Oak Bay, British Columbia

Oak Bay
District municipality
The Corporation of the District of Oak Bay[1]

Coat of arms
Location of Oak Bay in British Columbia
Coordinates: 48°25′35″N 123°19′22″W / 48.42639°N 123.32278°W / 48.42639; -123.32278Coordinates: 48°25′35″N 123°19′22″W / 48.42639°N 123.32278°W / 48.42639; -123.32278
Country  Canada
Province  British Columbia
Regional District Capital
Incorporated 1906
Government
 • Mayor Nils Jensen
 • Governing Body Oak Bay Municipal Council
 • MP Murray Rankin (NDP)
 • MLA Andrew Weaver (BC Green)
Area[2]
 • Total 10.53 km2 (4.07 sq mi)
Elevation 34 m (112 ft)
Population (2016)[2]
 • Total 18,094
 • Density 1,717.7/km2 (4,449/sq mi)
Time zone UTC−8 (Pacific Time Zone)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−7 (Pacific Daylight Time)
Area code(s) 250, 778
Website Official website
Oak Bay

Oak Bay is a seaside municipality incorporated in 1906 that is located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Capital Regional District, it is a community east of and adjacent to the city of Victoria. It is one of the 13 municipalities of Greater Victoria.

Notable features

Oak Bay has several notable features which include:

  • The Oak Bay Village is the heart of Oak Bay, which runs along Oak Bay Avenue.
  • Home to one of the largest collections of art & crafts galleries on Vancouver Island. A leisurely stroll through the Village finds 7 superb art galleries and craft studios, which represent some of the finest Canadian art & crafts available.
  • Its beautiful and rugged shorelines and beaches, popular with boaters.
  • Its two marinas, the Oak Bay Marina & Royal Victoria Yacht Club.
  • Well-maintained houses and gardens throughout the municipality.
  • Oak Bay has a large number of old style and heritage homes.
  • The Oak Bay community is known for being stringent against structural and landscape changes.
  • The discrete area of the Uplands is a residential neighbourhood that is home to many of the most expensive properties in Canada, including stately turn of the century houses of the Arts and Crafts and Faux Tudor styles, as well as new high-end construction. Several of the waterfront residential properties in the Uplands and South Oak Bay count themselves amongst the most expensive private properties in Canada and North America.
  • In 2011, the average price of a single family home in Oak Bay was $936,355.[3]
  • Retirement homes and communities - Oak Bay is well known as a popular retirement destination.
  • A selection of excellent restaurants, delis, bistros antique shops, as well as an English-style pub, and other establishments geared towards both families and seniors.
  • A long-standing opposition to large commercial development and suited homes.
  • Its three golf courses the Victoria Golf Club, Uplands Golf Club & Oak Bay Recreation Henderson golf course.
  • The annual "Oak Bay Tea Party"[4]

Oak Bay is home to several popular beaches, most notably Willows Beach.

Oak Bay's motto, from its coat of arms, is Sub Quercu Felicitas, Latin for "the oak happiness".[5]

History

Cattle Point, Oak Bay, British Columbia, Canada

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Oak Bay was home to the local Coast Salish people of the Songhees First Nation. Evidence of their encampments has been found along local shores, including Willows Beach, where an ancient Lkwungen seaport known as Sitchanalth was centred around the mouth of the river now known as Bowker Creek.[6] Sitchanalth is hypothesized to have been destroyed by the great Tsunami of 930AD.[7]

Oak Bay takes its name from the Garry Oak tree, which are found throughout the region, and the name of the large bay on the Eastern shore of the municipality, fronting onto Willows Beach.

John Tod in 1850 built on a 109-acre farm what is today the oldest continuously-occupied home in Western Canada. John Tod was HBC Chief Fur Trader for Kamloops, one of the original appointed members of BC's Legislative Council.[8][9][10]

Originally developed as a middle class streetcar suburb of Victoria, Oak Bay was incorporated as a municipality in 1906. Its first Council included Francis Rattenbury, the architect who designed the Legislative Buildings and Empress Hotel located on the inner harbour in Victoria. Rattenbury's own home on Beach Drive is now used as the junior campus for Glenlyon Norfolk School. In 1912 the former farm lands of the Hudson's Bay Company were subdivided to create the Uplands area, but development was hampered by World War I. After the war, development of expensive homes in the Uplands was accompanied by the construction of many more modest dwellings in the Estevan, Willows and South Oak Bay neighbourhoods. In addition to being an attractive retirement area, Oak Bay has also long appealed to families with young children and others seeking safe and well-maintained neighbourhoods. Oak Bay boasts wonderful beaches, the Oak Bay Marina, the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, and the Royal Victoria Yacht Club located on the shore of Cadboro Bay.

The Victoria Golf Club is located in South Oak Bay. It was founded in 1893, and is the second oldest golf course west of the Great Lakes. It is a challenging 6120 yard links course which hugs the ocean side, and claims to be the oldest golf course in Canada still on its original site. The course is reported to be haunted.[9]

The Royal Victoria Yacht Club was formed on June 8, 1892, and moved in 1912 to its current location, at the location of the old Hudson's Bay Company cattle wharf.

The Victoria Cougars won the 1925 Stanley Cup at the Patrick Arena in Oak Bay, the arena was destroyed by fire in 1929, the Victoria Cougars are today the Detroit Red Wings.

The Oak Bay Marina was built in 1962 and officially opened in April 1964. It replaced the Oak Bay Boat House built in 1893. The breakwater was built in 1959 and funded by the federal government.

There have reportedly been sightings of a sea monster known as the Cadborosaurus off Oak Bay, with modern-day accounts and ones dating back to first nations accounts.

Canada 2006 CensusPopulation% of Total Population
Visible minority group
Source:[11]		Chinese4302.4%
South Asian1801%
Black250.1%
Filipino1550.9%
Latin American650.4%
Southeast Asian300.2%
Arab150.1%
West Asian650.4%
Korean450.3%
Japanese1701%
Other visible minority100.1%
Mixed visible minority250.1%
Total visible minority population1,2256.9%
Aboriginal group
Source:[12]		First Nations2601.5%
Métis00%
Inuit00%
Total Aboriginal population2601.5%
White16,20091.6%
Total population17,685100%

Film studio

During the 1930s, Oak Bay, British Columbia was the original "Hollywood North" when fourteen films were produced in Greater Victoria between 1933 and 1938.[13] In 1932 Kenneth James Bishop leased an off-season exhibition building on the Willows Fairgrounds was converted to a film sound stage to produce films for the British film quota system under the Cinematograph Films Act 1927[14] and films were produced with Hollywood stars such as Lillian Gish, Paul Muni, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Edith Fellows, Charles Starrett and Rin Tin Tin Jr. Film production was curtailed when the Cinematograph Films Act 1938 specified only British made films would be included in the quota.

The Willows Park Studio films include:
1933

  • The Crimson Paradise ("Fighting Playboy" in the US)[15] (The first all talking motion picture in Canada.)[16]

1935

  • Secrets of Chinatown (Production Company was Commonwealth Productions Ltd. based on the out of print book “The Black Robe” by Guy Morton. Kathleen Dunsmuir invested $50,000 in the film. Before completion of the film Commonwealth Productions went bankrupt, Northern Films Ltd. completed post production of the film, Kathleen Dunsmuir lost all $50,000.[16] The film is technically British it received British film registration number br. 11391. The film was seized by the police at request of the Chinese Consul with the claim it was offensive, the film was altered before its release. In Victoria Harry Hewitson the actor playing Chan Tow Ling would remind the audience with the warning it was fictional.[17][18] In addition to Chinatown and surrounding downtown Victoria the Gonzales area is used in outdoor shots in the film.[19][20])

1936

  • Fury and the Woman (aka Lucky Corrigan)
  • Lucky Fugitives
  • Secret Patrol
  • Stampede
  • Tugboat Princess

1937

1938

1942

Climate

Education

Oak Bay is within School District 61. There is one public elementary school, Willows Elementary, one public middle school, Monterey Middle School, and one public high school, Oak Bay High School, with the second largest student population in the Greater Victoria School District.[22]

Residents in the South Oak Bay area may also register their children at the nearby Margaret Jenkins Elementary (in Victoria).

There are two private schools located in Oak Bay, Glenlyon Norfolk School and St. Michael's University School.

Half of the University of Victoria campus is located within the District of Oak Bay, while the other half is in adjacent Saanich.

Neighbourhoods

Parks and recreation centres

Parks

  • Anderson Hill Park
  • Bowker Creek Walkway
  • Carnarvon Park
  • Causton's Green
  • Chinese cemetery (national historic site)
  • Cochrane’s Common
  • Entrance Park
  • Fireman’s Park
  • Gonzales Hill Regional Park - Gonzales Observatory (CRD park)
  • Haynes Park
  • Henderson
  • Kitty Islet
  • Lafayette park
  • Lokier Garden
  • McMicking Park
  • Monteith Allotment Gardens
  • Native Plant Garden
  • Oakdowne Park
  • Queen’s Park
  • Trafalgar Park
  • Turkey Head Walkway
  • Uplands Park / Cattle Point (A Garry Oak Meadow Ecosystem. FLICKR photos at )
  • Walbran Park
  • Willows Park
  • Windsor Park
  • Mary Todd Island
  • Quimper Park
  • Nottingham Park

Recreation Centres

  • Henderson Recreation Centre
  • Monterey Centre
  • Oak Bay Recreation Centre
  • Windsor Pavilion

Marinas, anchorages and boat ramps

Marinas

  • Oak Bay Marina
  • Royal Victoria Yacht Club
  • The Oak Bay Beach Hotel has some seasonal docking facilities

Anchorages

  • Cadboro Bay Anchorage
  • Oak Bay Anchorage

Boat Ramps

  • Cattle Point
  • McNeill Bay (non-trailerable boat's only)
  • Queen’s Park (locked)

Golf courses

  • Oak Bay Recreation - Henderson Golf Course
  • Uplands Golf Club
  • Victoria Golf Club

Public safety

  • Oak Bay Emergency Program
  • Oak Bay Fire Department - The Oak Bay Fire Department was formed in 1937.[23]
  • Oak Bay Police Department - The Oak Bay Police Department was formed in 1906.
  • Oak Bay Sea Rescue (OBSR) - Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue Station 33 (RCM-SAR) - Oak Bay Sea Rescue was formed in 1977, and is a volunteer organisation. The Unit's Boats are based out of Oak Bay Marina [24]

See also

McNeill Bay (British Columbia)

References

  1. ↑ "British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address" (XLS). British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  2. 1 2 "Oak Bay, District municipality [Census subdivision], British Columbia and Capital, Regional district [Census division], British Columbia". Statistics Canada. January 23, 2017. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  3. ↑ http://www.livinginvictoriabc.com/greater-victoria/mls-statistics-for-victoria-oak-bay-metchosin-north-saanich-and-sidney
  4. ↑ http://www.oakbayteaparty.com/
  5. ↑ https://translate.google.ca/#auto/en/Sub%20Quercu%20Felicitas
  6. ↑ "Capital Regional District Victoria BC". CRD. Retrieved 26 January 2017.
  7. ↑ Doughton, Sandi. "Ancient quake and tsunami in Puget Sound shake researchers". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
  8. ↑ https://www.oakbay.ca/explore-oak-bay/points-interest/tod-house
  9. 1 2 https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=kxUJsqhKxJsC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Ghosts:+True+Tales+of+Eerie+Encounters&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjclcCKrZLVAhWCGD4KHbOBACYQ6AEIJjAA#v=onepage&q=Ghosts%3A%20True%20Tales%20of%20Eerie%20Encounters&f=false
  10. ↑ https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GO5IC70f4xcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=If+These+Walls+Could+Talk:+Victoria%27s+Houses+from+the+Past&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj1h9DMspLVAhWJVLwKHRerAQEQ6AEIJTAA#v=onepage&q=If%20These%20Walls%20Could%20Talk%3A%20Victoria's%20Houses%20from%20the%20Past&f=false
  11. ↑ "Community Profiles from the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada - Census Subdivision". 2.statcan.gc.ca. 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  12. ↑ "Aboriginal Peoples - Data table". 2.statcan.ca. 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  13. ↑ http://www.webturf.com/oakbay/history/encyclopedia/w.shtml
  14. ↑ p. 30 Gasher, Mike Hollywood North: The Feature Film Industry in British Columbia UBC Press, 2002
  15. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0132948/
  16. 1 2 https://books.google.ca/books?id=j3_geDGm8HcC&lpg=PT293&dq=Commonwealth%20Productions%2C%20Ltd&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false
  17. ↑ http://www.dukefilmography.com/Willows_Park_Studio.html
  18. ↑ http://search.bcarchives.gov.bc.ca/secrets-of-chinatown
  19. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1XAqN9iFYrE
  20. ↑ http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/all_seeing_eye/secrets_of_chinatown.html
  21. ↑ http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_e.html?stnID=113&radius=25&proxSearchType=coordinates&degreesNorth=48&minutesNorth=25&secondsNorth=35&degreesWest=123&minutesWest=19&secondsWest=22&proxSubmit=go&dCode=0
  22. ↑ School District website
  23. ↑ http://oakbay.ca/public-safety/fire-department
  24. ↑ "History of OBSR Society / CCGA(P) Unit #33". Oak Bay Sea Rescue Society. Retrieved 2012-12-29.

Oak Bay, British Columbia: in Photographs 1906-2006 (book)

Only in Oak Bay Oak Bay Municipality: 1906-1981 (book)

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