The Story of Barnet - Burnaby, BC
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Dunbar Loop
N 49° 17.537 W 122° 55.514
10U E 505436 N 5459951
Barnet was a company town on the shore of Burrard Inlet. It thrived around the North Pacific Lumber Company, later the Barnet Lumber Company, and then the Kapoor Sawmills. Established in 1889, the small community lasted until the mill closed in 1959.
Waymark Code: WM15TJR
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 02/24/2022
Views: 1
THE STORY OF BARNET
In the early 1900’s, this lovely wooded spot was occupied by one of the largest sawmills in British Empire. The brick structure under your feet is the foundation of the mill’s wood scrap burner.
The mill was built in 1889 at the site of a new C.P.R. station. David MacLaren, the owner, named it “Barnet’ after his wife’s family. The Barnet Mill stood unused until 1899, when economic conditions at last made its operation worthwhile.
A settlement grew up around the mill, and by 1909 the village of Barnet boasted 21 families, a school, post office, telegraph office, C.P.R. station, police, water and electrical services.
However, the Depression ended Barnet’s prosperity and the mill closed in 1931. It reopened in 1939 as the Kapoor Sawmill, but as destroyed by fire in 1946. Plans to rebuild the mill to its former scale never materialized, and the town began to fade. A small replacement mill was finally dismantled in 1958.
Today, few traces remain of the once-prosperous mill and town of Barnet. Only this burner, the concrete foundations nearby and the name “Barnet Marine Park” recall the history of Barnet.
Burnaby Parks and Recreation Commission – 1982