Chemainus 1891

Mural #8

Mural #8 — Chemainus 189116.4M X 3.5M (54’ X 12’), Mill Street
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Artist: David Maclagan
Painted in 1983. Restored in 2003 by Cim MacDonald.

The mural shows the original Chemainus, then known as Horseshoe Bay. Passenger cars of the famous Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway (E&N) steam their way across this scene of the settlement at Horseshoe Bay in 1891.

The large white house on the far left was the mill manager’s residence. The area is now Waterwheel Park. The predominant centre road is present-day Mill Street, with Saint Michael and All Angels Anglican Church, erected in 1891 by Rev. David Holmes, situated on the mid-right.

Across from the railway station, on the right side of Mill Street in the foreground, was the Conway house and telegraph office. Heritage Square now occupies that site.