Fifth Street

Fifth Street is valued for its historic and aesthetic significance.

Most important is the street's historic connection to the beginnings of New Westminster. Formerly called St. George's Street after the patron saint of Great Britain, it first appeared on city maps in 1859. The street ended in what was then proposed to be the location of the parliament buildings. The street is therefore historically connected to the city's history as the capital of British Columbia from 1859 to 1868. It is also valued for its connection to Colonel Richard Clement Moody of the Royal Engineers, who established the design of the new city.

The street has aesthetic value as a major public linear space that is wider than its neighbouring streets and that is planted with mature trees. It knits together the Glenbrooke North and Queen’s Park neighbourhoods of New Westminster. Being bounded at both ends helps define these seven blocks as a unit. The streetscape is important for its consistent broad space between house fronts on either side.

These blocks of Fifth Street help distinguish the two neighbourhoods by featuring a transition from planted median to none at Sixth Avenue. They are also important for the unbroken line of residences almost the entire length of the seven blocks, which aesthetically helps resist the visual imposition of the higher commercial development immediately west on Sixth Street.