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Pioneers: Ernest Hill builds on ingenuity

Some of Chilliwack’s most stately homes are the monument to his influence
8241992_web1_1999.209.022.029JespersonHouse
Chilliwack Progress Photo, courtesy of the Chilliwack Museum and Archives [1999.029.022.029] One of Chilliwack’s stately homes, the Jesperson residence on Jesperson Road, Fairfield Island.

There may be no street names, schools or parks named after him, but the legacy of Ernest Hill is all around us.

He was the mason contracted for many of the stone houses that still stand today. The houses were built largely around 1912, including the Jesperson House (on Jesperson), the Walker House on Banford, the now-gone Webb House on Vedder, and Dr. Patten’s house on Princess.

But the Sardis man who was born in England worked as an in-demand mason from 1907 to 1918. And the homes he created are his longest-lasting legacy. It was the Walker House, and the positive reviews it received around town, that helped cement Hill’s reputation as a mason. That was also the first home in Chilliwack to hold an official heritage designation.

Dr. Patten’s house, which became the Society Gathering House most recently, now sits vacant.

His homes were considered “substantial houses” even at the time, and called graceful and handsome by a Progress writer. The cement blocks these homes were built with were created right in Chilliwack, in a machine that used local sand. This kept the costs down and became very popular, as home owners were preferring stone houses to wood, which were more likely to be lost to fire. His advertisements in The Progress urged farmers to consider the benefits of concrete for silos and other buildings.

Despite his prominence at the time, Ernest Hill’s name is often a footnote in stories about other pioneers.

And Hill didn’t just work on homes. In 1911, he improved the image of the Coqualeetza Institute by creating concrete lattice work at the entrance. It was believed to be the first of its kind in the province. Hill also was the mason in charge when the first concrete “fireproof” garage was built in Chilliwack, for a Ford dealership. It boasted a showroom, a “ladies waiting room,” and garage space.

The front of the Irwin Block at Five Corners (known casually for years as the Hipwell Block, after the pharmacist who operated there) was also his handiwork, as well as some masonry for local schools.

While Hill moved away for several decades, he returned in 1960. He was “tickled pink” with having received a letter in 1961 from the Queen, thanking him for a letter and wishing the seniors of Chilliwack well. He often wrote to members of the Royal family, having fond memories of being a page to the Queen when she opened the Albert Hall in Liverpool. He was just 11 then, and his mother was a lady-in-waiting to the monarch.

He told a Progress reporter in 1961 that Chilliwack was “the first place that was good to me.”

He died a few months later, at the age of 92 and was survived by his daughter, Alice Hardy, and several grandchildren and great grandchildren.



Jessica Peters

About the Author: Jessica Peters

I began my career in 1999, covering communities across the Fraser Valley ever since.
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