A short history of Langley

Langley’s story is a long one, and it starts well before anyone built a fort. This page is the quick version: the big dates, who was here, and how one place turned into two municipalities. For the Kwantlen perspective, see Kwantlen First Nation and the land Langley sits on.

Before the fort

The land around the lower Fraser River has been home to Coast Salish peoples for a very long time. The Township’s own website acknowledges the traditional territories of the Coast Salish Peoples, naming its relationships with the Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo and Matsqui First Nations. Parks Canada says Kwantlen longhouses once lined the shore of nearby McMillan Island, and that the Kwantlen were important trading partners once the fort arrived.

The fort (1827 to 1858)

The Hudson’s Bay Company built a fur-trading post on the Fraser in 1827. The City of Langley’s anniversary article says James McMillan set it up that winter and named it for Thomas Langley, a London director of the company. The Langley Heritage Society notes the first fort stood at Derby, and the company rebuilt at the present Fort Langley site in 1839.

Trade was not only furs. Parks Canada’s history explains that salmon and cranberries went out to Hawaii and California. In 1858, gold on the Fraser brought about 30,000 miners, and on November 19 of that year Governor James Douglas proclaimed the Colony of British Columbia at the fort. That is why the Township calls Fort Langley the “Birthplace of BC”. The fort became a national historic site in 1923.

Farms and a Township (1870s)

The fort had a farm, and the City’s article says it ran southwest from today’s Trinity Western University toward the City. By the 1870s it was no longer profitable, so the company subdivided and sold land to retired employees and settlers. The Township of Langley was incorporated in 1873.

Rails and roads

Rail came early. The Canadian Northern station in Fort Langley dates from 1915 (see heritage sites). In 1910, the BC Electric Railway “Interurban” reached Langley and linked it to New Westminster and Vancouver, and according to the City’s article, Langley Prairie was the one Langley settlement to get the service. The Interurban shut down in 1958, buses having become more popular, as the Aldergrove Star reports. The City article also says that building Highway 1 spurred growth and a bigger demand for urban services.

Two Langleys (1955)

Around the old Innes Corners, a commercial area grew along Yale Road. The City says the community wanted streetlights, sidewalks and sewers the Township would not provide, so it separated and became the City of Langley on March 15, 1955. It dropped “Prairie” from the name. Our City vs. Township page explains how to tell them apart today.

Langley today

The Township’s 2025 annual report counts 154,122 residents across six urban centres and a rural area. Willoughby-Willowbrook is the most populous at 56,286. The City’s article mentions a SkyTrain extension planned for 2029. We have not sourced year-by-year growth figures for the 1990s onward, so we leave those out rather than guess.

Where to see it

• Fort Langley National Historic Site
• Langley Centennial Museum
• BC Farm Museum
• Heritage buildings and sites

Something out of date? Tell us.