Terra Nova

Indigenous Peoples used Terra Nova to set up seasonal fishing camps during salmon and sturgeon runs and to gather food such as crabapples. The area was named Spul’u’kwuks after the natural-gas-rich water that bubbles to the surface.

Life changed in the late 1880s with the arrival of a group of Newfoundland fishermen, who claimed this area and renamed it Terra Nova, or “new land.”

These settlers created a self-sufficient, close-knit community which grew and thrived. Life was simple and in tune with the seasons, with time for work and play.

Photo Credit: Terra Nova Cannery, looking west, 1977. City of Richmond Archives #1978 37 63