Maple Ridge Museum offering historical walking tours for Seniors’ Week

Not everyone knows the history of Maple Ridge.

Tours are being offered this Seniors’ Week for residents to get to know a little bit more about the city they live in.

Erica Williams, president of the Maple Ridge Historical Society, is hosting a tour of downtown Maple Ridge and also a tour of Maple Ridge Cemetery.

“Erica is very knowledgeable about the local history and has been doing the walks for many years,” explained Shea Henry, executive director of the Maple Ridge Museum and Community Archives.

At Maple Ridge Cemetery, Williams will be touring guests through the old part where the early settlers are buried.

“It’s really a very holistic tour,” noted Henry, explaining that Williams will be talking not only about the history of the people that are buried there, but she also gets into the geology of the headstones, the different makes of headstones and the history of them.

The historical tour of downtown will be run in a similar fashion, said Henry.

In that the tour will not simply go through the history of the downtown core, but Williams will be talking about the different murals and the images they depict in addition to what buildings used to be where.

Henry notes that the buildings surrounding Memorial Peace Park have changed every 20 to 30 years over the last 120 years. The library has moved multiple times, as well as city hall, she said.

“One of the first elementary schools in Maple Ridge, Haney Central Elementary, was right where Haney Place Mall is today,” noted Henry.

“There’s a lot of depth to that area – historically and physically,” she added.

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Both tours have a lot to offer for people of all ages.

And they are both being conducted outdoors in a relatively small space, so there is not a lot of walking for people with mobility issues, said Henry.

The Historical Cemetery Walking Tour takes place at 2 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, at Maple Ridge Cemetery, 21404 Dewdney Trunk Road.

The Historical Downtown Maple Ridge Walking Tour takes place at 2 p.m. on Sunday June 5, starting at the Horse Clock, 22470 Dewdney Trunk Road.

There is limited space for both tours so registration is required at mapleridgemuseum.org/mrhscemeterytours/ or mapleridgemuseum.org/historical-downtown-maple-ridge-walking-tour/ or by simply calling the museum at 604-463-5311.

The tours are also weather dependent.