This is a 'live snapshot' from downtown New Westminster. If you're using an up-to-date browser, you can display continuous photographs of this scene in a Java applet.
The view is from Carnarvon Street east of Douglas College. The QuayCam sits directly behind the Columbia Street SkyTrain Station. The camera points west, south-west down the south branch of the Fraser River. Annacis Island is the visible river bank on the picture's right side. The 'New West Quay' market and clocktower peek from behind the Trapp Block.
The M.V. Royal City Star arrived in September 1999 and opened to the public the following month. This 75-metre (245-ft) destination casino first plied the Mississippi from New Orleans. However from the area of the future Fraser River Discover Center, it now carries 30 gaming tables, 300 slots, and up to 1000 passengers on our Fraser River.
In the distance of the QuayCam shot is the Alex Fraser Bridge providing access to the cities of Surrey, Delta, and Richmond.
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Historical Overview
Western Canada's province of British Columbia started right at
this location approximately 140 years ago.
It began with a population explosion. In a single year, 1858, more
than twenty thousand men came through this area on their way to gold mines.
The term
Gold Rush was pretty accurate! The Hudson Bay Company was
overwhelmed in trying to keep law and order. This concerned
the British Government too. So, the
Hudson Bay Company's charter to British Columbia was rescinded
and the land became a British Colony.
Colonel Richard Moody and a corps of Royal Engineers were quickly
sent to build a new capital. Colonel Moody chose a location on
high ground next to the Fraser River, right before the river
branches into the north and south arms. (This is exactly
where the camera is pointing.)
There was a dispute as to what to call the new capital. An appeal
was sent to
Queen Victoria and she named it after her favourite part
of London. New Westminster is still known as the "Royal City"
because of this.
The city was founded to oversee the hordes of new immigrants
and to prevent the area from becoming a territory of the
United States. In 1866, New Westminster briefly kept its title
when the British Colonies of Vancouver and Victoria were united.
However, Victoria was made capital in 1868. (Mentioning this historical
fact to a local is sometimes enough to initiate a bit of displeasure
to this very day!)
Please drop by Bluenose to see other Internet Cameras in New Westminster.
Awarded Alta Vista's Cam of the Day - 12/11/1999
