People uprooted from Hatzic (5)

Hatzic, on the east side of the District of Mission, is on the traditional territories of Stó:lō Peoples. A trading post operated during the 1860s, and non-Indigenous settlers established farms in the area in the late nineteenth century. Settlement expanded following the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in 1885 and the establishment of a station in Hatzic in 1910. A bridge across the Fraser River was completed in 1891. The same year, a post office was built and the community name changed from Well’s Landing to Hatzic. A steam-powered mill was built along the CPR tracks in 1908.

Japanese Canadians began settling in the Hatzic Valley in the early 1900s and, by the late 1930s, owned most of the area’s berry farms. Kahei Kamimura operated a tie mill in Hatzic and later expanded into logging, running a camp in the Steelhead area and a sawmill by the river in Mission. These businesses provided seasonal employment for local residents and farmers. In 1930, Kahei and his brother Kaichi built the Nokai Hall on 7th Avenue.

By the 1930s, logging had become the area’s primary industry, employing many Japanese Canadians in the Mission area at local firms such as the Capilano Shingle Company and Hatzic Shake and Shingle. At least two Japanese Canadian-owned logging operations were in the Hatzic Prairie area.