History of Raymond

The Town of Raymond is known as being the home of the first stampede in Canada. The 1st rodeo was held on July 1, 1902 and has been held on that date ever since. 

 

This interview was produced by Kyle Bullock and published on August 3, 2012.  Since that time, Alan Heggie, Bill Nalder and Duke Helgerson have passed away. We are grateful for their willingness to share their memories of our communities history so that they can be remembered for generations to come.

One of the largest and most enduring immigrant groups to settle in Raymond were the Japanese. Young men comprised the first Japanese immigrants to move to the town, drawn by the prospect of jobs associated with the construction and operation of the Knight Sugar Factory. Ichiro Hayakawa was hired by Knight to recruit labour workers to break land for the factory in early 1903, which resulted in an influx of Japanese settlers, mostly of the Judo Shinshu Buddhist faith and they quickly became an integral part of the community. Once the factory was constructed, this work labour force worked in the sugar beet fields as well as the factory. In 1929, they purchased the building previously used by the Church of Jesus Christ for use as a temple, school and a meeting place. In 1932, a co-operative store, called the Kobai Kumiai, was established in the building which provided staple products to generate revenue to support the temple. The co-op operated until the 1990’s. The local Buddhist community grew dramatically after the evacuation of Japanese people from coastal British Columbia during the Second World War. A large ornate Buddhist alter was donated to the Raymond sanctuary by a British Columbia-based temple in 1946.