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The British Columbia Electric Railway's interurban passenger service for the Fraser Valley, B.C., area came through Langley in 1910. The company was building rail lines into Langley as early as 1906, when they signed an agreement with Langley government. The company itself began as a merger of the National Electric Tramway and Lighting Company (Victoria), Vancouver Electric Railway and Light Company Ltd., and Vancouver & Westminster Tramway Company, and was responsible for hydroelectric power generation, power transmission, and electric rail lines on Vancouver Island and in Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. All three companies had gone into receivership in 1895, and the BCER was met with receivership in 1896, following the Point Ellice Bridge Disaster in Victoria. The company was only able to survive through assistance from London financers, and began operations in 1897 as an English-owned company. A station built at 240 St. in the general area formerly known as Harmsworth in Langley was named after Rochfort Henry Sperling, general manager of the B.C. Electric Company, and the area subsequently came to be known as Sperling community. In 1910, a substation was built at Coghlan, and still stands (2021). The substation stepped the voltage from the power transmission lines down for use by the trains passing through. It did not provide power to the surrounding community. Interurban passenger services on the B.C.E.R's Fraser Valley Line ceased in 1950. The company ended all service in 1958, and broke up into the branches it is modernly: BC Hydro, Translink, and BC Transit.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Columbia_Electric_Railway

The Coghlan General Store was built on Coghlan Road in 1912 by Pete Spence for Mr. and Mrs. Petersen who operated it until 1939 when it was taken over by Mr. E.P Rowe and his son Alan Rowe. The father and son ran a delivery service up and down Coghlan Road as far as the Fraser Highway. The building had living quarters as well as the store and a post office. It was a place for people to gather and photos show some arriving by horse and carriage over the years. There was a sign over the front door that read “Pioneer General Store” and General Store was painted on the side of the building.

Once the trams with BC Electric Interurban discontinued running, in about 1950, business dropped off and the Rowe’s closed the store.

Term Source: dhv