Port Moody Rowing History Finds a New Home
Old Mill Boathouse Society President, Denise Nelson (right) presents the booklet to Port Moody Museum on June 18, 2026. The booklet was received by Executive Director, Bryn Weiner (left).
A special piece of Port Moody history has found a new home.
Old Mill Boathouse Society President Denise Nelson recently presented a historic scrapbook to the Port Moody Museum, preserving a remarkable collection documenting Port Moody’s early history and its longstanding connection to rowing.
Earlier this year, the Old Mill Boathouse Society was contacted by Chris Goodfellow of Princeton, BC, whose grandfather, Dr. John Goodfellow, had carefully compiled the scrapbook over the years. The collection offers a fascinating glimpse into Port Moody’s waterfront and rowing heritage more than a century ago.
An image from Dr. John Goodfellow’s scrapbook
A Window into Port Moody’s Rowing Heritage
Among the treasures in the collection is a Souvenir Programme from the 28th Annual Regatta of the North Pacific Association of Amateur Oarsmen, held in Port Moody on July 18–19, 1924.
The scrapbook also includes newspaper clippings, black-and-white photographs of the regatta and Port Moody streets, and historical references dating as far back as 1879.
The North Pacific Association of Amateur Oarsmen was an important rowing organization that brought together rowing clubs from across British Columbia and the Pacific Northwest. The 1924 Port Moody regatta welcomed athletes from Vancouver, Portland, Victoria, Kelowna and San Francisco, demonstrating the reach of competitive rowing in the region at the time.
The North Pacific Association's history is closely connected to the development of rowing throughout the Pacific Northwest, with its annual regattas attracting crews from both sides of the Canada–United States border.
An image from Dr. John Goodfellow’s scrapbook
Preserving the Past for Future Generations
For the Old Mill Boathouse Society, the donation is particularly meaningful.
Today's Old Mill Boathouse is home to rowing, sailing and paddling organizations, continuing Port Moody's long relationship with non-powered water sports. More than 100 years after that 1924 regatta, the scrapbook provides a tangible connection between the community's early rowing days and the waterfront activities that continue today.
The Old Mill Boathouse Society extends its sincere thanks to Chris Goodfellow for donating this remarkable collection and ensuring that it can be preserved and shared with the community.
Carefully compiled by his grandfather, Dr. John Goodfellow, the scrapbook preserves an important chapter of Port Moody's history and rowing heritage — one that can now be enjoyed and studied by future generations.
Two pages from an original souvenir regatta booklet
An image from Dr. John Goodfellow’s scrapbook