Built by the Pitt Meadows Japanese Canadian Farmers’ Association in the 1920’s in the heart of Pitt Meadows, this building served as the meeting hall and social centre for the Japanese Canadian population in Pitt Meadows, with the basement of the Hall serving as a Japanese language school for children. The building is one-storey, wood-frame construction with a full basement and a front gable.
Prior to the expulsion of 1942, Japanese Canadians had a strong farming presence in Pitt Meadows. The earliest known Japanese settler in the area came to work at a farm in Pitt Meadows in 1904. Some families, such as the Fujimotos, arrived as early as 1912. Many of the Japanese settlers developed berry farms and greenhouses, as widespread discrimination against Asian settlers resulted in their exclusion from many other industries.
The building was used by the Pitt Meadows Japanese Farmers’ Association, which was organized in the 1920’s for educational purposes and community activities. It provided information related to the agricultural practices and skills through means such as seminars and brochures. Its leadership was closely overlapped with that of other organizations in the community such as the Japanese Language School. In 1928, it was united with other similar organizations of Japanese Farmers in the Lower Fraser Valley under the Consolidated Farmers’ Association of the Fraser Valley. The Association ceased to be active after the war broke out on the Pacific Ocean in December, 1941, when all the Japanese Canadian organizations were ordered to stop operating and the building was expropriated by the Government in1942. The Japanese, who had made up to close to a third of the population of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, disappeared from the area almost overnight as they were removed to internment camps. After the end of World War II, none of the Japanese Canadian community returned and no documents or objects remain. The Hall was purchased by Father Carrol for use as a Catholic church, and remains today in active church use.