The Past

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There were four main reasons why people with authority in the community wanted Enderby to be incorporated as a city rather than a district municipality. These reasons were: their (our elders) vision of the future, the need for services, opposition of farmers, and the costs of maintaining rural roads.

At a meeting on June 18, 1904, more than fifty people made the decision to incorporate Enderby as a city. At this time, Enderby was a quickly growing town, as the population grew from 200 to 500 in 1904, and was predicted to exceed 1000 by the end of 1905.

Enderby residents noticed the obvious expansion of industries in the area, and recognized the potential of Enderby to become the major city in the B.C. Interior. As a matter of fact, very few people questioned that Enderby should be a city, and even fewer actually opposed the idea. The earlier method of public subscription to raise money for services was no longer sufficient, and only Enderby's incorporation as a city would fill these needs.

The major reason for Enderby becoming a city rather than a municipality was the opposition of the farmers, as an overwhelming majority voted against a municipality. The better of the two choices, in respect to the farmers' lands and idea, was incorporation as a city, so that is the choice the farmers took.

The last reason for incorporating Enderby as a city was the presence of the Indian Reserve. At a meeting on June 18, 1904, Attorney Fred Billings explained that the roads through the reserve would have to be maintained by the township, but that no taxes could be levied against the inhabitants of this land. (The Edenograph, June 22,1904). Only Enderby as a city could keep this land maintained.

Although support for incorporation was strong, there was some opposition, as stated in the Edenograph:  "There are just three property owners in Enderby who are opposing incorporation. They have erected a scare crow and labeled it "Taxation", and continue to frighten themselves by looking at it."    (The Edenograph, Oct. 19.1904)

Law required that 100 male British subjects reside within the limits of the proposed incorporation. To be on the safe side, the committee appointed to work on incorporation sent a list of considerably more than 100 names to Victoria. However, Victoria questioned the validity of this list, and asked that the list be verified by affidavit, thus delaying action by two months. The committee wanted Enderby to become a city on Jan. 1, 1905, but word was received that incorporation was to be effective March 1, 1905, and elections were held on March 22.

Jim Screen
ALF School, 1989