Photo above is by Sutton Realty of the historical 1879 Gaol Building which Sutton has for sale. This heritage building is where our Head Office is located as of 01 July 2021.
The Gaol Building was part of the Federal maximum security penitentiary opened in 1878 in Sapperton, New Westminster, British Columbia. The Gaol Building became the hospital and Main building for the first Federal penitentiary West of Manitoba which became known as the BC Pen.
Only a few years earlier in 1871, British Columbia became established as the 6th Province of Canada. Canada had just been recently created by the 1867 BNA. New Westminster became the first capital city of BC.
The BC Pen was built on the former grounds of the Royal Engineers camp (military engineers were known as sappers thus sapperton) and became a dismal place with 40 foot concrete walls which saw prisoner revolts such as in 1976, attempted escapes and even executions until the death penalty was abolished. The BC Pen was closed in 1980 after 102 years of use.
Today there are only a few buildings left of the large BC Pen complex including the Main building our Head Office now occupies, known now as the 1879 Gaol Building.
About One Thousand homes were built on the old BC Pen lands but nearby is the graveyard of the BC Pen, with ghosts according to some. Managed by the City of New Westminster, known as the Royal City but no longer the BC Capital, is also some parkland including a ravine known to few outside our community.
