Description du lieu patrimonial

The Semiahmoo Trail is a late nineteenth century historic trail/wagon road, today consisting of linear parks and City streets. It runs from the Nicomekl River, south to 20th Avenue, through forested, rural and developed areas of the Semiahmoo Peninsula. The 1872 trail passed from the border with the United States, at Blaine, Washington (then named Semiahmoo), through Surrey to where it joined the Yale Wagon Road (now Old Yale Road), south of Hjorth Road (now 104 Avenue) in Whalley. The portions that most closely follow the original alignment include the stretch in South Surrey, north of 24 Avenue to the Nicomekl River crossing at Elgin, then continuing northward in the agricultural area on the present day alignment of the King George Highway (including an un-constructed portion east of the flyover) and up Woodward Hill on what is now 144A Street, south of Highway No. 10 in the Panorama Ridge Area.

Valeur patrimoniale

The Semiahmoo Trail is valued as an early and important transportation route through Surrey, demonstrating how pioneers settled and travelled in Surrey from a very early period. The Semiahmoo Trail began as a series of pioneer trails between the Fraser River in the north and the United States border at Blaine, Washington in the south.

The Trail is significant as a representation of the different modes of transportation used by Surrey pioneers and the difficulty of local travel and historic trail-building in the area. Known as the Semiahmoo Trail or the Semiahmoo Wagon Road, this trail was used as early as 1858. Blaine, Washington, at the time was known as Semiahmoo. The British Columbia provincial government widened the trail in 1872 to accommodate wagons as part of a network of roads to formalize a route between Blaine, Washington and Fort Langley. The Semiahmoo Trail name dates to this period.

Today, the Semiahmoo Trail is valued as a linear park and recreational trail in South Surrey. It has remained largely unpaved and provides residents with a quiet and peaceful place to walk and interact with wildlife. Semiahmoo Trail was the first property protected by a Heritage Designation By-law in the City of Surrey. The heritage designation demonstrates the commitment of the City of Surrey in recognizing and preserving its natural heritage.

Source: Heritage Planning Files, City of Surrey

Éléments caractéristiques

Key elements, that define the heritage character of the Semiahmoo Trail, include its:
- unpaved walking and biking trail, still largely a graded trail;
- natural, green corridor that provides habitat to a variety of indigenous plants, trees and fauna;
- sense of enclosure provided by the plant and tree material along the trail; and
- natural setting.