Samuel Brighouse Elementary School
Samuel Brighouse Elementary School (1965- ) was built to serve the residents of Brighouse Estates.
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Samuel Brighouse Elementary School in 2004. City of Richmond Archives Photograph 2004 43 166. |
Besides Manoah Steves, Samuel Brighouse (1836-1911) is probably the most recognizable name in the municipality. Indeed, the downtown core of Richmond is often referred to as Brighouse.
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Samuel Brighouse, circa 1860. |
Samuel Brighouse made two very successful purchases of land when he returned from the Cariboo Gold Rush. One was in the west end of Vancouver where he and two partners purchased 550 acres of forested land. Because of this purchase, they became known as the Three Greenhorns.
In 1864 he purchased 697 acres in what is today the downtown core of Richmond where he raised thoroughbred horses and grazed cattle. The present and past City Halls, Minoru Park, and Richmond Centre Shopping Mall were eventually built on land that he had once owned. Minoru (later Brighouse) Racetrack was built on a piece of his property as well.
He, too, was a petitioner for the incorporation of the Township of Richmond as a municipality and served on Council in 1883.