History of The Jews in Vancouver - History By Local Areas - Fraser Valley

Fraser Valley

A small number of Jewish families settled in the farmland of the Fraser Valley, east of Vancouver. They were generally storekeepers, farmers and doctors. Early Jewish residents of Maple Ridge included John and William Hammond, who arrived in 1872 and established the town of Port Hammond. Thomas Haney arrived in 1876 and built a brick plant that started nearby Port Haney. These towns peaked in the early 1880s as supply points for Canadian Pacific Railway construction; they are now parts of Maple Ridge, retaining their names as neighbourhoods.

Jewish settlement in the Fraser Valley was scattered, and the nearest synagogues were a day's travel away in Vancouver and Bellingham, Washington. In the early 1950s, the Rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel (Bellingham, Washington) briefly provided classes for local Jewish children. He could not visit frequently enough, however, and families resumed commuting. Since the 1964 opening of the Highway 1 freeway and Port Mann Bridge made travel easier, Fraser Valley Jewish families have been able to participate more fully in the synagogues of Vancouver and its suburbs. Some families still prefer to commute to Bellingham, Washington, which is closer but across the US border.