Preserving our history

The Hope Station Project

During the first half of the 20th century, railways were the life blood of the growth and development of British Columbia. Although railways fell into decline as major

highways were built, the remnants of the railways era remain important historical artifacts that reflect the rich history of the growth of BC. The Hope Canadian National

Railway Station (Hope Station) is an extremely significant, rare, and valuable heritage building. Completed in 1916, the Hope CNR Station has played an important role in

the history and evolution of the community through the heyday of train transport and travel. It is now about to undergo a rehabilitation not only to preserve history but

to meet the increased need for community and arts space in the Hope region.

The Station is valued as an emblem of the central role the railways played in the development of the Fraser Valley of British Columbia. Located at the convergence of the

Coquihalla and Fraser Rivers and surrounded by mountains on three sides, Hope is a critical junction for travel and trade and has long been considered the gateway to

the interior of the province. The Canadian Pacific Railway established a station at Hope in 1886, followed by the Kettle Valley Railway ca. 1912. Hope Station served briefly

as a union station, providing a shared facility for the Vancouver, Victoria and Eastern Railway. Following WWI, an increase in economic activity in forestry and mining led

to increased development and growth in Hope’s local economy and population.

The Station remains valuable for its linkages to the histories of the Indigenous peoples who lived and utilized the land for millennia prior to the arrival of the railways,

who were dispossessed and displaced from their homes to allow for the construction of the railway. When construction on the railway began, Chinese, Mexican, African

Canadian, and Indigenous peoples composed much of the labour force. The Station is a tangible reminder of the importance and impact of the railways on Hope, its land, and its people.

Heritage Value

The Hope Station is significant as the last surviving example in Canada of a specific typology of a Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) Second Class station designed by

architect John Schofield. (CNoR was Canada’s third transcontinental railway prior to its merger with the CNR in 1923).Plans for its stations were standardized into five

classes wherein each conveyed their function and importance in the communities in which they were built. Hope Station was a ‘special’ variation of the Second Class

station and contained ticket and telegraph offices, waiting and baggage rooms, and living quarters for the Station Agent.

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Hope Station include:

• • Form, scale, and massing, indicative of railway functions, including extended linear form designed for passenger and freight service, with residential area on the upper floor that accommodated the Station Agent;
  • symmetrical one and one-half storey massing, with raised central portion and lower flanking side wings;
  • side-gabled roof form, with central second floor gabled roof with two wall dormers facing both the front and rear; and wide projecting hipped eaves encircling the entire building;
  • front and rear orientation, with former street side facing west, and former track side with projecting central rectangular ticket office bay;
  • wood frame construction;
  • original exterior features such as the unique drop siding on the ground floor, double-profiled with flat and ogee sections; cedar shingle cladding in the gables and on the upper floor;
  • open soffits;
  • dimensional lumber corner boards, window and door trim, with window apron trim;
  • surviving upright sections of the prominent eave brackets all around the building; cross-braced wooden freight and baggage doors at both ends of the primary facades;
  • ex-situ eaves brackets stored within the building; and evidence of original red wall colour;
  • double-hung wooden-sash windows, with multi-paned upper sash (9-over-1 and 3-over-1 configuration);
  • evidence of decorative liveries in the paint finishes;
  • surviving doors including one five-panelled door with transom; and
  • surviving interior original features.

The Next Phase: Relocation, Rehabilitation and Renewal

 The Tashme Historical Society  in partnership with the District of Hope are undertaking the rehabilitation of the Hope Station as an artifact and symbol of BC’s rich

railway, local and provincial history. Once restored, it will serve as a community center which will include a tourism information center, community space, a museum and

a restaurant.