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Map –
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Township of Langley
Our first question was what is the difference between the City of Langley and the Township of Langley?
It appears that the Township
of Langley is a
community of communities that is part of the Greater Vancouver Regional
District that was incorporated in 1873.
The township is made up of the communities of Aldergrove,
Brookswood/Fernridge, Fort Langley, Murrayville, Walnut Grove, Willowbrook,
and Willoughby. Notice that the City of Langley is not included in the list.
The Township
of Langley occupies
316 square kilometers (122 square miles or 10 mi. by 12.2 mi.) and has a
population of around 100,000 people.
Although the City of Langley is
smack-dab in the middle of the Township
of Langley, it is not
part of the Township but a separate Municipal entity that occupies 10
square kilometers (4 square miles) and has a population of over 23,000.
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Location
The Langley District is located between the Fraser River and the US
Border about 20 miles (32 KM) southeast of the City of Vancouver. To the west is the Surrey District and to
the east is the Abbotsford District of British Columbia.
 Communities that Make up the
Township of Langley
Although as a visitor you probably don’t care, we feel a little need
to explain the way government works in British Columbia.
There are two governmental entities within the boundaries of the
Township of Langley. Different from
the United States where you would have a county with a city inside the
county that is part of the county, the City of Langley is not part
of the Township of Langley. They
both have separate but equal status in the Province of British Columbia. The
communities (unincorporated cities) within the Township of Langley are; Aldergrove,
Brookswood, Fernridge, Fort Langley, Murrayville, Walnut Grove,
Willowbrook, and Willoughby. You
could also call these areas neighborhoods.
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Fort Langley
Fort Langley is an unincorporated
community in the Township of Langley.
It is most easily found by taking Highway-1 Exit 66 and turning
north. Travel to 1-mile (1.6 KM) to Rawlison
Circle and turn left. Go to 0.4 mi.
(0.6 KM) to the Glover Road and turn right.
Glover Road will take you right into town in 1.6 mi. (206 KM) and to
the Albion Ferry on McMillan Island that takes you across the Fraser River
to the north shore.
Murrayville
The Community of Murrayville is directly east of the City of Langley
to the southeast of Langley Muncipal Airport. It lies on both sides of the Fraser
Highway. It runs from 214th
street to 224th street and from 44th avenue to 52nd
avenue. Langley Golf Course is at
the southern end of the community.
Any commercial establishments in the community are located on the
Fraser Highway.
Brookswood
The community of Brookswood (unincorporated city) is located
immediately south of the City of Langley from about 36th Avenue
to 24th Avenue. There is
area is mainly residential.
Fern Ridge
The community of Fern Ridge (unincorporated city) lies south of
Brookswood from about 24th Avenue to the Campbell Valley
Regional Park. This area is mainly
residential.
Walnut Grove
Walnut Grove (unincorporated city) is located north of the
Trans-Canada Highway from 201st street to 216th
street and from the highway north to
about 96th Avenue. This
area is mainly residential.
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City of
Langley
The City of Langley is an city with its
own government, incorporated in the Province of British Columbia. The city is not part of the Township of
Langley even though it is surrounded by it.
The city of Langley has two distinct commercial areas; the historic downtown area and the newer
business area along the Langley Bypass.
The Langley Bypass is a five lane highway that bypasses downtown
Langley in a half-circle around the north side of the town. City of Langley
History
For the last 10,000 years or so the First Nations People called the
Sto:lo people inhabited the Langley Prairie. In 1827 James McMillan, of the Hudson’s Bay Company, built Fort Langley. Today there is a national park at the
location with a re-enactment of the fort.
The fort was a fur trading post with some agricultural activities to
supply food to the occupants of the fort.
In 1858 gold was discovered along the Fraser and Thompson rivers
upstream from Fort
Langley and the fort
became the supply center for the upstream activities. In November of 1858 the Crown Colony of
British Columbia was formed. On July
20, 1871 British Columbia
joined the Dominion of Canada
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Access from Vancouver
Access from the Vancouver,
BC area can be accomplished
by taking Trans-Canada Highway-1 or the Frasier Highway-1A. Four exits from the Trans-Canada
Highway-1 access this district; Cloverdale / 176th Street, Langley
/ 200th Street,
Fort Langley
/ 232nd Street,
and the Aldergrove, 264th
Street / USA exit. The Aldergrove exit also takes you to a US / Canada border crossing at
Aldergrove that is open from 8:00 AM to Midnight.
Access from the US
To access this area from the United States the easiest route is to
leave Interstate 5 at the Meridian Exit 256 in Bellingham and travel
approximately 20 miles straight north to the Canadian Border. The Aldergrove / Lynden border crossing
is the least used border crossing in Whatcom County
so the lines are usually the shortest at this crossing. The Aldergrove Border Crossing is open
from 8 AM to Midnight.
The two border crossings in Blaine, WA on Interstate-5 (both the International crossing
and the truck crossing) take you into the southwest corner of the Langley District. The truck cross crosses the border on 176th
street which runs up the western border of the Langley District and will
take you right into Cloverdale, BC.
The crossings at Blaine
are open 24 hours a day. Passenger
cars may also use the truck crossing.
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