In the 1880s, when the North Shore was sparsely populated, the City of Vancouver decided to obtain water from the Capilano River. It would build a shallow stone-and-timber dam 6½ miles up from the Inlet and build a pipe to carry water down from the dam, to join an underwater pipe that would cross the Inlet.
First a trail was cleared parallel to the river so workers could carry construction materials on mules up to the dam site. Then pipe was built beside the trail. When dam and pipe were finished in 1889, blacksmith Walter Newman became caretaker of the pipe and its valves. He and his family moved into a house near the river’s mouth, beside the trail and pipe. His job required frequent trips on horseback up and down the entire trail, in all kinds of weather, to inspect pipe and valves, and make repairs.
Today, the original dam, pipe and house are long gone, and the north section of the trail is underwater, behind today’s Cleveland Dam. The stretch running from the modern dam down to Marine Drive became Capilano Road. South of Marine Drive, Capilano Road extends south to Welch Street, but this section isn’t derived from the original trail as it follows the route of the newer pipeline. The trail that ran beside the original pipe is now Mathias Road.
Road alongside the Capilano River, 190_. Philip Timms photo, Vancouver Public Library (Public Domain)
2008 map showing split in Capilano Road south of Marine Drive. Arrow points to original trail route (Mathias Road). Map courtesy of MapArt Publishing