The Five Acre Farm site is exceptionally significant as the only recognized, intact acreage in one of British Columbia's earliest planned communities. In 1884, Samuel Robins, Superintendent of the Vancouver Coal Mining and Land Company, purchased Harewood Estates, a large parcel of land between Nanaimo and the base of Mount Benson. Robins subdivided the area into five-acre lots and made them avail
able to mining families as homesteads at affordable prices. Robins envisioned farming as a way for miners to provide for themselves whenever coal markets were depressed. This property is one of the few remaining original 'Five Acres' farms. The farm, including the acreage, house, barn, outbuildings and orchards, stands in stark contrast to the small city lots that surround it in an area that, over time, has lost most of its original rural character. Purchased by City of Nanaimo in 2018 for use as a park, Five Acre Farm is a highly visible and well-loved community asset. This page is intended to celebrate that history and update on activities or developments related to the land.
