Oak Bay, located on the sea-rimmed, southeastern edge of Greater Victoria, was incorporated a century ago, in 1906. Today, it is home to nearly 18,000 people. For these residents and visitors, too, the physical landscape contributes mightily to Oak Bay's picturesque charm. Along the waterfront, wave-whipped bays, sandy beaches, and rocky ledges offer enduring natural beauty. Inland, just steps away from the sea and adding to Oak Bay's allure, are Garry Oak meadows, granite hills and knolls, and attractive gardens of exotic plants, shrubs, and trees. Notable too - but unwittingly so - is the view beyond Oak Bay's borders, towards the Sooke Hills and the more distant Coast and Olympic Mountains. Of equal importance, and our focus here, are the features of a century-old suburban landscape, some common, some not: Take, for example, gridiron streets and narrow back lanes, a vibrant village core, the labyrinth design of the Uplands, and - not least - an eclectic architecture of diverse suburban tastes.

Oak Bay has experienced distinctive phases of development. For many centuries, the families of Aboriginal clans camped seasonally or lived permanently at several tidewater sites, notably beside Willows Beach. By the mid¬nineteenth century, the Hudson's Bay Company and several of its former employees had taken control of the nearly 2,500 acres of land (c.1,000 ha or c.10 sq km) that make-up Oak Bay's domain. In time, small farms were established on pockets of rich soil lying around McNeill Bay, beside Bowker Creek, and north from there. The much larger c.1,100-acre (c.445 hectare) Uplands Farm, operated by the Bay Company, stretched inland from Cattle Point to blanket the elevated, plateau-like northern district of Oak Bay. The farm comprised a few fields in crops, pastures for grazing horses and cattle, and market gardens leased to Chinese, all scattered among Garry Oak meadows and a mixed forest of cedar, fir, and maple trees.

Later in the nineteenth century, Oak Bay was revered for its recreational spots, a prelude to suburban development. Victorians and folk 'from away' built cottages at many points beside the sweeping bays, while out-of-town visitors camped by the shore or rented rooms at seaside resorts - the Mount Baker Hotel, Old Charming Inn, and Oak Bay Beach Hotel, of which only the latter remains, at least for now. Others came on weekdays, many more on weekends, travelling in horse-pulled hacks or riding the new-fangled streetcars that ran along Oak Bay Avenue and Cadboro Bay Road, terminating, respectively, at Oak Bay (now Windsor) Park or the Exhibition Grounds. At these and other 'pleasure grounds,' people could watch or bet on horse races; enjoy lacrosse, cricket, and rugby matches; sunbathe, swim, and fish; or golf at the nearby seaside Victoria Golf links (estab.1893), the oldest Canadian golf course still occupying its original location.

By the early-twentieth century, municipal incorporation was a catalyst for suburban growth. Reliable transportation and newly-laid sewer and water pipes provided land developers, contractors, and homeowners with incentives to build at first on lots near Oak Bay Avenue, Cadboro Bay Road, and the central waterfront district. Oak Bay Village, the municipality's historic centre, emerged at this time. Here the Municipal Hall, post office, high school, and nearby churches formed the nucleus for attracting various business services. (Incidentally, on a per capita basis today, Oak Bay has more financial institutions serving its population than any other municipality in Canada.) By the close of the land boom period (1906-1913), almost all of Oak Bay was subdivided. Houses were still few and scattered about, sprawl-like; the infilling of vacant lots would follow later, and is still on-going.

Enumerators taking the Dominion of Canada's Fourth Census in 1901 recorded nearly 500 inhabitants. In sum, these people shared traits that have characterized the social order of Oak Bay throughout its development. Generally, people lived together as families; they came mostly from eastern Canada and the United Kingdom; were overwhelmingly British and Protestant; and worked at a variety of trades and professions. During Oak Bay's initial growth, the wealthy, middling, and labouring classes intermingled frequently, sometimes living side by side on the streets of assorted subdivisions.

However, as Oak Bay's population grew, reaching 5,400 in 1931, then just over 9,000 ten years later, and almost 11,000 at mid-century, the social topography of class mixing showed signs of erosion. This was finalized after the frenzied construction boom of the 1950s and early-1960s, when the municipality was at last built-out. By the early-1970s, the middle-class stood in overwhelming majority, even forming the whole of some newly-settled residential districts in north Oak Bay. Within its ranks was an ever-increasing number of retired people. It is just recently that families with young children have once again gathered strength, notably in south side neighbourhoods.