If You Grew Up in Coquitlam, Port Moody or Port Coquitlam, You’ll Remember These 9 Things

Port Coquitlam was incorporated on March 7, 1913. Before that it went by Westminster Junction. The Lougheed Highway arrived in 1953 and development followed it. SkyTrain took much longer. The Tri-Cities had none until the Evergreen Extension opened in December 2016.

A lot of what you grew up with sits somewhere along that timeline. It includes a mall that changed a rural corner of Coquitlam, a hospital whose trees outlived it, a tidal pool on the inlet and a lake that once had a much more hopeful name.

This is what those places were, what’s left of them, and how to go back and see them now.

9. The Riverview arboretum and free tree tours (Coquitlam)

The trees are the part of Riverview you can still get close to. The grounds hold a large collection of mature trees. Many were planted in the early 1900s, around the time the hospital opened.

A group of Coquitlam residents started free guided tree tours in 1993. The Riverview Horticultural Centre Society runs them now. Each tour lasts two hours. They’re family-friendly, and all are welcome.

The final 2026 tour ran in October. 2027 dates aren’t posted yet. Join the mailing list at rhcs.org to hear when spring dates go up.

Check rhcs.org for the meeting point before you go.

8. Buntzen Lake, once Lake Beautiful (Anmore)

Buntzen Lake was once called Lake Beautiful. It’s a BC Hydro reservoir, 4.8 kilometres long.

The lake has a place in the region’s power history. The first powerhouse was built in 1903. BC Hydro says the project supplied Vancouver’s first hydroelectric power. So the lake where you swam or walked the dog was doing a job long before it became a weekend spot.

It’s about 30 kilometres from Vancouver, through Port Moody and Anmore. Hours and access rules change by season. On sunny summer weekends it fills up quickly. Check BC Hydro’s Buntzen Lake page for current hours, parking and pass rules before you drive.

7. Burrard Thermal (Port Moody)

For anyone who grew up looking across the inlet, this was part of the view. The gas-fired generating station on Port Moody’s north shore made enough electricity for about 700,000 homes.

It began operating in 1962 and stopped generating in 2016. Four of its six units were converted to help keep the regional power grid stable. BC Hydro has started planning to dismantle it. If regulators approve, demolition would run from about 2030 to 2033, so the skyline you remember won’t last forever.

There is no public access. It’s an industrial site. You can see it from the water, from Rocky Point Park and from the Shoreline Trail.

6. The Lougheed Highway before SkyTrain (Coquitlam, Port Moody, Port Coquitlam)

The Lougheed Highway opened in 1953. For decades it was the main way through the area, along with the Barnet Highway. If you grew up here before 1995, getting anywhere meant one of those two roads.

Commuter rail came first. The West Coast Express started service on November 1, 1995. It still runs weekdays only. SkyTrain followed in December 2016, when the $1.3-billion Evergreen Extension opened six stations: Burquitlam, Moody Centre, Inlet Centre, Coquitlam Central, Lincoln and Lafarge Lake-Douglas.

Port Coquitlam is still the only Tri-City without a SkyTrain station. The West Coast Express stops at Port Coquitlam Station on weekday peak runs. That’s the train to know if you’re heading to PoCo without a car.

The Millennium Line now reaches every Tri-Cities station on the extension. Standard TransLink fares apply.

Which station for which memory

Place	Nearest station	Line
Coquitlam Centre	Coquitlam Central or Lincoln	Millennium Line; West Coast Express at Coquitlam Central
Lafarge Lake / Town Centre Park	Lafarge Lake-Douglas	Millennium Line
Rocky Point Park	Moody Centre	Millennium Line / West Coast Express
Burrard Thermal (view only)	Moody Centre, then Rocky Point Park	Millennium Line / West Coast Express
Port Coquitlam	Port Coquitlam Station	West Coast Express, weekday peak only

5. Maillardville, Fraser Mills and Mackin House (Coquitlam)

The Ross, McLaren Mill, later called Fraser Mills, was built in 1889. At its height it was reputed to be the largest lumbering operation in the British Empire. A mill that size needed workers.

French Canadian mill workers from Quebec began arriving in 1909. They settled Maillardville. That’s the root of the French names and the francophone community in southwest Coquitlam.

Mackin House was built in 1909 for the mill’s sales manager. It’s now a museum, with the old train station and caboose on its grounds. The station and caboose are open year-round. Ring the doorbell during open hours to see inside them.

The museum is open Tuesday to Saturday, with Tuesday and Wednesday hours of 11am to 5pm. Admission is by donation, with $5 per person or $10 per family suggested. Thursday and Friday hours are 2pm to 8pm, and Saturday is 11am to 5pm. Check the admission page for holiday closures.

4. Lafarge Lake and Town Centre Park (Coquitlam)

The lake started as a hole in the ground. Lafarge mined a gravel quarry here from the 1950s to the 1970s. The company donated the man-made lake to the city in the mid-1980s.

Town Centre Park officially opened in May 1989. Two years later the city hosted the 1991 BC Summer Games there. If you competed in or watched those Games, this is where it happened.

Today it’s an easy loop around the water. It sits right next to its own SkyTrain station, Lafarge Lake-Douglas, and a short walk from Coquitlam Centre. The City of Coquitlam’s Town Centre Park page has current facility details.

3. Rocky Point Park: the tidal pool, the pier and the hotel before them (Port Moody)

The site has a longer history than most people guess. A hotel was licensed here in January 1883. A new tidal pool opened to the public in 1947. After leaks were reported in 1960, it was closed and replaced by an in-ground outdoor pool. The area was officially designated a park in 1967.

The pier came later. It was finished in December 1988, on the site of an old boat launch. It runs about 150 metres (500 feet) out over the inlet. If you were a kid in the late ’80s, you may remember when it was new.

Change is coming again. In 2024 council approved a $43-million, 10-year master plan for the park. The outdoor pool is nearing the end of its life but stays for now. It’s a summer facility (the 2026 season ended September 6) and charges $2 per session. Pay parking is in effect at the park.

The park itself is free and open year-round. It’s a short walk from Moody Centre Station. Upgrades are planned in phases, so check portmoody.ca for any closures before you go. The Shoreline Trail starts from here.

2. Riverview Hospital, or Essondale (Coquitlam)

The province bought 405 hectares in 1904 for the hospital and the neighbouring Colony Farm. The hospital opened in 1913. It served as B.C.’s specialized psychiatric hospital until it closed in 2012.

The lands have since been renamed səmiq̓ʷəʔelə, meaning Place of the Great Blue Heron. Many people who grew up nearby still say Essondale or Riverview, and both names carry a lot of family history.

Its second life is on screen. The City of Coquitlam calls it the most-filmed location in Canada. Credits include Deadpool 2, Elysium, Supernatural and Riverdale.

The heritage buildings are not open to the public. BC Housing manages the site and controls all access for filming and photography. Stay on public paths and view the buildings from outside.

1. Coquitlam Centre’s early years (Town Centre, Coquitlam)

The plan called for three department stores: Hudson’s Bay, Eaton’s and Woodward’s. If you remember all three, you remember the original idea. Ground was broken on May 26, 1977.

It opened in 1979 and caused a traffic jam right away. The architecture got attention too. It won a Governor General’s Award for Architecture in 1982. An expansion in 2001 added 70 more stores and a new food court, which is why the place you remember may not quite match the place you walk into.

The Mackin House Museum’s history of Coquitlam covers the mall’s early history. Everything around it, from the towers to the SkyTrain, grew up after.

Tenant pages list hours of 10am to 7pm Monday to Wednesday, 10am to 9pm Thursday and Friday, 10am to 7pm Saturday and 11am to 6pm Sunday. Those came from stores, not the mall, so check the mall’s own site before you go. Afterward, walk north to Lafarge Lake.

When to go

• Riverview tree tours run from late spring to October. The last 2026 tour was October 18. 2027 dates aren’t posted yet.
• The Rocky Point outdoor pool is a summer facility.
• Buntzen Lake fills up quickly on sunny summer weekends.
• Coquitlam Centre, Lafarge Lake and Rocky Point Park are year-round.

Getting there

• The Millennium Line reaches Burquitlam, Moody Centre, Inlet Centre, Coquitlam Central, Lincoln and Lafarge Lake-Douglas.
• The West Coast Express runs weekdays only.
• The City of Coquitlam describes the city as about 40 minutes from downtown Vancouver.
• Buntzen Lake is about 30 kilometres from Vancouver. BC Hydro recommends transit: the 182 bus runs daily from Moody Centre Station to Anmore, about a 2 km walk from the lake, and the seasonal 179 runs from Coquitlam Central on summer weekends and holidays.

Hours and costs

• Mackin House Museum: Check coquitlamheritage.ca for current opening days and hours. By donation, $5 per person or $10 per family suggested. The train station and caboose are open year-round.
• Riverview tree tours: free.
• Rocky Point Park, Lafarge Lake and Coquitlam Centre: free to visit. The Rocky Point pool charges admission.
• Buntzen Lake: check BC Hydro for parking and pass rules.

Etiquette and access

• The Riverview buildings are not open to the public. BC Housing controls all site access for filming and photography. Stay on public paths.
• Burrard Thermal is an industrial site with no public access. View it from across the inlet.
• Rocky Point Park upgrades are planned in phases. Check portmoody.ca for closures.
• At Buntzen, go prepared and check the seasonal rules before you leave home. The access rules change through the year. Right now, after a rockslide there’s no pedestrian access on Powerhouse Road between North Beach and Buntzen Dam (Diez Vistas hikers need another route). From early November to late January the gates are open 8am to 4:30pm, with later closing times after that.

Most of these places are still here in some form. The mall got bigger. The gravel pit became a park. The hospital closed, but its trees still get a tour. If it’s been a while, the Millennium Line will take you to most of them, and the rest are a short drive. Pick one you haven’t seen since you were a kid and go have a look.

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Photo credits

• Burrard Inlet, Port Moody, British Columbia.jpg by Kalamazadkhan, CC BY-SA 4.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• CoquitlamDowntownAndCentre.jpg by Leugen9001, CC BY-SA 4.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• View from Rocky Point, February 14, 2026.jpg by Yuet Man Lee, CC BY-SA 4.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Lights at Lafarge in Coquitlam, Canada.jpg by GoToVan, CC BY 2.0 (combined into a montage, cropped). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Coq-ctr2.jpg by Arnold C, Attribution (resized; cropped for the featured image). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Lougheed Highway, Coquitlam BC.jpg by Dllu, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Essondale grounds 1 (18230637543).jpg by Niall Williams from Coquitlam, Canada, CC BY-SA 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• 20120812 Riverview AcerDavidii Cutler P1290947.jpg by wlcutler, CC BY-SA 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Rocky Point Park 16.JPG by Eviatar Bach, CC BY-SA 3.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Burrard Generating Station seen from the south.jpg by Dllu, CC BY-SA 4.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• BuntzenLakePL280507.jpg by Patrick Leahy (Patleahy), CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Coquitlam Lafarge Lake.jpg by Greg_Salter (talk) (Uploads), CC BY 2.5 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.
• Canadian Tug Boat Co. Ltd at Fraser Mills B.C. (5456685653).jpg by William John Moore, CC BY 2.0 (resized). Via Wikimedia Commons.