Douglas Street Baptist Church

The Douglas Street Baptist Church is valued for its connections to one of the first Baptist congregations in B.C., and because of a community initiative to construct this building during the Edwardian era. During the 1880s, the local Baptist congregation formed the Burnside Baptist Mission and met in private homes, indicating the importance that the community placed on their religious services. The church on Douglas Street was built with donated materials and labour and illustrates the commitment of the Baptist community to the growth and development of their organization. Many prominent locals made donations to the construction of the church. In order to reduce costs, a cheap alternative to the traditional church material of stone was chosen, imitation ashlar concrete block, which was readily available at the time. The Church also displays an eclectic style, with connections to medieval buildings in the "Old Country", including half-timbered gables and crenellated parapets, combined with thin, paired classical columns on the wooden entrance porch.

The Douglas Street Baptist Church is also significant for its association with the growth and development of its neighbourhood context. Saanich Core is directly north of downtown Victoria, and is the administrative heart of Saanich municipality. In the late 1850s, most of the land in Saanich Core was part of Dr. William Fraser Tolmie's 445 hectare Cloverdale Farm. Tolmie was a prominent local surgeon, Hudson's Bay Company officer, politician and major early landowner in this area of Saanich. Subdivision of his land began in 1890 with one acre parcels and the land boom of 1910-14 established a pattern of residential lots, associated services and community institutions.