It is safe to say that Port Haney would not have become a bustling centre of early settler life without the building of the wharf. The importance of this structure to the early settler years of Haney is often overlooked. While the wood and materials have been replaced over the years, the heritage of the site is still very much intact, with the wharf sitting right where it was originally built, at the bottom
of 224th street.
The settler history of the future wharf began with the purchase of a pre-emption by James Wickwire in 1860. The first name for the area was in fact Wickwire’s Landing. It wasn’t until around 1877 that Thomas Haney arrived to the area and purchased Wickwire’s 160 acres from him. The area briefly bore the name “Haney’s Landing” until 1882 when the wharf was built, turning the landing into a Port. The Canadian Pacific Railroad was in full swing getting their railroad finished and it was at that time that the building reached Maple Ridge. A wharf was then built at the bottom of 224th street (Then Ontario Street) as a landing spot for CPR materials. After that work proceeded on the railway both towards Port Hammond and back towards Mission. The wharf would eventually house businesses, receive goods and persons into the area, and see the shipment of lumber, bricks, frozen fish, and all of the other industrial products of early Maple Ridge.
Since then, the wharf has been renovated, added to, rebuilt and rethought. It is now part of the Maple Ridge Heritage Walk and a lovely place to sit and enjoy a beautiful sunset along the river. It Madds a character to the historic neighbourhood of Port Haney and is the best enjoyed during the summer and our annual Music on the Wharf concerts.
