View Royal, British Columbia
Encyclopedia
View Royal is a town in Greater Victoria
Greater Victoria, British Columbia
Greater Victoria is located in British Columbia, Canada, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It is a cultural rather than political entity, usually defined as the thirteen easternmost municipalities of the Capital Regional District on Vancouver Island but also includes adjoining areas and...
and a member municipality of the Capital Regional District of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. View Royal has a population of approximately 8000 residents and was incorporated as a municipality in December 1988.
The main built-up area of View Royal straddles the neck of the Esquimalt peninsula between Esquimalt Harbour
Esquimalt Harbour
Esquimalt Harbour is a sheltered body of water in Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. It is connected to the Strait of Juan de Fuca by a narrow channel known as Royal Roads. Its entrance is marked by Fisgard Lighthouse....
and Portage Inlet. A larger, mostly wooded area stretches northward around Thetis Lake
Thetis Lake
Thetis Lake is a name that refers to two freshwater lakes connected by a narrow culvert in the 834 hectare Thetis Lake Regional Park outside Victoria, British Columbia, about 12km from the city centre. It was established as Canada's first nature sanctuary in 1958...
Park. View Royal borders Esquimalt Harbour to the south, Colwood
Colwood, British Columbia
Colwood is a city located on Vancouver Island to the southwest of Victoria, capital of British Columbia. Colwood was incorporated in 1985 and has a population of approximately 15,000 people. Colwood lies within the boundaries of the Victoria Census Metropolitan area or Capital Regional District,...
and Langford
Langford, British Columbia
Langford is a city of 22,459 residents on southern Vancouver Island, within the province of British Columbia, Canada. It is considered one of Greater Victoria's Western Communities...
to the west, Highlands and Saanich
Saanich, British Columbia
The District of Saanich is a municipality on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. It is located north of the provincial capital, Victoria. It has a population of 108,265 people, making it the most populous municipality on Vancouver Island, and the seventh most populous in the province...
to the north, and Esquimalt
Esquimalt, British Columbia
The Township of Esquimalt is a municipality at the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in British Columbia, Canada. It is bordered to the east by the provincial capital, Victoria, to the south by the Strait of Juan de Fuca, to the west by Esquimalt Harbour and Royal Roads, to the northwest by the...
and the Esquimalt Nation reserve to the east.
View Royal has a rich history that is closely linked to the entire region. The Esquimalt First Nation
Esquimalt First Nation
The Esquimalt First Nation, also known as the Esquimalt Indian Band and Esquimalt Nation, is a First Nations band government of the Esquimalt people. Historically their village was located closer to Victoria proper, but today their main reserve is on the north shore of Esquimalt Harbour adjacent...
, a Coast Salish
Coast Salish
Coast Salish languages are a subgroup of the Salishan language family. These languages are spoken by First Nations or Native American peoples inhabiting the territory that is now the southwest coast of British Columbia around the Strait of Georgia and Washington state around Puget Sound...
indigenous people, have occupied View Royal since time immemorial. European settlement began in the 1850s by Kenneth Mackenzie who established a farm known as Craigflower Manor and Dr. John Helmcken
John Sebastian Helmcken
John Sebastian Helmcken was a British Columbia physician who played a prominent role in bringing the province into Canadian Confederation...
, Vancouver Island's first doctor and later speaker of the British Columbia Legislative Assembly. Several historic sites can be found in View Royal including the Six Mile Pub, the oldest continuously operating pub in the province of British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, founded in 1855.
Following incorporation of the Capital Regional District in the 1960s, View Royal remained as one of the unincorporated electoral areas until incorporation as a town in 1988.
Several changes have gone on in View Royal in recent years, including the move by Great Canadian Casinos into a large complex on the Old Island Highway, with the municipality receiving a percentage of the profits in a contractual agreement for the next 20 years. The Town of View Royal boasts the largest pizza sold in Canada at Top Dog Pizza. In 1983, the Victoria General Hospital
Victoria General Hospital
Victoria General Hospital is an acute care facility located in View Royal, British Columbia, Canada, a western suburb of Victoria. VGH, as it is commonly known, provides emergency, general surgery and medical treatment services...
relocated to View Royal.