Oak Bay, British Columbia

For the electoral district, see Oak Bay (electoral district).
Oak Bay
District municipality
The Corporation of the District of Oak Bay[1]

Coat of arms

Location of Oak Bay in British Columbia

Coordinates: 48°25′35″N 123°19′22″W / 48.42639°N 123.32278°W / 48.42639; -123.32278Coordinates: 48°25′35″N 123°19′22″W / 48.42639°N 123.32278°W / 48.42639; -123.32278
Country  Canada
Province  British Columbia
Regional District Capital
Incorporated 1906
Government
 • Mayor Nils Jensen
 • Governing Body Oak Bay Municipal Council
 • MP Murray Rankin (New Democratic Party (Canada))
 • MLA Andrew Weaver (BC Green)
Area
 • Total 10.53 km2 (4.07 sq mi)
Elevation 34 m (112 ft)
Population (2011)
 • Total 18,015
 • Density 1,710.3/km2 (4,430/sq mi)
Time zone Pacific Time Zone (UTC−8)
 • Summer (DST) Pacific Daylight Time (UTC−7)
Area code(s) 250, 778
Oak Bay

Oak Bay is a municipality located on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Canada, and is a seaside community. A member municipality of the Capital Regional District, it is a community east of and adjacent to the city of Victoria. It is one of the 13 municipalities of Greater Victoria.

Notable features

Oak Bay has several notable features which include:

Oak Bay is home to several popular beaches, most notably Willows Beach.

Oak Bay's motto, from its coat of arms, is Sub Quercu Felicitas, Latin for "Under the Oak, Good Fortune".

History

Cattle Point, Oak Bay, British Columbia

Prior to the arrival of Europeans, Oak Bay was home to the local Coast Salish people of the Songhees First Nation. Evidence of their encampments has been found along local shores, including Willows Beach. Following the establishment of Fort Victoria on the Inner Harbour, the Hudson's Bay Company established Cadboro Bay Farm to supply food for the small settlement. Cattle Point, where cattle were brought ashore to avoid taxes, between Cadboro Bay and Willows Beach recalls the early history of this area. Early European settlers of the area included John Tod, whose home still stands and is reputed to be haunted.

Oak Bay takes its name from the Garry Oak tree, which are found throughout the region, and the name of the large bay on the Eastern shore of the municipality, fronting onto Willows Beach.

Originally developed as a middle class streetcar suburb of Victoria, Oak Bay was incorporated as a municipality in 1906. Its first Council included Francis Rattenbury, the architect who designed the Legislative Buildings and Empress Hotel located on the inner harbour in Victoria. Rattenbury's own home on Beach Drive is now used as the junior campus for Glenlyon Norfolk School. In 1912 the former farm lands of the Hudson's Bay Company were subdivided to create the Uplands area, but development was hampered by World War I. After the war, development of expensive homes in the Uplands was accompanied by the construction of many more modest dwellings in the Estevan, Willows and South Oak Bay neighbourhoods. In addition to being an attractive retirement area, Oak Bay has also long appealed to families with young children and others seeking safe and well-maintained neighbourhoods. Oak Bay boasts wonderful beaches, the Oak Bay Marina, the Oak Bay Beach Hotel, and the Royal Victoria Yacht Club located on the shore of Cadboro Bay.

The Victoria Golf Club is located in South Oak Bay. It was founded in 1893, and is the second oldest golf course west of the Great Lakes. It is a challenging 6000 yard links course which hugs the ocean side, and claims to be the oldest golf course in Canada still on its original site.[3]

The Royal Victoria Yacht Club was formed on June 8, 1892, and moved in 1912 to its current location, at the location of the old Hudson's Bay Company cattle wharf.

The Oak Bay Marina was built in 1962 and officially opened in April 1964. It replaced the Oak Bay Boat House built in 1893. The breakwater was built in 1959 and funded by the federal government.

There have reportedly been sightings of a sea monster known as the Cadborosaurus off Oak Bay, with modern-day accounts and ones dating back to first nations accounts.

Canada 2006 Census Population % of Total Population
Visible minority group
Source:[4] 		Chinese 430 2.4%
South Asian 180 1%
Black 25 0.1%
Filipino 155 0.9%
Latin American 65 0.4%
Southeast Asian 30 0.2%
Arab 15 0.1%
West Asian 65 0.4%
Korean 45 0.3%
Japanese 170 1%
Other visible minority 10 0.1%
Mixed visible minority 25 0.1%
Total visible minority population 1,225 6.9%
Aboriginal group
Source:[5] 		First Nations 260 1.5%
Métis 0 0%
Inuit 0 0%
Total Aboriginal population 260 1.5%
White 16,200 91.6%
Total population 17,685 100%

Film studio

During the 1930s, Oak Bay, British Columbia was the original "Hollywood North" when fourteen films were produced in Greater Victoria between 1933 and 1938.[6] In 1932 Kenneth James Bishop leased an off-season exhibition building on the Willows Fairgrounds was converted to a film sound stage to produce films for the British film quota system under the Cinematograph Films Act 1927[7] and films were produced with Hollywood stars such as Lillian Gish, Paul Muni, Sir Cedric Hardwicke, Edith Fellows, Charles Starrett and Rin Tin Tin Jr. Film production was curtailed when the Cinematograph Films Act 1938 specified only British made films would be included in the quota.

The Willows Park Studio films include:
1933

1935

1936

1937

1938

1942

Climate

Education

Oak Bay is within School District 61. There is one public elementary school, Willows Elementary, one public middle school, Monterey Middle School, and one public high school, Oak Bay High School, with the second largest student population in the Greater Victoria School District.[9]

Residents in the South Oak Bay area may also register their children at the nearby Margaret Jenkins Elementary (in Victoria).

There are two private schools located in Oak Bay, Glenlyon Norfolk School and St. Michael's University School.

Half of the University of Victoria campus is located within the District of Oak Bay, while the other half is in adjacent Saanich.

Neighbourhoods

Parks & Recreation Centres

Parks

Recreation Centres

Marinas, Anchorages & Boat Ramps

Marinas

Anchorages

Boat Ramps

Golf Courses

Public Safety

See also

McNeill Bay (British Columbia)

References

  1. ↑ "British Columbia Regional Districts, Municipalities, Corporate Name, Date of Incorporation and Postal Address" (XLS). British Columbia Ministry of Communities, Sport and Cultural Development. Retrieved November 2, 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.livinginvictoriabc.com/greater-victoria/mls-statistics-for-victoria-oak-bay-metchosin-north-saanich-and-sidney
  3. ↑ "Victoria Golf Club". Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  4. ↑ "Community Profiles from the 2006 Census, Statistics Canada - Census Subdivision". 2.statcan.gc.ca. 2010-12-06. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  5. ↑ "Aboriginal Peoples - Data table". 2.statcan.ca. 2010-10-06. Retrieved 2013-04-13.
  6. ↑ http://www.webturf.com/oakbay/history/encyclopedia/w.shtml
  7. ↑ p. 30 Gasher, Mike Hollywood North: The Feature Film Industry in British Columbia UBC Press, 2002
  8. ↑ http://climate.weather.gc.ca/climate_normals/results_e.html?stnID=113&radius=25&proxSearchType=coordinates&degreesNorth=48&minutesNorth=25&secondsNorth=35&degreesWest=123&minutesWest=19&secondsWest=22&proxSubmit=go&dCode=0
  9. ↑ School District website
  10. ↑ http://oakbay.ca/public-safety/fire-department
  11. ↑ "History of OBSR Society / CCGA(P) Unit #33". Oak Bay Sea Rescue Society. Retrieved 2012-12-29.

http://oakbay.ca

http://oakbay.ca/parks-recreation/parks-playgrounds/parks-listing

http://www.oakbaybc.org/commun/murdoch.pdf

Oak Bay, British Columbia: in Photographs 1906-2006 (book)

Only in Oak Bay Oak Bay Municipality: 1906-1981 (book)

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