Hirst Family

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Receiving the dubious distinction as the first white settler to step onto these shores, John Hirst Junior arrived by canoe and purchased 160 acres for $160.

In 1895, John and his wife Ann (Harris of Nanaimo) started building the Rod and Gun Hotel. Unfortunately, John died before it opened but Ann continued with the project on her own and the doors to the hotel opened on 1898. What was the price for bed, breakfast and dinner? See page 11 of Parksville & then some by Marjorie Leffler.

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Further Reading

Hirst Family Biography
OPEN (PDF 31 KB)

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1245 East Island Highway
Parksville, BC V9P 2E5

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The Parksville Museum is located on the unceded, traditional, & ancestral lands of the Coast Salish, Hul’q’umi’num’ speaking people including the Snaw-naw-as and Snuneymuxw people.

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