Nanaimo looking north, c. 1875

Abstract

In the townsite plan prepared by Deverill, the streets radiated up the hill from the central harbour area. Many of the streets were named after officials or directors of the company. Wallace Street, for instance, was named after Charles Wallace, the company's agent in Victoria. Prideaux, Selby, Machleary, Campbell, and Dickson were company directors, while Haliburton was a famous Nova Scotia judge who was chairman of the Board of Directors. In this photograph taken about 1875, Commercial Street wends its way through the centre of the town. By this time, the large ravine (to the left of the bridge in the centre of the photograph) has been partially filled in. Cameron Island seen on the right centre is still an island. The two churches in the centre of the picture are St. Peter's Roman Catholic on the left (built in 1864) and St. Paul's Anglican just to the right.