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Online Heritage Inventory

CPR Ferry Loading Ramp

General Information
Thumbnail photograph of CPR Ferry Loading Ramp
Click to see full image
Type of Resource: Artifact
Common Name: CPR Ferry Loading Ramp
Address: Chatham and Moncton Streets and 6th and 7th Avenues
Neighbourhood (Planning Area Name): Steveston
Construction Date: 1928-1929
Current Owner: Municipal Government
Designated: No

Statement of Significance
Description of Site
The remains of the CPR Ferry loading ramp are located just north of Moncton Street and the dyke, in a laneway area between Chatham and Moncton Streets. Buried beneath blackberries, the rusted metal gauge of the ramp is just visible. The route of the historic ferry terminal crosses the walkway to Garry Point Park along Moncton Street.

 Statement of Values
Historical associations are the primary heritage value of the CPR ferry loading ramp. The Motor Princess which used the dock and ramp on the Steveston to Sidney route for almost 50 years was part of large fleet of coastal ferries and part of the history of the Canadian Pacific transportation system. Richmond, as a growing, economically viable municipality emerging in the 1920s, required a better all round transportation system, and the ferry, dock and ramp played a role in its development. With its connection to the interurban rail line, it is linked to a transportation pattern of city-wide importance.

 Character Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the site include:
· The location of the loading ramp, which is still evident in the pattern of land use and the siting of adjacent properties stretching from the river edge, over the dyke, to Chatham Street
· Its symbolism relating to Richmond’s participation in the CPR coastal fleet.

 History
The remains of the CPR Ferry loading ramp are located just north of Moncton Street and the dyke, in a laneway area between Chatham and Moncton Streets. Buried beneath blackberries, the rusted metal gauge of the ramp is just visible. The route of the historic ferry terminal crosses the walkway to Garry Point Park along Moncton Street.

 Architectural Significance
Design Features
The route and some of the characteristics of the CPR ferry terminal can be discerned from historical photographs. The dock began as a laneway originating at Chatham Street and ran southwards towards Moncton Street. Halfway between these two streets it passed under a structural arch and became a steel ramp with railings on both sides, which sloped up to cross the dyke. It then ramped down towards the riverfront, on pilings, to the ferry float which sits perpendicular to the access ramp.

 Landscape Significance
Landscape Element
Urban pattern.

 Design Attributes
The laneway in which the remains of the loading ramp are located remain part of a pattern of transportation which was developed at the construction of the ferry terminal.

 Integrity
Alterations
The removal of most of the loading ramp structure, including the south portion of the ramp and the waterfront ferry float, are substantial alterations which diminish the character and built form of the original structure.

 Original Location
Yes.

 Condition
The condition of the loading ramp remains cannot be assessed at this time. They are no longer visible due to encroachment by blackberry, grasses and other vegetation. Based on photographs from 1997 they are assumed to be still intact but in relatively poor condition.

 Lost
No

 Documentation
Evaluated By
Denise Cook, BLA, PBD (Public History)

 Date
Thursday, December 20, 2001

 Documentation
Documents
Bob Ransford, Heritage Advisory Commission. ‘Remnants of Ferry Loading Ramp’, heritage information form, 1998.
Ferries Reference Files, Richmond Archives.
Musk, George. Canadian Pacific Afloat 1883-1968, a History and Fleet List, Garside & Mackie, Warrington England, 1968. UBC Special Collections.
Ross, Leslie. Richmond, Child of the Fraser, Richmond ’79 Centennial Society, 1979.
Turner, Robert D. Those Beautiful Coastal Liners, SonoNis Press, Victoria BC, 2001. UBC Special Collections.
Historical Photographs
Aerial photograph No. A5984-92 dated 1938, Geographic Information Centre, UBC.
Photograph No. 1997 16 97 dated 1948, Noel McConnell Collection, Richmond Archives.
Location and Type of Plans Found
Routes of the CPR Steamers, Canadian Pacific Railway Co./Poole Bros. 1907. UBC Special Collections.
Waterworks Atlas Map of Steveston townsite area south of Chatham Street, including the waterfront, 1936. Item #1991 40 18, Richmond Archives.

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