The Fort Langley you see today is the second incarnation of a fort first built as a fur-trading post in 1827 at a site 4km west of its current location. Moved in 1839, the fort subsequently switched its focus from fur-trading to farming and fishing. In 1858 James Douglas announced BC's creation from here giving the site a legitimate claim to being the province's birthplace.
With the development of Vancouver in the 1880s, the fort went into a precipitous decline, arrested only when it was named a national historic site in 1923. Aside from a storehouse dating from the 1840s, all the other buildings are careful re-creations of the 19th century originals and were constructed piecemeal from the 1950s onward. However, what Fort Langley lacks in original bricks and mortar, it makes up for with its inspired and highly educational historical re-enactments, including a working blacksmith’s forge, a cooper (barrel-maker) and a musket-firing exhibit. Anchoring the site, the reconstructed ‘Big House’ tells the story of BC’s birth and is backed up by re-created living quarters, a theater and a small animal enclosure. You can also walk along a portion of the wooden ramparts. Free guided tours are offered several times a day
