Viewing Object

By 1919, the Intercolonial, Canadian Northern, National Transcontinental and Grand Trunk Pacific had become part of a government railway system known as the Canadian National Railways (CN).

In 1958, the province of British Columbia celebrated its Centennial. 1858 was the year Governor James Douglas declared the mainland of British Columbia a British colony. This declaration was made at Fort Langley. Langley was therefore at the centre of the 100th anniversary celebrations in 1958. The Fort Langley National Historic Site was reconstructed by the federal government and officially opened in July by Princess Margaret. The Langley Centennial Museum was opened across the street and people in Langley participated in a wide range of commemorative events ranging from beard growing contests to pageants.
Term Source: Sears List of Subject Headings (16th. Ed.)

The Fort Langley CNoR Station (originally called "Langley") was built in 1915 using one of the Canadian Northern Railway's "third class" designs used until 1924. It was originally built approximately two blocks farther west, almost on the back of Charles Hope's property. In 1918 Canadian Northern became part of Canadian National, and the CN station was enlarged to accommodate larger living quarters for the Station Agent. The station was used full time until 1972 when it was reduced to a flag stop with passenger service being completely terminated in 1980. In 1983 the station was moved to its present location and restored by the Langley Heritage Society in cooperation with the Township of Langley. It was designated a heritage site on Feb. 27, 1984. The site now occupied by the station and Mrs. Simpson's garden was originally the home of Fort Langley's first firehall.

The paper was originally entitled the Langley Advance, and was first published July 23, 1931.The paper was started by Ernest J. Cox, who had moved to BC from North Battleford, Saskatchewan to take a half interest in the Abbotsford News along with Gerald Heller. At the same time, the Langley Board of Trade had been negotiating with Heller to start a paper in Langley: Cox took up the task. A few months after the Advance was founded, Cox and Heller went their separate ways, and Cox retained the Langley paper and Heller kept the Abbotsford paper. Cox ran the paper with the help of his wife and two teenaged children. After the war, son Fred Cox returned to the paper along with George Johnson (an RAF instructor) who had married daughter, Kathleen Cox. In 1947 Jim Schatz joined the paper. In 1949 The Langley Advance Publishing Co. Ltd. was formed with principals E.J. and Fred Cox, Johnson, and Schatz. E.J. Cox went into semi-retirement in 1958, and Fred Cox sold his interests in the paper, but took controlling interest of the commercial printing portion of the business. Schatz served as publisher and editor, and was well known in the BC newspaper industry. In 1981 Bob Groeneveld became editor, and remains editor today (2005).
Term Source: Paper Trails: a history of British Columbia and Yukon Community Newspapers, 1999 (by George Allan Afflek).

Term Source: Sears List of Subject Headings (16th. Ed.)