1920-1929

The roaring twenties swept down upon North America in a tradition breaking decade of loose morals, flappers, jazz and skyscrapers. The glitz and glamour of life in the big city was a world apart from rural existence in Coquitlam. In Maillardville the exhilaration and challenge of building the infant community gave way to a new decade that revealed a more rhythmic and established way of life. What might the village have looked like? What did it sound like and what kind of smells might have been a part of its daily life?

To the south, of course, were the mill and the River. East of the mill, was the "oriental" town with its low slung red buildings, cook houses and Hindu temple. From upon the hill in Maillardville, flames from Hindu funeral pyres were not an uncommon sight. The mill whistle, which could be heard in New Westminster, sounded the wake up call early in the morning urging the shift to another workday. The smell of smoke and cedar and the sounds of heavy machinery rumbled up the hill to blend with everyday life in the village. Up King Edward came the familiar clip clop of the Clydesdale teams pulling the "Circle F" wagons delivering firewood and lumber around the community.

On the east side of town, was the large dairy operation known as the Booth farm which predated the French settlement. Here also were the gardens run by Chinese farmers whose produce would be brought door to door in Maillardville and other parts of Coquitlam.

Setting our sights to the West, we find New Westminster. The city served the needs of Maillardville in many ways. Goods not to be had in the village or at Fraser Mills could be bought here. Movies, dances and beer parlours provided special occasion entertainment. In between Maillardville and New Westminster was that "other" main employer; Swift’s Packing House. The establishment of this business was considered a real coup for Coquitlam! The Coquitlam Times reported

"An industry of great importance is to be shifted from the New Westminster side of Brunette Creek to the Coquitlam municipality side. As is now pretty well known the Canadian Swift Packing Co. has absorbed the Vancouver-Prince Rupert Co. in the same line with its abattoir and other properties. In addition, the new concern has purchased in all about 30 acres of land in Coquitlam in an ideal situation for their purposes……Surveyors have been on the ground recently and plans and specifications are in the course of preparation for the erection of the finest and most up to date abattoir and packing plant on the Pacific Coast. Approximately the new scheme will cost from three quarters of a million to one million dollars. Some asset for old Coquitlam"

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