The histories of Coquitlam and Port Coquitlam are linked, in more ways than just their common name and the confusion that often arises about whether an address is in one city or the other.
The neighbouring cities share a past that also involves New Westminster.
In fact, you could argue that Port Coquitlam - which is celebrating its 100th birthday this year (as is Port Moody) - owes its existence to New Westminster because of a series of decisions around the transcontinental railway.
When the line from Montreal to Port Moody was completed in 1885, New Westminster merchants and businessmen were determined that their city would be the Canadian Pacific Railway's "fresh water terminus."
But that wasn't the CPR's plan. The railway had no plans to build a branch line to New Westminster; instead, trains would roar through Port Moody and go on into Vancouver's Coal Harbour.
The canny New West businessmen agreed to pay the CPR syndicate a bonus to build a branch line along the Fraser River into their city. The junction at the main line became known as Westminster Junction and the community that grew around that junction would eventually become Port Coquitlam.
But back to the early days, when the opening of the CPR's Westminster branch line brought business to the area around the new CPR station: Kelly's Hall, built by R.B. Kelly, later became Port Coquitlam's city hall. But before that, the area known as Coquitlam was the Westminster Junction since the hotel, post office, school and district hall were all located there.
By 1910, some 200 people were living at Westminster Junction. Then, in 1912, CP Rail made the decision to move its central rail yard from Vancouver to the abundant raw land in what was then called Coquitlam. It put the yard at Westminster Junction and the tiny population soon grew to more than 2,000.
With the Panama Canal about to open, the thinking was that trade on Canada's west coast would take off. Not wanting to be left out, the businessmen made another decision - to separate the booming 360-acre rail yard from the rest of the District of Coquitlam.
On March 7, 1913, Port Coquitlam was incorporated and through some tough years to follow, it flourished, despite a fire in 1920 that destroyed the downtown and a Coquitlam River flood in 1921 that put half the city underwater.
One hundred years later, the CPR yard in Port Coquitlam is the largest rail yard in the province and the little city that grew up around it flourishes.
While its neighbour the city of Coquitlam might be bigger, Port Coquitlam can boast of something we can only envy: a museum with display space for artifacts that go back a century.
On March 7, the Port Coquitlam Heritage and Cultural Society celebrated its city's centennial by opening Heritage at Leigh Square, a heritage centre that features stories of how the city grew and about its people, from the Kwikwetlem First Nation to its most famous son, Terry Fox.
While the museum isn't large, it does fill a need to show today's residents how people lived in the past, and how they prospered.
Coquitlam residents can only be envious. We will soon celebrate our 125th anniversary and we are still seeking a place to celebrate our city's historical and cultural heritage. Charming and beautiful as Mackin House is, it isn't a museum with dedicated display space that will take us into our city's next century.
Let's hope Coquitlam will soon follow Port Coquitlam's lead.
Your History is a column in which, once a month, representatives of the Tri-Cities' three heritage groups writes about local history. Jill Cook is executive director of the Coquitlam Heritage Society.
