People uprooted from Burquitlam (4)

Burquitlam is a neighbourhood which takes its name from the nearby municipalities of Burnaby and Coquitlam. The name was created when a post office opened in 1906. North Road, constructed in 1859 to connect New Westminster to the Burrard Inlet, remains Burquitlam’s main thoroughfare.

Around 1930, Takeshi Kumagai moved from Port Moody to Burquitlam, where he purchased farmland and began growing strawberries. His wife, Masako, joined him from Japan, and their son, Lloyd Hiroshi Kumagai, was born in Burquitlam. The neighbouring Matsushita family owned a farm where they grew fruit and vegetables including strawberries, currants, raspberries, and asparagus. As two of the only Japanese Canadian families in Burquitlam, the Kumagais and Matsushitas were close friends. Some records list the Matsushita family as living in Burquitlam, while other records list them in nearby New Westminster. The children of both families attended Mountain View Elementary School in Burquitlam.