The Anderson Cabin

This simple log building was all that was needed for 20year old Swede Eric Anderson to secure farmland in the brand new province of British Columbia.

Pioneer Eric Anderson’s nationality shows in the details of his home. Round logs have been hewn at the corners to fit together tightly in a distinctive style called Swedish keying. The cabin, measuring 6 metres by 4 metres, was built of cedar logs and the walls were chinked with moss and twigs to keep the heat in.

Eric Anderson had been working on whaling ships since the age of 11 and at 20 found himself in Vancouver harbour. He jumped ship here to search for a new life and never looked back.

He trekked through unmapped wilderness for several days, crossing the Fraser River and arrived in what is now Surrey. Along the way he received help from the local First Nations people.

He found a clearing near the Nicomekl River and began to build a cabin. He bought hand tools at the general store in Murray’s Corners and over many months completed his shelter in 1873. Eric needed money to develop and improve his claim. So he walked to Chilliwack to find work as a farmhand and returned each spring to work on his Surrey claim.

While in Chilliwack he met Sarah Morrison and they were married in New Westminster in 1879. They then loaded their wagon and moved to their Surrey homestead. They built a larger farmhouse for their family and used the cabin for livestock.

Eric Anderson died at age 59 in 1911. The cabin was donated to the city of Surreyin 1970 by Mr and Mrs Sweet who owned the farm where it was located. It was then moved to the Surrey Museum.

It is preserved as a historic monument to all pioneers and its crude structure shows just how primitive the living conditions were for those pioneers!

K.F-K GP