About

Copley Community Orchard is an organic urban orchard located on the unceded territory of the the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and Sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations First Nations, in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is a place to celebrate the benefits of growing fruit trees, berry bushes and other perennial plants, educating people on their cultivation, and creating a beautiful and productive space. Come volunteer with us!

The Copley Community Orchard became its own organization in 2020 following the planting of new trees by the Environmental Youth Alliance in 2012.

If you have any information/sources/photos to share regarding this area or the Copley’s, please contact: tanya@copleycommunityorchard.com

Copley Orchard History

In the 1850s, the area surrounding what is now Trout Lake and Copley Community Orchard, had beaver dams up to 37 meters (120 feet) long. Due to the dams, the land was swampy allowing for cranberries to grow. But by the 1900s, the swamps were drained creating good organic soil.

In 1905, Richard Theophilus Copley (October 3, 1850 -April 9, 1917) moved to Vancouver from England. He arrived with his two sons, Herbert and Harold and nephew Oliver Neeld. His wife Marie, daughters Laura, Gladys and Elsie and son Cecil and domestic Florence Wagstaff came later that year. His eldest daughter stayed in England until 1909 and his eldest son, Richard, went to California.

Richard T. Copley was financially successful in England in the leather boot trade which allowed him to purchase the land surrounding Victoria, 28th Street, Nanaimo and 12th Street. His property would later be referred to as the “Copley Ranch” where he built a large house, (named “West Green”) with five bedrooms upstairs in the east section of the orchard.

The road that ran between the house and the orchard was named Copley Drive. In 1910, a by-law was passed changing it to Copley Road. On the ranch, there were two greenhouses and the orchard where the Copley family proudly grew many trees including cherry, walnut, apple, and plum.

Photo of Richard T. Copley from England.

Copley Family Photos

Below are photos of the Copley family and related historical images. To see more images, click the pagination numbers below the photos.

Copley 1905 Passenger List

Richard and Marie Copley are on this 1905 passenger list.

Bethell 1909 Passenger List

Marie Rachel Copley

Copley Family

Photo from their home at West Green.

The Copleys and Staff

Richard and Marie Copley (left) with staff (right) at home in West Green Vancouver.

1903 Passenger List

Richard and Marie’s son, Richard (usually known as Dick), was one of the Barr Colonists who sailed in 1903.

Richard Copley headstone-by Breeonne Baxter

Richard Copley

Photo taken in Vancouver.



“Of all the fruits of the universe — none have the breadth of choice covered by our loved apple. In my garden I have more than 120 different kinds and I am adding to them.”

– Richard Copley (1910)

References (click icon to view)

“Automated Genealogy 1911 Census Indexing Project.” Automated Genealogy. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2012.

Copley, Doug. 22 Feb. 2012. Phone Interview.

Copley, June. 21 Feb. 2012. Email Interview.

Copley, R. T. (1910, March). As Others See Us (Letters to the Editor).Fruit Magazine, Volume 1 Number 6, page 24.

Macdonald, Bruce. Vancouver: a visual history. Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1992. Print.

Smedman, Lisa. Vancouver: stories of a city : a history of Vancouver’s neighbourhoods and the people who built them. Vancouver: Vancouver courier, 2008. Print.

Walker, Elizabeth. Street names of Vancouver. Vancouver, B.C.: Vancouver Historical Society, 1999. Print.

Gladstone Creek

Vancouver’s Gladstone Creek is a largely forgotten, culverted waterway, once considered for “daylighting” (bringing to the surface) in 1995 near Trout Lake. Too deep underground to restore, it remains a hidden, historic creek flowing beneath the area near Gladstone Street and Copley Community Orchard.

Image from the book “Vancouver’s Old Streams”. It shows the natural drainage of Vancouver, as it was before the City was built. The red dot/ apple indicates the location of the orchard.

Meandering Through Cities: Adapting Restoration Framework for Urban Streams

“Trout Lake, the headwaters of China Creek, once had three streams flowing into it, the largest being Gladstone Creek (Proctor 1989). The area around Trout Lake was a peat bog surrounded by a hemlock forest.

In 1926, the land around Trout Lake became the property of the Vancouver Parks Board and the water level of the lake was lowered to connect with the sewer and to create safe swimming beaches. (Trout Lake Restoration Committee 1995).

In the 1930s and 40s frequent peat fires burned around the Trout Lake. The peat was eventually drained from the bog surrounding the Lake. . .

As East Vancouver grew, the watershed was deforested and paved.”

Memories of Gladstone Creek

“When I was young, I attended Sunday School at that church across Victoria from Cedar Cottage Neighbourhood House, when it was Cedar Cottage United Church, I think it had a beautiful house at the south end of Copley Street fairly close to the Central Park tram trestle. In fact, when that house was built, the trams may have been running at grade before the trestle was built.

The Greer house would have looked out over Gladstone Creek that ran between Copley Street and Walker Street on its way to Trout Lake. Any traces of the creek are long gone.”

Trout Lake Community Crawl

“Gladstone Creek… was the site of a proposed project in 1995 in which the stream would be “daylighted” or brought to the surface to restore the park to a more natural state while providing a bountiful habitat for wildlife and plants. However, the creek is unfortunately too deep underground for that to be possible, and will thus remain a hidden secret known only to those willing to learn about it.”