Discover

The 'Township of Langley' is a district municipality east of Surrey, located south of the Fraser River in southern British Columbia. It is not to be confused with the City of Langley.

Contents

Government structure

Community attractions

History

Education

Schools

Colleges and universities

Recent developments

Communities

Surrounding municipalities

References

External links

Government structure

The Township of Langley is composed of an eight-member council and a mayor. All members of council are elected to three-year terms in elections that take place in late November.

★ Mayor: Kurt Alberts

★ Councillors:

★
★ Jordan Bateman

★
★ Steve Ferguson

★
★ Charlie Fox

★
★ Mel Kositsky

★
★ Bob Long

★
★ Kim Richter

★
★ Howie Vickberg

★
★ Grant Ward

★ Incorporation date: 1873

★ Population (2006): 93,726

★ Area:

Community attractions

The Township of Langley is home to a number of well known structures. They include the Willowbrook Shopping Centre, the Famous Players Colossus Theatre Complex, Fort Langley, the Twilight Drive-in, the Canadian Museum of Flight, numerous parks, beaches, and horse farms - which garner Langley the title of "Horse Capital of British Columbia." Langley is also home to the Langley Ukulele Ensemble and has many sports clubs such as the South Langley Volleyball Club and the Langley Mustangs Football Club.

History

From time immemorial, the area that is now Langley was inhabited by various Stóːlō nations, including the Katzie and Kwantlen, who continue to live in the area and fish along the Fraser River.
The Township is home to the birthplace of British Columbia, the historic fur trade post of Fort Langley.
The first Europeans to stay in the area permanently were the traders of the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). In 1827, Fort Langley was built on the banks of the Fraser River, in the area now known as Derby Reach. It was one of a string of trading posts built up and down the Pacific Coast to compete with American fur traders for the rich pelts available in the region.

The first fort, built with two bastions, a wooden stockade and several buildings, proved to have been built too close to a fast-moving part of the river, in an area prone to flooding. It was rebuilt in 1839 farther upstream. As the HBC's network of forts in the interior grew, Fort Langley became a hub for farming, smithing and for shipping furs back to Europe.
In 1858, gold was discovered in the Fraser River in what is now the interior of British Columbia. With thousands of gold prospectors streaming into the province, the British government created British Columbia as a colony. James Douglas was sworn in as the new colony's first governor in Fort Langley, which was briefly the capital of the new region. The fort also became important as a supply station for the miners heading up the river toward the gold fields.
When the capital was moved to New Westminster, Fort Langley's importance began to decline. The Hudson's Bay Company subdivided and sold its farm on Langley Prairie. Logging and farming replaced fur trading as the dominant local industries.

Education

Schools

Langley Township is served by the School District 35 Langley. It also contains one francophone elementary school, which is part of the province-wide CSF (conseil scolaire francophone), School District 93.

Colleges and universities

Langley is home to Trinity Western University, a private Christian liberal arts university, and the Langley satellite campus of Kwantlen University College, a public undergraduate university college.

Recent developments

Recently, the Township of Langley has moved its Municipal Hall to a different area. The original Hall was placed in the "core area" of the Township. The new Civic Facility, however, is located in the growing Willowbrook area. A complete move was completed in February 2006. The new facility also includes a new library, fitness room (which incorporates a special type of hardwood floor room) and a new community policing station. The new facility's address is 20338 - 65 Avenue in Langley, British Columbia, Canada.
Since the 1980s, Langley City and surrounding lands administered by the Municipality have been subject to extensive strip mall development. The old town core remains pleasant to walk through, however many core businesses (including the civil courts and several banks) have moved to the malls, fostering an automobile-dominated community. In addition to this, the community allowed extensive strip development along the Langley Bypass, which has become the new sprawled business area of the city.
Construction of the Golden Ears Bridge has started.

Communities

★ Aldergrove

★ Brookswood

★ Fernridge

★ Forest Knolls

★ Fort Langley

★ Glen Valley

★ Hopington

★ Milner

★ Murrayville

★ Willoughby

★ Walnut Grove

Surrounding municipalities

References

External links

★ Township of Langley

★ Langley School District 35

★ Langley Business Directory