FOUNDATIONS
Albert McCleary was born into an Ontario farming family but decided to spend his life exploring 'the wild West', and left home as a teenage boy. At the age of 38, the experienced adventurer moved into our area on the wave of mining discoveries and pre-empted 320 acres of land on May 1, 1888. Over three years he cleared eight acres on which he established a farm that was irrigated by water from what would later be called Bloomer Creek. He supported himself by selling produce from his gardens, raising sheep, and operating a ferry across the Columbia River. He had worked for the CPR before as a packer, and he was sought out by the company to help in preliminary surveys for the Crow's Nest line. In the last phase of his life he was employed as a railway watchman. Prospecting was also a passion.
By the end of 1890 Albert's ferry operation was losing ground to the Columbia & Kootenay Railway that was replacing the old pack trail to Nelson. In February of 1891 Albert had his 320 acre property surveyed, so that he would be in a position to sell it. Most likely he had found out that his father had died, and he wanted to move out and return to the family circle. After paying the Crown one dollar per acre, he closed a deal in the summer of that year with Edward Mahon. The negotiated price was around $3,000.
Edward Mahon was born in Rawmarsh, Yorkshire, to a wealthy family whose ancestral Irish home was called Castlegar. Educated at Oxford, he abandoned the legal profession to head to Canada with a younger brother. Here he met up with his older brother John, who launched him on a career based on the speculation and development of land and mining claims. Edward was attracted to the West Kootenay district by mining developments in the Slocan, and he acquired several properties. He planned out a townsite - which he named after his family home in County Galway - for the land he got from McCleary, only to find its development frustrated by the CPR. He retreated to North Vancouver where he pursued more promising investments for the remainder of his life. Edward Mahon is credited as one of the founding fathers of North Vancouver, a successful businessman, and a philanthropist.
From the sign