Editor's note: This is the second in a series of articles by local historian Eric Andersen on Squamish's history, marking the centennial of the town's renaming from Newport to Squamish. Articles are to appear in the final issue of The Chief each month during 2014.
Since 1890 there had been continuous speculation around the prospect of a railway to the north being built through the Squamish Valley. Into the 1900s, several railway charters were granted to various competing interests. But who would build the line?
It was the Howe Sound and Northern Railway Co. that would build first, and begin establishing the townsite of "Newport" on the old Magee ranch.
However, it was the Grand Trunk Pacific's proposed north-south railway connecting to its east-west transcontinental line at Fort George (Prince George) that won the support of the provincial government of Richard McBride in 1912.
The Pacific Great Eastern Railway Co. was a new company closely affiliated with the Grand Trunk Pacific and its construction contractor Foley, Welch and Stewart.
The PGE would take over and extend the Howe Sound and Northern line, and complete the marine terminus and new townsite by 1914.
In 1905, the Grand Trunk Pacific company had held a Canada-wide contest to name the western terminus of its new transcontinental rail line: Prince Rupert.
In 1910, Grand Trunk Pacific adopted a policy of selecting "Indian names" for some of its British Columbia townsites with the view that, "A distinctive, original townsite name would benefit residents and tourists alike."
GTP company experiences and policies in the north would influence the process of developing and re-naming the townsite of Newport in 1914.
D'Arcy Tate was, for several years, the company attorney for the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, and secretary to GTP President Charles M. Hays (who perished in the 1912 Titanic disaster). Along the GTP line across the north, Tate had been closely involved with planning and development of new townsites and implementing GTP company real estate strategies.
When the Pacific Great Eastern Railway Co. was set up in 1912, D'Arcy Tate became its vice-president. He was a key negotiator and decision-maker for the PGE railway and its Howe Sound terminus development.
The Pacific Great Eastern Railway Co. practically owned the Newport townsite, following its purchase of Howe Sound and Northern Railway Co. assets. Tate decided the place needed a re-naming - one might say a "re-branding."
Tate followed the 1905 Prince Rupert precedent of a public contest. More than 2,200 British Columbia schoolchildren submitted name suggestions. Twenty-eight contest participants put forward "Squamish."
This was probably already the preference of Tate "Squamish" being the "distinctive, original townsite name" that "would benefit residents and tourists alike."
Re-naming of a townsite in 1914 was not as straightforward as a simple contest for schoolchildren and local judging, however. Application for approval of the new name must be made with the Geographic Board of Canada, which had strict protocols to follow.
Another step in the case of Squamish was obligatory consultation with the Hydrographer of the Admiralty in England. This was because the naming concerned a coast name appearing on British admiralty charts. The head of Howe Sound was, after all, now a strategic West Coast port.
The executive committee of the Geographic Board of Canada gave final approval of the new name of "Squamish" on March 3, 1914. Later that day, a bill was submitted to the Legislative Assembly for the incorporation of the "City of Squamish."
An act to incorporate Squamish received Royal Assent on March 4, 1914.
