Before It Was Langley City, Downtown Was Called Langley Prairie. Then It Voted to Leave the Township

Langley Insiders graphic: When Langley Prairie became a city, March 15, 1955

The split in short

Before 1955: Langley Prairie, part of the Township of Langley

Incorporated: March 15, 1955, as the City of Langley

Township since: April 26, 1873

A town inside a township

Downtown Langley used to have another name. It was Langley Prairie, the busy commercial strip of a Township that had been around since 1873.

Residents there voted to leave, and the City of Langley was incorporated on March 15, 1955, according to BC Geographical Names. The province then amended the Township's letters patent so the new city sat outside it, provincial Orders in Council from that year show.

Why it still matters

Seventy-one years later, Langley still runs on two councils. Our Langley 101 on the two Langleys explains how to tell which one you live in.

Why leave? Many Langley Prairie residents and businesses felt their growing business centre wasn't getting its fair share of services from the larger Township, the City of Langley says. The plebiscite on Sept 27, 1954, passed 501 to 166, according to a provincial memo filed with the order. If your family remembers the vote, tell us in the comments.

Sources: BC Geographical Names, BC Order in Council 612/1955, City of Langley, read Oct 29, 2026.