This was during a time when the region’s activity was centred in New Westminster, which had just years earlier ended its short stint as the capital city of the Colony of BC. The City of Vancouver was only incorporated eight years after the opening of the prison, and BC was still in its infancy as a province of Canadian Confederation.
Aerial of the area today that used to be the British Columbia Penitentiary and Woodland Hospital. 65 Richmond Street is the location for the Gaol Building, one of the few remaining prison buildings. (Bing Maps)
Aerial of BC Penitentiary in New Westminster, 1975. (City of New Westminster Archives)