Salt Spring Island Archives
as compiled by Charles Kahn in his book Salt Spring, The Story of an Island
| 3000-2000 B.C. | The oldest site of Aboriginal habitation in the Gulf Islands is established between between North and South Pender Islands. |
| 1800-200 B.C. | The earliest known Aboriginal habitation on Salt Spring Island is established at Long Harbour. |
| 1780 | A smallpox epidemic dramatically reduces the Aboriginal population. |
| 1790-1850 | Fierce inter-tribal wars take place between the Salish and Kwakiutl peoples. |
| 1778 | Captain Cook becomes the first European to land on Kauai Island. |
| 1846 | The Treaty of Washington with the United States limited Britain’s sovereignty to Vancouver Island and to the mainland north of the 49th parallel. |
| 1849 | Britain grants the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) jurisdiction over the colony of Vancouver Island with the proviso that it develop the colony as an agricultural settlement. |
| 1851 | HBC Chief Factor James Douglas is appointed Governor of Vancouver Island. |
| 1858 | The gold rush along the Fraser and Thompson rivers begins. |
| 1858 | Blacks from San Francisco send a delegation to Governor Douglas to inquire about the prospects of emigrating to Vancouver Island. After a favourable reception, about 600 people move north. |
| 1858 | On August 2, the mainland colony of British Columbia is created out of New Caledonia (an early name for much of mainland B.C.). |
| 1858 | Britain resumes full control of the colony of Vancouver Island. |
| 1859 | Non-Aboriginal settlement of Salt Spring Island begins. |
| 1859 | The first settlers come to Salt Spring Island. |
| 1859 | Jonathan Begg opens his store and post office at Beggsville (Fernwood). |
| 1859 | The Salt Spring Island Stone Company operates on the west side of Salt Spring just south of Southey Point. |
| 1859 | Thirteen Blacks, with and without families, pre-empt land on Salt Spring Island. |
| 1859 | Salt Spring Island Stone Company operates on the west side of Salt Spring just south of Southey Point. |
| 1860 | There are about 70 resident landowners on the island. |
| 1860 | J. J. Southgate, a resident of Vancouver Island and a supporter of the Douglas government, is elected to represent Salt Spring Island in the colony’s legislative assembly in Victoria. |
| 1860 | About fifty Cowichan attack a party of fourteen Bella Bella in Ganges Harbour (then known as Admiralty Bay), killing eight men and two women and taking two boys and one woman hostage.ii One injured Bella Bella escapes. |
| 1860 | Four Germans are producing shakes and barrel staves for the Victoria market. |
| 1861 | The first boat landing on the island is built at Vesuvius Bay. |
| 1861 | John Craven Jones begins teaching school at Central Settlement.i |
| 1861 | A group of Haida rob Jonathan Begg’s store in Begg’s Settlement (Fernwood). |
| 1862 | Frederick Marks and his daughter, Caroline Harvey, are murdered on Saturna Island. |
| 1863 | Two settlers, Bill Brady and John Henley are attacked by a small group of Cowichan at Bedwell Harbour, Pender Island. |
| 1863 | Major John Peter Mouat Biggs of Chemainus is appointed justice of the peace for Chemainus and Salt Spring Island. |
| 1864 | One hundred acres are set aside for public use at Central Settlement, where the first school is erected, with John Craven Jones as the unpaid teacher. |
| 1864 | There are five hundred head of cattle on the island. |
| 1866 | The colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island are united on November 19. |
| 1866 | Dr. Hogg, Salt Spring’s first doctor, is killed on his pre-emption. |
| 1868 | William Robinson and Giles Curtis are murdered in their cabins within eight months of each other. |
| 1868 | Kiave, the first Hawaiian to come to Salt Spring, settles at Fulford Harbour. |
| 1869 | John Maxwell and John Lunney donate land for a permanent wharf at Burgoyne Bay. |
| 1869 | Abraham Copeland is elected to Salt Spring’s first school board. |
| 1869 | Tshuanahusset of the Halalt nation is convicted of William Robinson’s murder. |
| 1871 | British Columbia becomes a province of Canada. The population of Salt Spring is estimated at 91 people |
| 1872 | Henry Sampson is appointed constable of Salt Spring Island. |
| 1873 | John Craven Jones and Henry W. Robinson are elected to Salt Spring’s seven-member council. |
| 1873 | Salt Spring Island is incorporated and becomes a municipality. |
| 1873 | Burgoyne Bay School District is formed. |
| 1874-75 | The first land survey of Salt Spring is conducted. |
| 1874 | Salt Spring’s first post office is established. |
| 1875 | Louis Stark moves to the Nanaimo area. |
| 1875 | William Naukana pre-empts land on Portland Island. |
| 1877 | The Tsaout Indian Reserve is established to the east of Fulford Harbour. |
| 1877 | The first Japanese to come to Canada settle in Victoria. |
| 1880 | The Burgoyne Bay Post Office opens. |
| 1881 | The population of Salt Spring reaches 258. |
| 1883 | The municipality of Salt Spring Island is dissolved by the legislative assembly. |
| 1884 | Joseph Akerman opens The Traveller’s Rest, which includes the first store in |
| 1885 | St. Paul’s Catholic Church, built largely by Hawaiians, is consecrated. |
| 1885 | Beaver Point School opens. |
| 1885 | The CPR rail line is completed to Vancouver, facilitating the shipment of farm produce to eastern markets. |
| 1887 | The Union Church (now Burgoyne United Church) is built and consecrated. |
| 1887 | The Stevens Boarding House opens in the north end. |
| 1891 | The population of Salt Spring reaches 435. |
| 1891 | For the census, nine Salt Spring residents give logging as their primary occupation. |
| 1892 | Harry Wright Bullock arrives on Salt Spring Island. |
| 1894 | St. Mary’s Church (Anglican) is consecrated. |
| 1894 | Rev. Wilson records ten people of Japanese ancestry living on Salt Spring. |
| 1895 | The Japanese are legally denied the right to vote in British Columbia elections. |
| 1896 | The first fall fair is held on the grounds of the newly completed Central Hall. |
| 1896 | Central Hall is completed for use as an agricultural exhibition hall. |
| 1897 | The first telephone wires are erected on Salt Spring Island.iii |
| 1897 | Bullock moves into the house he had built by Reid Bittancourt. |
| 1898 | The Salt Spring branch of the Farmers’ Institute is founded. |
| 1900 | Mary, Harry Bullock’s younger sister, arrives from England. |
| 1901 | The population of Salt Spring reaches 508. |
| 1902 | Maria Mahoi inherits and moves to Russell Island. |
| 1902 | Ganges and Victoria are connected by telephone. |
| 1902 | Mahon Memorial Hall (named in 1904) is completed as an agricultural hall. |
| 1904 | The Salt Spring Island Creamery opens in Ganges. |
| 1905 | The Vesuvius Bay Methodist Church is consecrated. |
| 1906 | The Geographic Board of Canada names the island “Saltspring”. |
| 1906 | Jesse Bond arrives on Bullock estate, followed by Mrs. Palmer and her son, Bill. |
| 1907 | Japan agrees to limit emigration to Canada to 400 males per year. |
| 1909 | The Okano family moves to Salt Spring for the first time, returning to the island again in 1919 after some years away. |
| 1911 | Alan Blackburn acquires Salt Spring’s first car. |
| 1912 | The Salt Spring Island Trading Company is born. |
| 1912 | The island’s population swells to about 900. |
| 1912 | Bullock buys a Model T Ford. |
| 1913 | Salt Spring has its first bank(but only for a year and a half). |
| 1913 | The first speeding ticket is issued. |
| 1914 | Lady Minto Gulf Islands Hospital opens. |
| 1914 | Ganges Water and Power Company is founded. |
| 1915 | Rev. E. F. Wilson dies and is buried in St. Mark’s churchyard. |
| 1916 | Salt Spring experiences its “worst” snowstorm. |
| 1918 | The Islands Farmers’ Institute (named in 1937) is created out of the Island Agricultural and Fruit Growers’ Association and the Farmers’ Institute. |
| 1921 | The first Fulford Community Hall opens. |
| 1922 | Salt Spring drivers are now required to drive on the left side of the road rather than the right side, but the horses have trouble adjusting to the new law. |
| 1924 | F. M. Singer Lumber Company brings several portable tie mills to the island. |
| 1925 | Fulford Community Hall burns down, but is rebuilt within the year. |
| 1926 | Cusheon Cove Lumber Company’s wharf collapses, and the company closes soon after. |
| 1928 | Japanese emigration to Canada is now limited to 150 per year. |
| 1930 | Gulf Islands Ferry Company begins operations. |
| 1931 | Salt Spring’s population climbs to about 1200. |
| 1931 | Branch 92 of the Royal Canadian Legion is created on Salt Spring. |
| 1934 | Beaver Point Hall is built. |
| 1936 | Fulford Community Hall, Beaver Point Hall, and the White Lodge are all destroyed by arsonists. |
| 1937 | Electricity comes to the north end of the island. |
| 1940 | The Consolidated School opens; almost all students on the island now go to Ganges. |
| 1942 | All people of Japanese ancestry in B.C. are interned to the interior of the province and to other provinces. |
| 1946 | Bullock dies at age eighty, ending an era on the island. |
| 1946 | Salt Spring’s population reaches 1,755.iv |
| 1948 | The Salt Spring Island Chamber of Commerce begins operation. |
| 1949 | Freedom of movement and the franchise are returned to Japanese Canadians |
| 1949 | Beaver Point Provincial Park is created. |
| 1950 | Miles Acheson starts the Spotlight, Salt Spring’s first new sheet since 1906. |
| 1951 | Salt Spring’s population has increased to 1,918. |
| 1955 | The George S. Pearson ferry begins service between Vesuvius and Crofton. |
| 1957 | The Salt Spring Island Creamery closes down. |
| 1958 | The new Lady Minto Gulf Islands Hospital opens. |
| 1960 | Prince Thurn und Taxis of Bavaria buys about 4,000 acres of forest land on Salt Spring. |
| 1960 | Woody Fisher starts the Salt Spring Island Driftwood. |
| 1961 | BC Ferries buys the Gulf Islands Ferry Company. |
| 1962 | The Holdfast Pozzolan plant on Welbury Bay begins production. |
| 1963 | The Long Harbour ferry terminal is created for BC Ferries’ Tsawwassen to Gulf Islands run. |
| 1964 | Bullock house is destroyed by fire. |
| 1966 | Salt Spring becomes part of the Capital Regional District (CRD). |
| 1969 | The B.C. government forbids land subdivision of under ten acres in the Gulf Islands. |
| 1971 | Building permits are required and building inspection is now mandatory on the island. |
| 1972 | The B.C. government buys the Ruckle farm to make a new provincial park. |
| 1974 | The Islands Trust, with a “preserve and protect” mandate is created to oversee land-use regulations on the Gulf Islands. |
| 1974 | Salt Spring’s first official community plan is adopted. |
| 1981 | The Water Preservation Society is founded. |
| 1982 | The fall fair is held for the first time on the Farmers’ Institute new grounds on Rainbow Road. |
| 1986 | The Ganges sewer plant begins operation. |
| 1986 | Salt Spring’s Festival of the Arts has its first season. |
| 1986 | The Salt Spring Hysterical Society gives its first performance. |
| 1989 | The Island Arts Centre Society is founded to build an arts centre for the island. The name chosen for the new centre is ArtSpring. |
| 1991 | About 5 percent of Salt Spring’s labour force is involved in agriculture. |
| 1992 | Island Natural Growers is formed to support Salt Spring’s organic farmers. |
| 1996 | Salt Spring’s official population reaches 9,247, more than four times as high as it was thirty years earlier. |
| 1996 | The Islands Trust produces the first draft of a second, revised official community plan for Salt Spring.. |
| 1996 | The Core Inn youth centre opens. |
| 1996 | Salt Spring’s official population reaches 9,247, more than four times higher than it was thirty years earlier. |
| 1998 | The Islands Trust adopts Salt Spring’s second official community plan. |
