Tag: Coquitlam
Coquitlam ( /koʊˈkwɪtləm/) (2011 census population 126,456) is a city in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada. Coquitlam is mainly a suburban city, and is one of the 21 municipalities comprising Metro Vancouver. According to the 2006 Canadian Census, it is the 5th-largest city in British Columbia. The current mayor of Coquitlam is Richard Stewart.
The Coast Salish people were the first to live in this area, and archaeology confirms continuous occupation of the territory for at least 9,000 years. The name Kwikwetlem is said to be derived from a Coast Salish term meaning “red fish up the river”.
Explorer Simon Fraser came through the region in 1808, and in the 1860s Europeans gradually started settling the area. Coquitlam began as a “place-in-between” with the construction of North Road in the mid-19th century to provide Royal Engineers in New Westminster access to the year-round port facilities in Port Moody.
The young municipality got its first boost in 1889 when Frank Ross…