SCMA Photo #2093: The sign painted by Kathleen Godwin on the wharf at lower Gibsons in the 1920s.
What’s in a name?
The Skwxwú7mesh village sites of Ch’kw’elhp and Schenk are located near present-day Gibsons. Squamish stone artifacts dated upwards of 10,000 years before present represent a continuous occupation in the area, the southwest portion of their traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory. Examples of these belongings are featured in our collaborative exhibit: Kwekwinmut, Pieces of the Past. You can also see a map of the Squamish Nation territory with the Skwxwú7mesh Snichim (Squamish language) place names.
When George Gibson pre-empted the area in 1886, he was the first European settler to do so. While many settler place names are often in honour of a person, according to Frank Wyngaert, “George Gibson, Sr. had referred to his particular location as ‘Howe Sound’.” (West Howe Sound Story pg.6) and the name change to Gibson's Landing was for a more practical reason. Since George Gibson was the first Post Master and had built the wharf, where the mail was collected, correspondence was addressed to reflect that.
“If at that time one were mailing a letter to any of the recent pre-emptors, it would be addressed thus:
Mr. John Doe,
Gibson’s Landing,
Howe Sound, B.C.
The inclusion of the names ‘Howe Sound’ were still being used by many as late as the 1920’s.” (West Howe Sound Story pg 7)
The Skwxwú7mesh village sites of Ch’kw’elhp and Schenk are located near present-day Gibsons. Squamish stone artifacts dated upwards of 10,000 years before present represent a continuous occupation in the area, the southwest portion of their traditional, ancestral, and unceded territory. Examples of these belongings are featured in our collaborative exhibit: Kwekwinmut, Pieces of the Past. You can also see a map of the Squamish Nation territory with the Skwxwú7mesh Snichim (Squamish language) place names.
When George Gibson pre-empted the area in 1886, he was the first European settler to do so. While many settler place names are often in honour of a person, according to Frank Wyngaert, “George Gibson, Sr. had referred to his particular location as ‘Howe Sound’.” (West Howe Sound Story pg.6) and the name change to Gibson's Landing was for a more practical reason. Since George Gibson was the first Post Master and had built the wharf, where the mail was collected, correspondence was addressed to reflect that.
“If at that time one were mailing a letter to any of the recent pre-emptors, it would be addressed thus:
Mr. John Doe,
Gibson’s Landing,
Howe Sound, B.C.
The inclusion of the names ‘Howe Sound’ were still being used by many as late as the 1920’s.” (West Howe Sound Story pg 7)
A900: 1899-1900 issue of the British Columbia Directory. George Gibson is listed as the postmaster, but the area is still called Howe Sound.
While Gibson’s Landing, Gibson’s, and Gibsons were often used interchangeably in the early to mid 1900s, the name and spelling Gibsons was approved on July 3, 1947. The Geographic Board of Canada approved this change after a letter was written to them from the Gibsons Board of Trade. The Board of Trade had announced their intentions in the newspaper previously.
According to The Gibson's Landing Story by Les Peterson, it was "in 1947 [that] local businessmen petitioned the Postal Department, and succeeded in having the name of the Post Office address shortened from Gibson's Landing to Gibsons."
It was thought that the name "Gibson’s Landing" did not reflect the growth of Gibsons in the time since the first Post Office. At this time, it was the landing itself that seemed unnecessary. While some of the newspaper coverage mentioned that it was a nostalgic name, there was no documentation of push back against the name change from Gibson’s Landing to Gibsons. In fact, it was suggested that other local names such as Hopkins Landing should also be shortened. Even after the change was registered with the government, the Gibson’s Landing name appeared in print for some time. Including the apostrophe is an ongoing issue we still see today!
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