Turkey Head is a small peninsula that forms a natural harbor on the southern shore of Oak Bay, 3 miles (4.8 km) east of downtown Victoria, British Columbia. Since 1906 Oak Bay has also been the name of the municipality surrounding the bay, one of 13 municipalities in the Capital Regional District of Greater Victoria. The name derives from the Garry oak, a tree found throughout the region.

Indigenous groups camped or lived on lands surrounding Oak Bay for centuries. The Lkwungen lived on the bay from roughly 100 BC to 1911; two of their families, the Chilcowitch and the Chekonein, kept temporary settlements along the waterfront between Turkey Head and Cordova Bay. European explorers arrived in the late 18th century, and the British established Fort Victoria in 1843. Afterward, these small villages were largely abandoned in favor of the security and trading opportunities offered by proximity to the fort. The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) controlled most of the surrounding land at the time, and several family farms were established there through the second half of the 19th century. In 1850 John Tod built a house on a 100-acre (40 ha) farm; it remains the oldest continuously occupied home in western Canada.

In 1912 the HBC’s farmland was subdivided into housing tracts, but development stalled with the outbreak of the first world war. In 1959 a breakwater was built between Turkey Head and Mary Tod Island to give the harbor added protection. Oak Bay Marina was built in 1962 and opened in 1964.  Read more here and here. Explore more of Oak Bay and Turkey Head here: