Douglas Metro Vancouver Regional District, British Columbia

Community - An unincorporated populated place, generally with a population of 50 or more, and having a recognized central area that might contain a post office, store and/or community hall, etc, intended for the use of the general public in the region. On BC-Washington boundary, SE of White Rock in South Surrey, New Westminster Land District

Mapped Location

Douglas: The mapped location is an approximation and should not be used for navigation or wayfinding.

 

Information

General information on Douglas

  • Feature Type: Place

 

Official, historical, colloquial and alternative toponyms for Douglas

A brief list of names that this geographic feature has been named

Name Description
Douglas Official

 

Origin Notes and History of Douglas

References to Douglas that document the origin of its place name

Douglas (Customs Post) adopted 4 July 1957 on 92G/SE. Form of name changed to Douglas (settlement) 15 September 1966 on 92G/SE.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

According to April 1956 advice from Canada Customs Department, their facility on the Pacific Highway at Douglas and their facility about 1 mile west of here (adjacent to Semiahmoo Bay at the Peace Arch) are collectively administered as the "Port of Pacific Highway." Commercial vehicles and cars are diverted accordingly.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

This settlement was laid out by pioneering settler Benjamin Douglas, who also laid out Huntingdon, a few miles east of here in Abbotsford.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Nelson, Denys; Place Names of the Delta of the Fraser River; 1927, unpublished manuscript held in the Provincial Archives  |  Province of British Columbia

...Benjamin Douglas came to the Cariboo goldfields in 1862; proprietor of a harness shop, postmaster and JP at Yale; came to New Westminster 1884; promoter of the New Westminster-Vancouver tramway, which was opened 1891; president of New Westminster & Southern Railway; alderman, New Westminster 1885-6; called this townsite "Blane [sic] B.C." and subdivided it in 1889. He also founded Huntingdon.

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
Provincial Archives' Place Names File (the "Harvey File") compiled 1945-1950 by A.G. Harvey from various sources, with subsequent additions  |  Province of British Columbia

Parks Canada has installed a National Historic Site tablet at the Peace Arch Crossing, to commemorate the signing of the Oregon Treaty of 1846, whereby, "...prior to the establishment of the Dominion of Canada in 1867, Great Britain and the United States reached a peaceful settlement to a difficult boundary problem, and strengthened the ties existing between the two peoples."

B.C. Geographical Names in Province of British Columbia
BC place name cards, or correspondence to/from BC's Chief Geographer or BC Geographical Names Office  |  Province of British Columbia

 

Metro Vancouver Regional District

Political Boundaries

Last updated: 2023-09-26