Victoria’s Ogden Point Breakwater and Unity Wall
Ogden Point Breakwater in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada is a popular spot for a walk and features one of the largest murals in Canada
Ogden Point Breakwater in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada is a popular walk. A 762-metre (2,500-foot) granite and concrete wall juts out on the Juan de Fuca Strait to a lighthouse on its furthest end. From the wall, you can watch Victoria’s harbour traffic: ferries, helicopters, float planes, sailboats, other boats, and the cruise ships that dock at the deep-water port at Ogden Point. You can also spot wildlife: seagulls, cormorants, seals popping out of the water. You might also catch a glimpse of a bald eagle.
World shipping first came to Victoria in 1883 when R.P. Rithet extended the Outer Wharves with his Rithet Piers at Shoal Point. In order to take advantage of the 1914 opening of the Panama Canal, plans were made to replace those piers with two new breakwaters (at Ogden Point and Macauley Point) and a massive wharf.
The Ogden Point Breakwater was the first to be constructed. More than one million cubic yards of locally-quarried rock was dropped into deep water to support the breakwater’s main structure of more than 10,000 granite blocks. The Ogden Point Breakwater was completed on schedule in 1916. In 2013, aluminum railings with stainless steel cables were installed along the breakwater, making it safer for walkers with less steady feet and on windy days.
An unmanned acetylene beacon lighthouse originally provided warnings to mariners at sea. In 1919, an electrically operated fog alarm was installed. In 1926, the power lines were removed and cable laid to supply electricity to the lighthouse.
In 2009, to honour the Coast Salish Nations who treasured the calm waters of Victoria’s harbour for thousands of years, the breakwater became a public art piece. First Nations artists and youth created one of the largest murals in Canada. Butch Dick of Songhees Nation and Darlene Gait of Esquimalt Nation led the creation of Na’Tsa’maht (the Unity Wall), a Salish phrase meaning “unity or working together as one.”
The painting was created in phases. Phase 1 images represent Lekwingen teachings about people as caretakers of the land and ocean. Phase 2 honours the traditional lands of the Esquimalt Nation and Songhees Nation and the sacred relationship between the land, the sea, and the Coast Salish people. Phase 3 illustrates the signing and significance of the Douglas Treaties, the founding of Victoria, and the establishment of the town of Esquimalt just west of Victoria, about 5 minutes from downtown Victoria.
Signage at the beginning of the wall tells the story of the breakwater and of the mural. You may also want to check out the human sundial on the sidewalk in front of the breakwater.
(Side note: During my time in Victoria when I visited Ogden Point Breakwater, I read the book Blood on the Breakwater by Jean Paetkau. In that mystery story, a journalist who regularly walks the breakwater discovers a corpse washed up on the lower pathway. Paetkau has another mystery, The Sinking of Souls. Craigdarroch Castle, a National Historic Site of Canada and top Victoria attraction, features prominently in that book. Both books are fun reads. I enjoyed both the characters and the unraveling of the mystery, but the glimpses into some of the character of the city of Victoria added an additional delightful dimension to the read.)
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