Waterloo Farm

This historic site prides itself in portraying the living history of the Kilby family, general store, and farm. The grounds surrounding the general store are approximately 3 hectacres which we have preserved as the working farm it once was. Today, the local Agassiz 4H club assists us by annually stocking the farm with wonderful baby animals and their mothers. Visitors of all ages can interact and feed the animals on the farm while they are learning about rural farm life.

In 1912 the Kilby family obtained over two hundred acres of land adjoining their General Store and started the Waterloo Jersey Dairy Farm. The farm was named after Thomas Kilby’s first canadian home in Waterloo, Ontario. In addition to developing a Jersey herd through the 1920s, they also kept chickens, pigs and other farm animals. Livestock played a vital role for the early settlers in the Fraser Valley, providing both food and a source of income. Today we pride ourselves in presenting our living history working farm. The homestead resembles the farm just as it was in the 1920s. Friendly farm animals and replicated outbuildings bring to life the way was in its day.   

We have a wonderful orchard here on site that was planted in the spring of 1926. Some of the trees still bear fruit today. The varieties selected produce a constant supply of apples from late August until early October. Young saplings have been planted near the old ones to replace lost trees. All the fruit trees are identified with tags. During the fall, juice and cider-making are demonstrated.

The Orchard Playground contains a sandbox, tree fort, teeter-totter and swings for the enjoyment of the children. Contained in a small lean-to is a variety of games, such as croquet and stilts for everyone to enjoy.

Throughout the site you’ll explore the topics of transportation, geography, local native culture, the logging industry and farming in the 1920s. The Kilby family had built small shed with a gas pump, on their farm, early in the 1920s to facilitate service to boaters and farmers. Roads came to Harrison Mills in 1926 and 1927 when the bridge was built over the Harrison River. The highway passed through this area furthering the need for a filling station. Imperial Oil was the main source of gasoline and in 1973 Acton received an award from the company for fifty years of service. Acton continued to sell gasoline to neighbors and visitors until 1977.