Hatzic

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Overlooking Hatzic from a cliff on the grounds of Westminster Abbey FraserRiver.jpg
Overlooking Hatzic from a cliff on the grounds of Westminster Abbey

Hatzic is a historic community in the Central Fraser Valley region of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, located on the east side of the City of Mission and including areas beyond the municipal boundary to the east and northeast.

Contents

Hatzic is the location of two very important historical sites in British Columbia, the mission school of the Oblate Fathers (OMI), St. Mary's Indian Residential School, the name sake of the City of Mission, and Xá:ytem, an archaeological site and museum dating back over 9,000 years. Xá:ytem is a National Heritage Site of Canada. Also notable is Ferncliff Gardens, a private floral operation now becoming a heritage site[ citation needed ]. Hatzic Slough, which is part of the drainage for the oxbow Hatzic Lake, is the site of one of the world's largest dry-sorting yards for raw timber[ citation needed ]. A former railway station named Hatzic was located between the outlet of Hatzic Lake and the foot of the rise to the benchland where most of residential Hatzic is today. [1]

Mission's Fraser River Heritage Park is to the west and incorporates lands formerly belonging to the Oblate mission, including the foundations of the original school, though it is accessed from Mission proper, not via Hatzic.

Hatzic is one of Mission's older suburban neighbourhoods and is home to Hatzic Secondary School and various elementary schools. Overlooking it from above is Westminster Abbey, a Benedictine monastery established in the 1950s, which is part of the Ferndale neighbourhood of Mission. Across the floodplain from the benchland Hatzic proper overlooks and where Hatzic Valley is located is the community of Dewdney, standing astride the bridge where British Columbia Highway 7 leads onto Nicomen Island. Across the Fraser River from Hatzic is the northeast sector of Matsqui Prairie.

Climate

Hatzic has an oceanic climate (Köppen climate type Cfb). The average annual precipitation is 1,883.3 mm (74.15 in). Extremes vary from −21.7 °C (−7.1 °F), recorded on December 29, 1968 to 35.0 °C (95.0 °F), recorded on August 8, 1978.

Climate data for Hatzic (Mission West Abbey) (Elevation: 197m) 1981−2010
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
Record high °C (°F)16.5
(61.7)
18.9
(66.0)
24.0
(75.2)
28.0
(82.4)
34.0
(93.2)
32.5
(90.5)
35.0
(95.0)
35.0
(95.0)
33.5
(92.3)
26.0
(78.8)
17.8
(64.0)
16.5
(61.7)
35.0
(95.0)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)5.6
(42.1)
7.6
(45.7)
10.4
(50.7)
13.6
(56.5)
16.8
(62.2)
19.5
(67.1)
22.4
(72.3)
22.9
(73.2)
19.8
(67.6)
13.7
(56.7)
7.9
(46.2)
5.0
(41.0)
13.8
(56.8)
Daily mean °C (°F)3.3
(37.9)
4.6
(40.3)
6.9
(44.4)
9.6
(49.3)
12.7
(54.9)
15.3
(59.5)
17.8
(64.0)
18.3
(64.9)
15.6
(60.1)
10.6
(51.1)
5.5
(41.9)
2.8
(37.0)
10.3
(50.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)0.9
(33.6)
1.6
(34.9)
3.3
(37.9)
5.5
(41.9)
8.5
(47.3)
11.1
(52.0)
13.3
(55.9)
13.6
(56.5)
11.3
(52.3)
7.4
(45.3)
3.1
(37.6)
0.5
(32.9)
6.7
(44.1)
Record low °C (°F)−15.6
(3.9)
−18.0
(−0.4)
−10.0
(14.0)
−1.1
(30.0)
0.0
(32.0)
4.0
(39.2)
6.5
(43.7)
7.2
(45.0)
1.7
(35.1)
−9.0
(15.8)
−18.0
(−0.4)
−21.7
(−7.1)
−21.7
(−7.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches)253.4
(9.98)
160.6
(6.32)
168.6
(6.64)
151.7
(5.97)
129.9
(5.11)
107.5
(4.23)
70.7
(2.78)
62.5
(2.46)
88.8
(3.50)
190.0
(7.48)
288.6
(11.36)
211.2
(8.31)
1,883.3
(74.15)
Average rainfall mm (inches)230.6
(9.08)
147.2
(5.80)
161.2
(6.35)
149.9
(5.90)
129.9
(5.11)
107.5
(4.23)
70.7
(2.78)
62.5
(2.46)
88.8
(3.50)
189.9
(7.48)
279.8
(11.02)
191.0
(7.52)
1,808.7
(71.21)
Average snowfall cm (inches)22.9
(9.0)
13.4
(5.3)
7.4
(2.9)
1.8
(0.7)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.0
(0.0)
0.2
(0.1)
8.7
(3.4)
20.3
(8.0)
74.6
(29.4)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.2 mm)20.215.918.717.816.014.18.98.010.316.821.018.8186.5
Average rainy days (≥ 0.2 mm)18.014.418.117.816.014.18.98.010.316.820.216.7179.3
Average snowy days (≥ 0.2 cm)3.72.51.50.310.00.00.00.00.00.041.63.913.55
Source: Environment Canada (normals, 1981−2010) [2]
A wider view of residential Hatzic from the same cliff at Westminster Abbey. FraserRiverPanorama.jpg
A wider view of residential Hatzic from the same cliff at Westminster Abbey.

Related names, which more or less are also considered part of Hatzic, are Hatzic Island, which is in the centre of Hatzic Lake, north of which are the farming communities of Hatzic Prairie and Durieu, which together form part of the Hatzic Valley, along with communities to the north of Hatzic Prairie around Allan Lake, McConnell Creek and Miracle Valley. The Hatzic Valley forms the southern portion of Electoral Area 'F' of the Fraser Valley Regional District and comprises the old course of the Stave River's glacier and its terminal moraine at the north end of the valley, most of which is fertile floodplain.

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The Okanagan, also called the Okanagan Valley and sometimes the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part of the Okanagan Country, extending into the United States as Okanogan County in north-central Washington. According to the 2016 Canadian census, the region's population is 362,258. The largest populated cities are Kelowna, Penticton, Vernon, and West Kelowna.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">X̱á:ytem</span> Historic site in British Columbia, Canada

X̱á:ytem is an indigenous archaeological site and the name of a related museum run under the auspices of the Stoːlo people at Hatzic, British Columbia, Canada. X̱á:ytem is approximately 80 kilometres east of Vancouver on Highway 7. It is reached via the bridge at Mission, about 15 kilometres from the border with the US state of Washington. The site was designated in 1992 as a national historic site of Canada for its spiritual value to the Stoːlo people, as well as being one of the oldest discovered habitation sites at approximately 5000 years old. It was listed on the Canadian register of historic places in 2005. It is also known as Hatzic Rock National Historic Site of Canada.

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Dewdney, originally named Johnson's Landing from 1884–1892, is an unincorporated community in the Central Fraser Valley of British Columbia, Canada, about 15 km east of the city of Mission. It was incorporated as a district municipality on April 17, 1892, including adjoining areas of Hatzic and Hatzic Island but the anticipated real estate boom on that island didn't pan out and economic damage from the Great Fraser Flood of 1894 led to the municipality's disincorporation on March 12, 1906. Another municipality eastwards, Nicomen, was incorporated in the same year but similarly later disincorporated. Though in the same school district as Mission, it and other adjoining rural areas did not join that municipality when offered. It is now represented as part of Electoral Area 'G' in the regional district government, which currently is the Fraser Valley Regional District.

Silverdale is a semi-rural neighbourhood of the District of Mission, British Columbia, Canada, located about 40 km east of Vancouver on the east bank of the Stave River at its confluence with the Fraser. Noted for its historic Italian Canadian community, its economy was farming, fishing and logging based until the general suburbanization of Fraser Valley life in the 1960s and 1970s. Of its Italian community, notable offspring include Phil Gaglardi, former BC Highways minister, and speed-skater Eden Donatelli. Silverdale is also notable as the site of Canada's first train robbery, by the "Gentleman Bandit" Billy Miner, and it is there he is supposed to have first used the polite "Hands Up!" in the course of the robbery.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Durieu, British Columbia</span> Place in British Columbia, Canada

Durieu is an unincorporated predominantly farming community, located around five kilometers northeast of Mission, British Columbia, Canada in Area F of the Fraser Valley Regional District of that province's Lower Mainland at an elevation of between twenty and forty meters above sea level. Durieu falls mostly within zone 1 of the Agricultural Land Reserve. Sited in the middle of Hatzic Valley it has few services other than a store, gas station, feed co-op, defunct elementary school and community hall.

Bradner is a community within the City of Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, located in a rural northwest region of that city which also includes Mount Lehman. Bradner occupies a height of land above the Fraser River, immediately across which is the community of Silverdale, a part of the District of Mission, and Ruskin, on the border between Mission and Maple Ridge. On the floodplain below to the west is the Langley rural neighbourhood of Glen Valley, while on the floodplain to the east, which is called Matsqui Prairie, the nearest Abbotsford neighbourhood is Matsqui Village. Bradner was formerly part of the District of Matsqui, which in 1995 was amalgamated into the City of Abbotsford.

Matsqui is a former district municipality in British Columbia, Canada. It was incorporated in 1892 and merged with the district municipality of Abbotsford in 1995 to create the new City of Abbotsford. Matsqui used to be the western part of what is now Abbotsford. It had commercial growth in the Clearbrook area which then spilled over to Abbotsford.

Pekw'Xe:yles or Peckquaylis is an Indian reserve on the north bank of the Fraser River in Mission, British Columbia, Canada, located between Lower Hatzic Slough and D'Herbomez Creek. It sits on the former site of St. Mary's Indian Residential School 10.3 ha. in area, it was reinstated in June 2005 by Order in Council and is used by 21 Indian bands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hatzic Lake</span> Oxbow lake east of Mission, British Columbia

Hatzic Lake is an oxbow lake north of and draining into the Fraser River, immediately south of Hatzic Valley, and east of the benchland neighbourhood of Hatzic.

Hatzic Island is an island located in the centre of Hatzic Lake, an oxbow lake formation north of the Fraser River, on the east side of Mission, British Columbia, Canada.

The Leq'á:mel First Nation, formerly known as Lakahahmen First Nation, is a First Nations band government whose community and offices are located in the area near Deroche, British Columbia in the Fraser Valley region in Canada, about 12 kilometres east of the District of Mission. They are a member government of the Sto:lo Nation Chiefs Council, which is one of two tribal councils of the Sto:lo.

Keatley Creek is a left tributary of the Fraser River in the Glen Valley area of the Fraser Canyon in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Its outlet into the Fraser is between those of Pavilion and Fountain Creeks, approximately 16 miles upstream from the town of Lillooet; the next tributary southwards is the larger Sallus Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hatzic Valley</span> Valley in British Columbia, Canada

The Hatzic Valley is the southerly, lowland portion of the Fraser Valley Regional District Electoral Area "F" of British Columbia's Lower Mainland. The valley was carved as a result of southward glacial action, being "centered along a low‐lying glacial trough that extends from Stave Lake to the Fraser Valley."

References

  1. BC Names/GeoBC entry "Hatzic (community)"
  2. "Mission West Abbey". Canadian Climate Normals 1981−2010. Retrieved 2018-03-27.

49°09′00″N122°15′00″W / 49.15000°N 122.25000°W / 49.15000; -122.25000