The Lost Finlayson Falls and Rock Bay Stream
There was once a stream, filled with Coho salmon that would pour into Victoria's harbour. Bears, eagles, and other animals would have used the stream for food. The Lekwungen people would also set up camps along the stream. It was part of the Rock Bay watershed. The stream (now referred to as Rock Bay Creek) runs through Quadra hillside, burnside Gorge, and empties into Rock Bay.
Along this stream was a falls, which the coho would navigate during their spawning time. Early settlers named it Finlayson Falls (after Roderick Finlayson). It's original name has been lost through time. Later rocks from the falls were blasted and used the rock for steep sections along lower Queens Street, between Government and Douglas streets.
Between 1860-62 a coal gasification plant was built and then later operated by Victoria Gas Company at the mouth of the stream (later to become the British Columbia Electric Company, and then B.C. Hydro). It's operation was celebrated by its first customer,
"A crowd of men jostled at the liquor store entrance for a better vantage point, spilling off of the wood-plank sidewalk onto the pot-hole strewn street. Suddenly, a yellow flame burst from the vent, roaring into the night sky, beautiful and clear, and several feet in height." (The Daily Colonist October 1, 1862)
The salt-water marsh that once provided habitat for fish and wildlife completely disappeared. From the 1890's onwards the stream was progressively culverted from Harris Pond to Rock Bay essentially destroying the coho run and hiding its existence. But others knew it was still there:
Video - Rock Bay Creek: A Story of Urban Watershed Revival
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