Let’s take another step back in time to 1915 and check out a gathering at McNeely Hall in Ladner Village.
The hall was located at the northeast corner of Delta and Chisholm streets in a large building that also had a hotel.
The hall was a hub for the community where dances, concerts, meetings and early movie shows were held.
It was also used as a hospital during the flu epidemic in 1918.
Thomas McNeely was a prominent member of the community and several businesses and large land holdings in Delta and throughout the Lower Mainland.
He built several saw mills in the region, as well as his hotel and grocery store in Ladner in the late 1800s.
He passed away in the beginning of the 1900s.
His wife Annie passed away in 1929.
The Thomas and Annie McNeely home was on the 129-acre Jubilee Farm estate on Arthur Drive, formerly called Slough Road.
The heritage structure is still there today.
The home was bequeathed to the Catholic Church in 1929 and would eventually become the St. Augustine’s Mission.
