Willows Beach is a beachfront neighborhood located between Bowker Creek and Cattle Point at the head of Oak Bay in Victoria, British Columbia. The area derives its name from the Willows Fairground, established in 1891. This fairground was Victoria’s primary horse-racing venue during the early 20th century. It was named after the willow trees that grew in the area.

Before European arrival, southeastern Vancouver Island was home to the Indigenous Coast Salish people of the Lekwungen nation, also known as the Songhees. Their traditional language is Lekwungaynung, a dialect of North Straits Salish. Archaeological evidence of an ancient village, called Sitchanalth, has been found along the shores of Willows Beach. In Lekwungen, Sitchanalth refers to the many drift logs that accumulate and become buried in the sand.

Midden excavations reveal numerous occupations over the past 2,600 years. The village is believed to have been destroyed by a tsunami between 900 and 930 AD, caused by a rupture of the Seattle Fault Zone. It was subsequently reoccupied until around 1843. Families lived in cedar-planked longhouses facing the water. These houses extended the length of Willows Beach to sacred burial grounds at the bay’s north end. Read more here and here. Explore more of Willows Beach and Oak Bay here: