(used with permission from the Tricities Chamber of Commerce)
Port Moody Regional History
First Nations Inhabitants
Prior to the arrival of European explorers, the Coast Salish First Nations communities lived along the southern coast of this province. Dialects of their language were spoken even further south. The mild climate and plentiful resources of this region allowed these first nations groups to live comparatively well. A number of first nations tribes lived in various areas according to their ethnic group such as the Sanetch, Cowichan, Nanaimo, Homalco, Sechelt, Squamish, Muskwiam and Tsawwassan.
It has been reported that two of these tribal groups, the Squamish and the Muskwiam came to Port Moody during the summer season to set up camps at the mouths of local streams such as Noons Creek for the purpose of hunting and gathering shell fish in preparation for the winter season.
Source: Early History of Port Moody, D.M. Norton (1987)
Port Moody's Early History
The early history of the Port Moody area was dominated by two events: the 1858 gold rush on the Fraser and the 1886 arrival of the first transcontinental train. With the sudden appearance of thousands of gold prospectors in the Fraser Valley and the need to develop a back-door defence for the burgeoning town of New Westminster, the Royal Engineers-commanded by Col. Richard Moody, after whom Port Moody was named in 1859 - were directed to clear a trail from the new capital of British Columbia to Burrard Inlet.
The trail, later known as North Road, would allow ships anchored in Burrard Inlet to unload military supplies and personnel if New Westminster were attacked from the south. No attack occurred. But a town, at first no more than a cluster of tents and shacks, began to grow, spurred on by several land grants to some of the Royal Engineers. One of them was John Murray, who eventually owned about half the town. His son, also named John, later was responsible for many street names-Murray, John, George, William, Henry, Jane, Mary, etc. The main thoroughfare, St. John's Street, is a misnomer: John Jr.-police officer, alderman and general mover and shaker-in error put "St." in front of, instead of behind, "John." So the official survey gave the street the name it has today. (The late Major J.S. Matthews, the Vancouver archivist, supposedly said when he heard of the street name: "Johnny Murray was no saint.")
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