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History
Madeira Park, where early settlers would row to for picnics and softball games, was named by Joe Gonsalves' daughter in the early 1900s, in honour of her father's beloved childhood home near the Madeira Islands.
The Pender Harbour area was once the winter capital of the Coast Salish nation, specifically the shishalh tribe, from which the town of Sechelt takes its name. The shishalh people were highly industrious during the summer months, fishing for salmon, hunting venison, and gathering berries, all of which were dried for winter use. They built large dugout cedar canoes and huge communal longhouses (up to 800 feet in length) with separate family compartments divided by cedar screens. Examples of watertight baskets made from spruce root, aprons made of deerhide or woven cedar bark, blankets of mountain goat wool and fishing line fashioned from stout nettle fibre are further evidence of their creativity and diligence.
An Englishman known as Charlie Irvine (for whom the Landing is named) is commonly recognized as the first European settler. Irvine built a log trading post at the Landing, then joined the excitement of the Klondike gold rush. He sold his property in 1904 to an enterprising sailor and fisherman, "Portuguese Joe" Gonsalves, and his North Vancouver Salish Nation wife, Susan Harris. Joe and his son-in-law Theodore (Steve) Dames (a burly Russian seaman married to the Gonsalves' beautiful daughter Matilda) developed the area. They built a deep-sea dock, general store, post office, and hotel/saloon at the head of the wharf. The Union Steamship Company made this a regular stop, the beginning of Pender Harbour's real presence on the map.
Logging began to develop as early as the 1870's and gained real momentum around 1905 when the Swedish P. B. Anderson set up large railroad camps to harvest the Douglas fir on the slopes of the Caren Range. Lumberman's Arch in Vancouver's Stanley Park is constructed from some of these then-massive specimens.
The Depression years hit the Pender area hard. Federal relief camps were opened in Wood Bay and Silver Sands, where destitute men were put to work completing the road from Sechelt to Pender Harbour. Until this time, there was no land access to points south, except for the trail along the telegraph line (in service as early as 1910). The road was pushed through to Garden Bay and Irvines Landing around 1936 but was not paved until 1957.
Egmont, the northernmost settlement on the Sechelt Peninsula, was founded in 1880 by a legendary half-Scottish, half-Portuguese seaman and trader named Joseph Silvia Simmonds. He had worked for the Hudson's Bay Company, prospected in the Cariboo and built a saloon in Vancouver before arriving in Egmont where he married a Native woman, Lucy Kwatleematt. Simmonds later dropped his surname and used the name Silvey. His descendants still live in the Egmont area.
Location
The communities of Garden Bay, Madeira Park and Irvine's Landing are known collectively as Pender Harbour, located on the Sunshine Coast of BC. All can be reached via Highway 101, after arriving on the Sunshine Coast via ferry or airplane.
Madeira Park is the business and population centre of Pender Harbour, with a post office, liquor store, veterinary clinic, shopping centre, elementary school, the Pender Harbour Health Centre, Pender Harbour Legion, the largest of three government wharves, wharfinger's office, and a Department of Fisheries & Oceans office.
Places to See
- Seafarer's Millennium Park
Seafarer's Millennium Park is a small but impressive showcase for the work of volunteer gardeners, landscapers, rockworkers, and wood carvers.
Framing the Madeira Park public wharf and adjacent to the Pender Harbour Cultural Centre, it features a gazebo, picnic tables and benches. It's the site of the annual April Tools Boat Building Challenge, and the Halloween Fireworks party, and is also a great viewpoint to enjoy the Christmas Carol Ships Parade.
- Iris Griffith Wetlands
In downtown Madeira Park, this small wetland park features a boardwalk across a beaver dam, seating, interpretive signs, a fish ladder for spawning salmon, and a variety of waterfowl, including resident Great Blue herons. Once an inaccessible bog and fondly known as West Nile Pond, it was developed as a project of the Pender Harbour Growth & Development Partnership and named after longtime Egmont resident and devoted environmentalist, Iris Griffith.
- Pender Harbour Cultural Centre
This small regional park in downtown Madeira Park overlooks the inner harbour and community wharf. It is home to the Pender Harbour School of Music, Pender Harbour Reading Centre, Harbour Artists Gallery, and Serendipity Preschool.
- Princess Louisa Marine Provincial Park
Far inland, approached from the Strait of Georgia by way of Jervis Inlet, Princess Louisa Inlet has a charm and scenic beauty that must be seen and experienced.
Glaciation of millennia past carved the magnificent granite-walled gorge through the snow-tipped mountains that rise sharply from the water's edge to heights in excess of 2,100 metres (7,000 feet). As placid as a mountain lake, the ocean waters of Princess Louisa Inlet move constantly with the tides, but currents are practically nonexistent, except for the seven to ten-knot Malibu Rapids at the entrance. The inlet, almost completely enclosed, is 300 metres (1,000 feet) deep and never over 800 metres (1/2 mile) wide in its eight-kilometre (five-mile) length.
Until mid-June, the warm sun melting the mountain snow-pack creates more than sixty waterfalls that cascade and spume down precipitous walls to mingle with the waters of Princess Louisa Inlet. Beautiful Chatterbox Falls at the head of the inlet tumbles 40 metres (120 feet).
This spectacular park contains a number of campsites, a ranger cabin, picnic shelter and toilets. For boaters there is a mooring buoy, stern pins, a boat dock and a dinghy dock.
Things to Do
- Diving
The maze of coves, bays, and islands around Pender Harbour make it the most popular diving spot on the Sechelt Peninsula. You'll need a boat to reach the four most popular sites at Fearney Bluffs, Nelson Rock, and Anderson and Charles Islands.
- Boating Tours
From Garden Bay you can arrange boat charters or cruises to Jervis Inlet, Princess Louisa Inlet and the magnificent Chatterbox Falls.
- Hiking
Two hiking trails lead to viewpoints overlooking Pender Harbour. Pender Hill (231 metres) rises sharply from the saltchuk (a Native term for water) above Irvines Landing, while Mount Daniel (419 metres) sits above Garden Bay. Both present moderately difficult, unrelentingly steep hiking.
- Fishing
Salmon fishing is extremely good in this area, and many choose to set off for the day from the dock facilities here. Please note that you must have a valid fishing license for salt water fishing, or risk heavy fines. These are readily available at local marinas.
Freshwater fishing is also good, with surface-feeding trout at Garden Bay Lake, Hotel Lake, and Mixal Lake.
Events
- April Tools
This annual wooden boat challenge, held at Seafarer’s Park since 2002, is organized by the Pender Harbour Living Heritage Society. The entry fee is $160; $1,350 in cash prizes are available.
Teams are provided with identical sets of construction materials and their own tools. They have three hours to build boats to race in the afternoon. The event includes a small boat show, steam-bending and kayak-building demos, kids activities, and concessions.
- Halloween Fireworks Party
A spectacular fireworks display, detonated on the water, with music. A great show from a variety of vantage points on Halloween night. The fireworks are followed by a bonfire, hot dogs & coffee, and a raffle at Seafarer's Park.
- Carol Ships Parade
The 64-foot tugboat Nanaimo Tillicum leads the Pender Harbour Carol Ships Cruise, where lavishly decorated boats of all sizes and types provide seasonal music and a festive spectacle to an on-shore audience the Friday evening before Christmas. Join in with your own boat or as a caroler aboard the Tillicum after she delivers Santa to John Henry's for the kids' Christmas Party.
- Pender Harbour Blues Festival
This festival is held across the three communities of Pender Harbour with many blues concerts occurring in different venues. Many local businesses will bring in musicians during this week for live events. Not to be missed!
- Pender Harbour Fall Fair
This annual family fair with a harvest theme features competitions for baking, cookie decorating (kids only), preserves, produce, wine, photography, and milking Hilda the Harbour Heifer. There's also a dog agility show, pony rides, face painting, hay rides, boat building for kids, Bouncy Castle vendors, and live entertainment.
- Pender Harbour Jazz Festival
Enjoy traditional, progressive, Dixieland, and blues in indoor and outdoor venues throughout Pender Harbour. There are many free performances, an artisan's market, and other attractions.
Contact Information
Pender Harbour
RR-1, S-15, C-18
Madeira Park, BC V0N 2H0
Telephone: 604-883-0010
E-mail: mail@penderharbour.org
Website: www.penderharbour.org
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