Your Aldergrove
begins here

ROBERT SHORTREED JR. (1860-1924)

Robert homesteaded this site on the Old Yale wagon
road in 1883 and later went on to open a general store
(pictured below). By 1891, the store had a post office and
two years later, a telegraph line was installed – the first
in the area. Shortreed Corner was what the area around
264th Street and Fraser Highway was originally called.
In 1904, Robert was part of the posse hunting for train
robber Billy Miner.

PHILIP JACKMAN SR (1835-1928)

Philip arrived in British Columbia as a member of the
Royal Engineers in 1859 to help with surveying and public
works in the new city of New Westminster. The Jackman’s
Aldergrove house was built in early 1889. (In the photo
below, you can see Philip Jackman Sr. standing in front
with his dog.) Philip used the house as a store and post
office, as he was postmaster for 3 years. Philip also served
as a Councillor from 1892-1893, the Fence Inspector in
1894, and was Langley’s Reeve (Mayor) from 1895-1897.
Following this, Philip served as the Fisheries Warden for
the area from 1901-1915

Frederick John Hart (1868 - 1945)

Often called simply “FJ”, Frederick John Hart, purchased many parcels of
land in Aldergrove. At one time, FJ’s company owned most of the property
fronting what is now Fraser Highway. FJ also marketed Aldergrove with a
flashy booklet titled “The Apple Lands of Aldergrove”. FJ’s office was a BC
Mills pre-fab catalogue building that had been shipped in crates from New
Westminster to Aldergrove.
FJ is credited with “putting Aldergrove on the map” through his marketing
efforts and congenial personality, and yet there are surprisingly few
references to his influence in the community. FJ and his wife Alice also
built what is now known as Hart House Restaurant on Deer Lake in
Burnaby. The mansion originally served as their summer home. FJ and
Alice had 5 children, one of whom was killed in action in 1916 at the Battle
of the Somme in France.

THE WESTERN HOME HOTEL

The first mention of a hotel in Aldergrove is a 1907 news
article in the New Westminster Daily News. It was reported
that H. Freeman had the area surveyed and was having a
hotel built, while a later article states that the hotel was a
former camp boarding house that had been relocated and
refurbished. The hotel had 15 rooms, a dining room and a
billiards room. This particular photo was taken in 1910.

DOWNTOWN ALDERGROVE

Interior of the Smith & Parr General Store. Owned by
Charles Byron Smith and his uncle Henry Parr, a Cloverdale
pioneer, Aldergrove’s general store was built in 1909. Baby
Ioana Parr can be seen in her bassinet on the counter. Smith
& Parr General Merchants carried everything from tools and
farm machinery to dry goods and groceries.

GLEN VALLEY LAND COMPANY & BEAVER RIVER LUMBER MILL

The Glen Valley Land Company was incorporated on 12th, October 1906
and owned about 5000 acres of land, included in which was the Beaver
River Lumber Mill. The Company was responsible for clearing much of the
farmland in the Glen Valley area as well as building several roads, such
as what was once known as the Inter-Provincial Highway through north
Aldergrove and Matsqui. The lumber mill had a spur line which extended
off of the BCER line for its own freight trains. Both companies were
steady employers for area residents until the lumber mill burned down
in 1919 and was permanently closed shortly after

This site as seen in summer 1963. You can see the new Super Valu
building in the foreground. Eventually it would become the Salvation
Army Store.

An aerial shot taken shortly after the mall opened. From
the museum’s Aldergrove Star Collection, donated by the
Langmann family