How did chilliwack get its name?

Answer 1

The word Chilliwack is the name of a local Indian tribe as well as a geographic description of the area. Originally spelled Chilliwhack, this "Halkomelem" word means "quieter water at the head" or travel by way of a backwater. Sometime between 5,000 and 10,000 years ago the Sto:lo first arrived in the Chilliwack area. At the time of first contact it is estimated that there may have been as many as 30,000 people living within Sto:lo territory.

In 1857, word spread that gold had been found in the Fraser River canyon area and by 1858 over 30,000 gold miners found their way to the goldfields. Almost all of the miners travelled through the Chilliwack area. By the mid 1860's a handful of farms were established around the Fraser River steamboat landings called Miller's Landing, Sumas Landing and Chilliwack Landing.

The Township of Chilliwhack was incorporated in 1873, the third oldest municipality in British Columbia. Initially the settlement was concentrated along the Fraser River at Chilliwack Landing. Here the steamboats (the main mode of transportation between Chilliwack and New Westminster), arrived and departed goods and passengers.

Since the small community had little room for expansion along the river, the main commercial area of the town moved up the road to the junction of the New Westminster-Yale Wagon Road, Wellington Avenue and Young Road. The centre came to be called Five Corners.

In 1881 a large subdivision called Centreville was developed. In 1887 the name Centreville was replaced by a more popular name, Chilliwhack, and the area was incorporated in 1908 as a separate municipality, the City of Chilliwack. The City and the Township co-existed for 72 years, and finally in 1980 they merged to form the City of Chilliwack.

You may have noticed the slight variation in spelling of Chilliwack. It used to be spelled Chilliwhack and then was changed to Chilliwack.