Mackin House is an Edwardian home built in 1909 as a company home for the 2nd in command at the Fraser Mills Lumber Company. It is staged with period appropriate furniture and artifact to give visitors a sense of what life in Coquitlam would have been like for someone living at that time in upper middle class.
In celebration of Historic Place Day, take a guided and engaging tour through historic Maillardville as you learn about the rich history of this neighbourhood. Let local historian and President of the Francophone Historical Society of BC, Maurice Guibord, lead you through Maillardville as he recounts the tales of the French-Canadian Pioneers.
In 1909 and 1910, over 400 French-Canadians from Ontario and Québec were brought to Fraser Mills as the new workforce for the expanded mill. Entire families were encouraged to cross the country, forming all at once the largest Francophone enclave west of St. Boniface. Their village was soon named Maillardville in honour of their priest, Father Edmond Maillard. Another wave of Francophones, this time from the Canadian Prairies, further strengthened these cultural ties during the 1960s and 70s. Although assimilation occurred for most of the descendants, the town retains a Québécois streetscape in areas, with the remaining church and housing stock bearing testimony to the hard work ethic and the survival instincts of these early migrants.
Registrants are invited back to Mackin House after the tour to enjoy tea and scones in the cozy 1909 Parlour from 12:00pm to 1:00pm.
$5 per person.
