Memory Spotlight
The Royal City
Early Days · All of New Westminster
New Westminster was the first capital of British Columbia — chosen by Governor James Douglas in 1859 and named by Queen Victoria herself. It held the capital for only six years before Victoria took the title, but the Royal City name stuck. The city is older than Canada. When Confederation happened in 1867, New Westminster was already eight years old and had survived a gold rush, a smallpox epidemic, and a flood. Most of the people who live here now have no idea they're living in a place this old. That's part of what Stoop is for.