New Westminster (pop. 78,916) is a city in southwestern British Columbia. It lies on the Fraser River, 12 miles (19 kilometers) southeast of downtown Vancouver.
The Royal Columbian Hospital and Douglas College are New Westminster’s largest employers. Mills that once produced softwood lumber, pulp and paper, and shingles mostly have left the city. Many of New Westminster’s people work in nearby Vancouver, British Columbia’s largest city.
The British Army’s Royal Engineers began laying out the city in 1858. The city was founded in 1859. It was named Queensborough, after Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Later in 1859, the queen renamed it New Westminster, after the English town of Westminster (now part of Greater London). New Westminster served as the capital of the colony of British Columbia from 1859 to 1868. In 1860, it became British Columbia’s first incorporated city. Fire destroyed the city’s main business district in 1898. The district was soon rebuilt. New Westminster has a mayor-council form of government.
