In 1859, New Westminster was selected as the first capital of the new colony of British Columbia and officially named the "City of New Westminster' by Queen Victoria, after her favourite part of London. From this naming by the Queen, the city gained its nickname, "The Royal City", and became the first city in Western Canada. A year later it became the first city to have an elected municipal government. In 1866, the colonies of British Columbia and Vancouver Island united as "British Columbia" with New Westminster as the capital. A couple of years later the capital status was moved to Victoria. New Westminster, which had overcome the downturn in the Fraser River gold rush, weathered the loss and retained its vibrant spirit.

Columbia Street, the core of Downtown New Westminster, looks very similar to the Columbia Street of the late 1800's. After fire destroyed most of the buildings on the street at the turn of the last century, the local businesses rebuilt and many of the buildings remain today.

Downtown New Westminster, once referred to as the "Golden Mile", was the business centre and shopping district for most of the Fraser Valley for many decades. As new business centres opened throughout the Valley, and Uptown New Westminster started to develop, many of the old buildings on Columbia became vacant. The Downtown New Westminster Business Improvement Society was formed in 1989 by concerned business operators who wanted to see Downtown New Westminster return to its original glory.

Downtown New Westminster has now turned the corner. Buildings are being refurbished, new businesses are springing up throughout the community and Columbia Street will soon be the heart of the Lower Mainland's newest Regional Town Centre. Thousands of new residential units are in some form of development and a 35 million dollar Community Cultural Centre has recently been announced. Downtown New Westminster is ready to reclaim its place as the jewel in the centre of the Lower Mainland.