Langley

History

Langley is known as 'The community of Communities' and is made up of TWO separate municipalities: Langley City and the Township of Langley.

The Township of Langley is made up of various communities, including Aldergrove, Brookswood/Fernridge, Fort Langley, Murrayville, Walnut Grove, Willowbrook and Willoughby. The Township occupies 316 square kilometres (122 square miles) and is home to approximately 100,000 residents.

The City of Langley occupies 10 square kilometres (4 square miles) and has a population of approximately 23,500.

The Township of Langley originally represented the entire area, but after a minor political squabble during the early 1950s, the residents of Langley Prairie voted to sucede and form their own municipality. Thus Langley City was born on March 15th, 1955.

Despite any initial political differences, and despite the sharing of a name- which inevitably confuses new tourists and BCLCA webmasters, both communities work together to ensure the economic and social growth of the entire Langley area.

The Township of Langley

British Columbia joined confederation on July 20, 1871, upon the promise of a railway link with the new Dominion of Canada. On April 26, 1873, the Municipality of Langley was incorporated, one of the first areas in British Columbia to do so, and James W. Mackie was elected its first warden.

The Township remained largely rural in nature as New Westminster, and later Vancouver, became the focus of urban settlement in the lower mainland. Langley's growth through the first half of the 20th Century was for the most part slow and steady. The construction of the Fraser Highway in the 1920's and the construction of the Patullo Bridge in 1937 increased the importance of Langley Prairie in the commercial life of the area. The Trans-Canada Highway was completed through Langley in 1964.

Rapid population growth experienced in the Greater Vancouver area in the late 1960's and early 1970's led to the establishment of the Agricultural Land Commission in 1972. Much of rural Langley was included in an Agricultural Land Reserve, ensuring that future growth would be directed to land of minimal agricultural significance.

In 1979, the Langley Official Community Plan was adopted to guide development in the Township. Urban growth has been directed to areas such as Brookswood, Aldergrove, Willowbrook, Murrayville, and Walnut Grove, while major industrial and commercial developments have been designated in Northwest Langley, Willowbrook, Aldergrove and Gloucester Industrial Estates.

Langley City

The first European settlers in what is today the City of Langley, were William and Adam Innes, two brothers who came to British Columbia from near London, Ontario with the intention of freighting to the Cariboo goldfields. The early pioneers had to settle in a semi-circle to the east, south and west between the Hudson Bay farm and the foot of the highland.

The original settlement at Langley City was known as "Innes Corners", and later was called "Langley Prairie" when the post office was transferred there in 1911. This was one of the many small communities established in the area, separated from other settlements by large tracks of farm land and bush. The construction of the Inter-Urban railroad (BC Electric Railway) in 1910 resulted in significant growth in the community.

The area along (Old) Yale Road developed into a major business and service centre and attracted trade from all over Langley. Continued growth resulted in the demand for higher levels of service in the community and on March 15, 1955, the City of Langley, with its current boundaries, was incorporated as a separate municipality.

In the years since incorporation, the population has grown from an initial poplulation of 2,025 to an estimated 24,000 today.

Note: Henceforth, 'Langley' will be used in the singular form to denote both Langley City and the Township of Langley.