Where are Whonnock and Ruskin?

The neighbourhoods of Whonnock and Ruskin form the eastern part of the City of Maple Ridge in province of British Columbia, Canada. Whonnock and Ruskin are about 50 kilometers inland from Vancouver, on the north shore of the Fraser River. Ruskin is on the west bank of the Stave River. Whonnock Creek separates Ruskin from Whonnock.

Whonnock was better known in the 19th century than it is today. It was put on the map by getting a railway station—a stroke of luck!

When trains started running across Canada in 1885 the settlement just happened to be at the right place: 10 miles from Port Hammond to the west and 10 miles from the next station at Mission to the east. Ten miles was the distance between stations required by the building contract of the railroad. The detail of an 1892 map above shows Whonnock (Wharnock), Hammond and Mission. A fourth station in Maple Ridge, Haney, had by then be added.