Cities: Abbotsford
Abbotsford History
The Sumas First Nation utilized the Sumas Lake and prairie area as source of wild hay, fish, water fowl, trade and travel for thousands of years. The first European activity was exploration by the Hudson's Bay Company. The Whatcom Trail, connecting Whatcom at Bellingham Bay in the US to the Sumas Prairie area as a quick route to the Fraser River Gold Rush in the interior of British Columbia. In 1874, this was connected with the Telegraph Trail, which became the New Westminster - Yale Road.
Laid out in 1889, Abbotsford takes its name from Harry Abbott, the general superintendent of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Districts of Sumas and Matsqui were incorporated in 1892. The railways brought in settlers and shipped out fresh produce. Later on, the Canadian National Railway passed through Matsqui, closer to the Fraser River, and the BC Electric Railway was built through Abbotsford by 1910. Abbotsford was finally incorporated until 1924 
Each spring, Sumas Lake would flood from 10,000 acres to 30,000 acres from the Chilliwack and Vedder rivers flowing into it. In 1919, Sumas Lake was drained to expand farm land and for flood control in the Sumas Prairie. In 1923, the Barrowtown Pump Station drained the reclaimed land reclaimed in the Sumas Drainage Project. By 1924, dykes were built to prevent flooding and the Vedder Canal diverted the Vedder River and provided irrigation and drainage for Sumas Prairie. Early crops in the new land were timothy, clover, tobacco, and later hops. Many consider this project the earliest destruction of Fraser Valley wetlands and the lost of fish and waterfowl habitat.
Here are the other Fraser Valley communities: Langley-Aldergove | Abbotsford-Matsqui | Chilliwack | Hope ] Community Map
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