantly recognizable symbol of life on the beach.
A man hauls in a gillnet fitted with cedar corks in this image ca. 1960. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1985 4 134.
Plastic floats have taken over the market since the 1950s, but before then fishing floats were almost exclusively made of cork or wood. The wooden ones were known as “cedar corks” and the only commercial supplier of them on the West Coast was Thomas Goulding who produced them in his Cork Mill at the Acme Cannery on Sea Island.
Surrounded by cannery housing, these three canneries dominated the south-west shore of Sea Island. At the bottom is the Fraser River Cannery, in the middle is the Vancouver Cannery and at top is the Acme Cannery where the Cork Mill was located. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1985 166 10.
The Acme Cannery was built in 1899, part of the boom in cannery construction during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to take advantage of the seemingly unlimited supply of salmon available in the Fraser River. In 1902 it was absorbed into the British Columbia Packers amalgamation. In 1918 it closed, but the buildings, net racks and moorage were maintained for the community of fishermen, mostly Japanese, who lived around it. In a small building on the west side of the cannery Mr. Goulding set up the cork mill. The building and all the equipment for the mill, the saws, the lathes, the reamer, the stringer and the tar vat were all hand-built by him with help from his Japanese neighbours.
Framed in red in this image, the cork mill is the small building visible next to the white wall of the Acme Cannery. Next to it are the net racks where the bundles of corks were hung to dry. Image cropped from City of Richmond Archives photograph 1985 166 10.
Work at the Cork Mill was seasonal. It sat idle during the fishing and canning season, operating only during the winter and spring. Western red cedar logs were supplied by coastal fishermen, found floating free or onshore in the Gulf of Georgia or possibly “liberated” from booms. The logs were cut into “cork bolts,” about four inches by four inches by four feet long.
Making the corks was fairly straightforward. The cork bolts were cut into blocks of either six or eight inches. A hole was bored through the centre of the cork which was smoothed and chamfered to prevent damaging the fishing net’s rope. The corks were then turned into their oval shapes on the mill’s lathes. A good day’s work could produce 2000 corks, ready for the next step in their production.
This map from the 1936 Waterworks Atlas shows the layout of buildings around the Acme Cannery. City of Richmond Archives image
Tom Goulding’s granddaughter, Doreen Montgomery Braverman, worked at her grandfather’s cork mill occasionally after school and described her part in the process. “The next step was to thread them onto twine in lots of ten. That was the job they sometimes let me do. A reef knot tied the twine together so the floats could be dipped into a vat of hot tar to preserve them. They dried on net racks next to the vat.”
Completed cedar corks were likely shipped out by boat, there being no road access to the mill. Distribution of the product was carried out by the various fishing companies, BC Packers, Nelson Brothers, J.H. Todd, Canadian Fishing Company, etc. The users of the corks were gillnet fishermen who would attach the floats to their nets using a crochet stitch. This was another job which could be done by young people, earning $15 per net, a job that could take several days.
Nets hung in a net loft are fitted with cedar corks in preparation for the upcoming fishing season in this image, ca. 1930. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1985 4 124.
Running the mill required a number of workers. Fishermen, both Japanese and European, found and delivered cork bolts. The mill itself had a core group of workers. Gordy Bicknell was second in command at the mill. Alice Gillespie, Francie Edwards, family members, neighbours and friends rounded out the workforce. When the Japanese families were forcibly removed from the West Coast in 1942, the loss of the work provided by those neighbours caused difficulty in supplying cork bolts for the mill, but work continued.
By the 1950s the use of plastic foam corks was cutting into demand for the ones produced at the mill. Around 1954 an expansion of the Vancouver Airport resulted in a runway extension into south-west Sea Island signaling the doom of the small community and industries there. The land was expropriated by Crown Assets, houses were torn down or moved and the canneries were razed, along with the cork mill. The only evidence of their existence that remains are old pilings that once supported the canneries.
A salmon gillnet is supported by a net rack on a Steveston dock, its corkline fitted with modern plastic foam corks. City of Richmond Archives photograph 1985 4 2436.
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