Whalley

Whalley is a amongst the town centres in Surrey, BC. Out of all of the town centres, it is the most densely inhabited. Whalley is also considered to be Surrey's commercial centre. It is home to the SFU or likewise called Simon Fraser University campus, it is the only town centre within Surrey to be serviced by the SkyTrain stations of Gateway, King George, Scott Road and Surrey Central. Next to the Town Centre of Newton, Whalley is the 2nd most inhabited community based on the City of Surrey Population Estimates and Projections.

As early as the 1880s, settlers started pre-empting the land in the vicinity of present-day Whalley. In 1896, through Cape Horn in a Hudson's Bay Company ship, Nels Peter Anderson arrived. This man, who was born within Sweden during the year 1855, jumped ship within New Westminster, changed his name to Sandell and proceeded to homestead the NW corner of Townline Road or 96 Avenue and this eventually turned into Sandell Road or 128th Street.

In the year 1908, the Surrey Council requested a grant to help build a road from the old Fraser Bridge in South Westminster up Peterson Hill to the present 108 Avenue. The newly constructed road disected a portion of the Old Yale Road. This part was referred to as "Snake Hill" due to its dangerous and steep curves. After some time, this route ultimately became part of the King George Highway that passes through Whalley.

In 1925, Arthur Whalley moved his family from a farm in Cloverdale to the place in the existing Whalley, when they purchased a 3-acre triangle of land. This location is a the intersection of 108 Avenue or Ferguson Road, which was to become the future Grosvenor Road and King Goerge Highway. The Whalley family spent their initial winter in tents on the site after having the land cleared. They eventually built a service station that comprised several tourists cabins, a general store and a soft drink stand. The family home was constructed at the rear of the station and since then, this first family house has moved.