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Port Moody is a city in British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It envelops the east end of Burrard Inlet and is the smallest of the Tri-Cities, bordered by Coquitlam on the east and south and by Burnaby on the west. The villages of Belcarra and Anmore, along with the rugged Coast Mountains, lie to the northwest and north, respectively. It is named for Richard Clement Moody, the first lieutenant governor of the Colony of British Columbia. [edit] History
The Coast Salish people were the first to live in this area, and archaeology confirms continuous occupation of the territory for at least 9,000 years. Port Moody sits on the unceded, occupied, ancestral and traditional lands of the xʷməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Port Moody is named for Colonel Richard Clement Moody, of the Royal Engineers. It was established at the end of a trail that connected New Westminster with Burrard Inlet to defend New Westminster from potential attack by the US. After 1859, the town grew rapidly following land grants to Moody's Royal Engineers after the sapper detachment was disbanded in 1863. The construction of a transcontinental railroad was the condition that prompted British Columbia to enter into confederation in 1871. The small town received little attention until it was declared the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1879. By 1881, the survey of Port Moody had begun. Both John Murray Sr. and Jr. assisted and, in fact, it was John Murray Jr. who named many of the streets after members of his family. The population grew rapidly through the early 1880s. Andrew Onderdonk was the contractor who, under government contract, built of line from Port Moody, via Hope, Yale and Savona. Onderdonk built a large wharf and receiving area and started rail construction from Port Moody in 1883. The line was finished in 1885. As the Western Terminus of the CPR, almost everyone had high hopes that Port Moody would become a major West Coast metropolis. The railway was completed with the last spike driven at Craigellachie on November 7, 1885, and a train arriving at Port Moody the next day. The first scheduled passenger transcontinental train arrived on July 4, 1886, a date that is still celebrated during Golden Spike Days. Real estate prices soared but soon fell flat when a branch line was built westward along the inlet to Vancouver in 1887. While many people lost a great deal of money and moved on, others, including real estate tycoon and ship captain James A. Clarke, and several lumber mills, decided to remain. On April 7, 1913, Port Moody's Council met for the first time as a city. [edit] Research Tips
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