Unlocking North Vancouver History

Moodyville: Legend and Legacy

Moodyville Sawmill

Moodyville’s owners after 1882 turned to English investor Arthur Pemberton Heywood-Lonsdale to provide a mortgage. Upon the Englishman’s death in 1897, the owners could not repay their debts and the mill and lands became the property of the Lonsdale estate. Its administrators closed the mill in 1901 and proceeded to sell off the associated lands. The mill was stripped of equipment and stood abandoned, finally burning down in 1916. The town carried on as a settlement in decline for some time, with nearby Lonsdale Avenue, just to the west, becoming the north shore’s commercial and residential hub. The new Vancouver-to-north shore ferry terminal was also located there. The post office moved to Lonsdale in 1902, and Moodyville’s school closed in 1910. In bits and pieces, the townsite was gradually incorporated into the City of North Vancouver by 1925.

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WHAT
In this picture, the Moodyville mill looks more or less abandoned. No ships are at the dock and no log booms float in the foreground.

WHERE
This view looks east up Burrard Inlet. The grouped pilings in the water had been used to tie up log booms.

WHEN
This photograph was taken about 1910, nine years after the mill shut down.

WHO
The BC Mills, Timber and Trading Company took over the mill facilities in 1902. The company specialized in prefabricated wooden buildings for western Canada.

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