When "Porteau" (porte d’eau) is translated from
French into English it means "Water’s Gate".
This name dates from 1908 when John F. Deeks
began mining the extensive sand and gravel
deposits here to supply Vancouver.
A small community of employees lived here until the
beginning of the Depression, enjoying good housing,
a schoolhouse, tennis courts, and daily ferry service from
the Union Steamship Company.
These ferries, Lady Cynthia and Lady Cecilia, operated
between Vancouver and Squamish until the railway
(then the Pacific Great Eastern) was extended from
Squamish into North Vancouver.