A Brief History of Victoria, British Columbia

The original inhabitants of the Victoria area and of the whole of Vancouver Island were the Coast Salish First Nations people. However, just like the Natives in Toronto who had given the area its name were replaced by Mississauga townhouses, the Songhees tribe who had their villages in Victoria were moved up the coast after the arrival of Europeans in the 1700s. James Cook and Juan Perez explored the coasts first, though it wasn't until 1790 that they made it far enough up the Strait of Juan de Fuca to find Victoria. Spanish sailors visited but did not stay. The first settlement was a trading post built by the Hudson's Bay Company. It was originally called Camosun but later re-named for Queen Victoria.

The British claimed all of Vancouver Island in 1849 and made a colony out of it, establishing a proper town near the fort and making it the capitol. This was rather late as Canadian settlements go. By this point Toronto Beaches homes were already crowding the shoreline and in high demand. The discovery of gold in mainland British Columbia in 1858 was the impetuous for the town's growth. It became a popular supply depot and jumping off point for the gold-seekers pouring into British Columbia from the United States and other countries. As such it was the biggest commercial city when the Island joined with the rest of British Columbia in 1866.

Its economic top dog status wouldn't last, however. In 1886 the Canadian Pacific Railway built its terminus in Vancouver, launching that city onto the road that would lead to its current domination of the Canadian West. Not even the fact that the Naval Base at Esquimault was the base of the entire Pacific Fleet could save Victoria. At that point, Victorians began to tout their architectural appeal and quality of life as superior to other British Columbian real estate. Kitsilano and other Vancouver suburbs just couldn't compete with Victoria's balmy weather and upscale appeal, and so Victoria became the area's biggest tourism draw.

Victoria threw itself into its new tourist hot spot role with admirable gusto. Butchart Gardens was constructed in 1904 and the Empress Hotel in 1908 to add to the greenery-combined-with-opulence appeal. Tourist accommodation and attractions sprang up at a prodigious rate, surpassing even the growth of Brampton real estate. This real estate boom lasted for around ten years, coming to a halt just before Canada's entry into World War I.

The aftermath of World War II brought with it another major period of growth for Victoria. Many places in North America were also booming at this point, including Meadowvale real estate, capitalizing on the ruin of Europe by drawing in displaced workers to settle overseas. During this period Victoria became home to two universities and a host of commuter suburbs. Some of these suburbs, like Langford, would go on to become separate municipalities or townships in the 1980s. Despite the post-war boom, it is the first, mid 1800s boom that really created the town, giving it the historic appeal that attracts so many retirees and vacationers today.