Fernwood, Greater Victoria

Fernwood's four corners

Fernwood is a neighbourhood near downtown Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, bounded by the neighbourhoods of Jubilee, North Park, Fairfield, Downtown, Hillside and Harris Green.

Community

The neighbourhood is centered at a small square, the home of the Belfry Theatre, the Cornerstone Cafe, the Fernwood Inn (formerly The George and Dragon pub), and She Said Gallery. Other businesses near the core include The Green Goddess Cafe, Stage wine bar, Stir It Up (a Jamaican and Caribbean restaurant) and Toonie Tacos. The Belfry Theatre has been producing plays at the center of the area since 1976. The neighbourhood is also home to Victoria High School, Central Middle School, and George Jay Elementary. The Fernwood Community Association facilitates land use discussions between developers, residents, and the City, as well as providing facilities for various community groups and gallery space. There is a Community Centre operated by the Fernwood Neighborhood Resource Group. The neighbourhood is also home to many recreational groups, including the Fernwood United Football Club (soccer).

History

The Fernwood area was part of the territory originally inhabited by the Songhees prior to the establishment of Fort Victoria. It is believed that a Songhees village may have been located at what is today Cadboro Bay. With the establishment of Fort Victoria, a trail linking the fort to Cadboro Bay ran through the area that would become Fernwood and was used by aboriginals and Europeans. Bishop Edward Cridge descirbed the area as it was in the 1850s as "open country without a house or field till we arrived at the Company's farm [Cadboro Bay Farm]".

Early European settlers in the area included John Work, born in Donegal, Ireland who developed the Hillside Farm on the northwest edge of today's Fernwood, and Benjamin Pearse, born in Devonshire, England . Pearse owned land between Denman Street and Pandora Avenue, bounded by Fernwood Road on the west and Belmont Avenue on the east. His home, Fernwood Manor, constructed in 1860, gave its name to the neighbourhood. After Pearse's death in 1902, Pearse's second wife, Sarah Jane Pearse resided there until her death in 1954. Fernwood Manor stood at Vining and Begbie Streets for 109 years before its demolition in 1969.

Historically, a spring in Fernwood supplied Victoria with its main source of water, hence the earlier name of the neighbourhood, Springridge. In 1875 Victoria began piping water from Elk Lake, and in 1885, the site of the original springs became the location of the Empire Brewery.

Residential development began in earnest in the 1890s, and many homes in western Fernwood and along Fernwood Road itself date from this era. In the early 1900s a large area west of Fernwood Road was used as a sand and gravel pit to supply construction materials to local builders, to the dismay of many early residents. The problem was partly solved by the construction of the present Victoria High School in 1912 on some of the lands that had been used as the sand and gravel pit.

Central Middle School stands on the site of the first public colonial school, a log schoolhouse built in 1853. The wooden building was replaced by the original Victoria High School in 1876, which was itself replaced by the construction in 1902 of a new brick school building, designed by Francis Rattenbury, architect who designed the Parliament Buildings in Victoria and Empress Hotel. However, the increase in Victoria's population in the early 1900s made this school his building inadequate within 12 years. The present Central Middle School (formerly Central Junior High School) was designed by Victoria architect John DiCastri.

The commercial heart of Fernwood developed along Fernwood road in the 1890s and early 1900s and many of the commercial buildings in the village date from this time. The building now housing the Belfry Theatre was built in 1892 as the Emmanuel Baptist Church. Another small commercial node developed along Haultain Road. Most of the Fernwood neighbourhood was built up by the end of the real estate boom of 1913.

References

• Ellis, John J. The Fernwood Files Orca Book Publishers, 1989.

External links

• Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group (formerly: Fernwood Community Centre Society)
• Fernwood Community Association (FCA)
• Fernwood News, quarterly newspaper by the FCA
• Village Vibe, monthly newsletter by Fernwood NRG.
• City of Victoria - Profile of Fernwood
• City of Victoria - Community Resources Inventory, map with guide to local businesses and resources
• The Belfry Theatre
• Fernwood United Football Club, Soccer team and Club