View Royal, British Columbia
| View Royal | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
| Town of View Royal | |
Portage Park on Thetis Cove
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|
 Location of View Royal in British Columbia |
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| Coordinates: 48°27′6″N 123°26′2″W / 48.45167°N 123.43389°WCoordinates: 48°27′6″N 123°26′2″W / 48.45167°N 123.43389°W | |
| Country |
 Canada
|
| Province |
 British Columbia
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| Region | Vancouver Island |
| Regional district | Capital Regional District |
| Incorporated | 1988 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Municipal |
| • Governing body | View Royal Town Council |
| • Mayor | David Screech |
| Area | |
| • Total | 14.36 km2 (5.54 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 20 m (70 ft) |
| Population (2016) | |
| • Total | 10,408 |
| • Density | 724.8/km2 (1,877/sq mi) |
| Time zone | PST (UTC-8) |
| Postal code | V9B |
| Area code(s) | 250 |
| Highways | 1 |
| Waterways | Strait of Juan de Fuca |
| Website | www |
View Royal is a town in Greater Victoria and a member municipality of the Capital Regional District of British Columbia, Canada. View Royal has a population of 10,858 residents. With over 700 hectares (1,700 acres) of parkland, View Royal includes McKenzie, Pike, Prior and Thetis Lakes and portions of the Esquimalt Harbour and Portage Inlet.
View Royal's history is closely linked to the entire region. The Esquimalt First Nation, a Coast Salish indigenous people, have occupied View Royal since time immemorial. It began when early inhabitants of today's Esquimalt Harbour crossed an isthmus, now Portage Park, to harvest seafood in Portage Inlet. European settlement began in the 1850s by Kenneth Mackenzie who established a farm known as Craigflower Manor. In the mid-19th century, Dr. John Helmcken, Vancouver Island's first doctor and later speaker of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly, paid the Hudson's Bay Company $5 per acre for hundreds of acres of land between Esquimalt Harbour and what is now Victoria General Hospital. Land was cleared for Victoria's growth. In 1912, the Island Investment Company bought 80 acres (32 ha) of land below Four Mile Hill, fronting on the harbour, from Dr. Helmcken’s son James. They marketed lots as “View Royal” because of their "royal view", which gave the town its name.
View Royal remained unorganized for over half a century. By the 1950s, things had begun to change. In 1959, a group of residents in the Shoreline Drive area circulated a petition urging annexation by Esquimalt. Several studies and referenda came and went but View Royal continued with its unorganized status. In 1966, the Capital Regional District emerged bringing with it regional approaches for delivery of some services such as sewage collection. Then a Price Waterhouse study presented three options: status quo, union with Esquimalt, or incorporation as a town. The town’s incorporation became official December 5, 1988.
Many historic sites can still be found in View Royal including:
View Royal is divided into eight neighbourhoods based on topography, transportation corridors, natural environment and the age of housing stock. These neighbourhoods are Atkins, Burnside, Craigflower, Harbour, Helmcken, Hospital, Thetis and Wilfert. In 2011, there were almost 4,140 housing units in the town with a median population age of 44.1 years, which compares to the CRD's of 44.8.
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