Deas Island is an island in the south arm of the Fraser River

Fraser River

The Fraser River is the longest river within British Columbia, Canada, rising at Fraser Pass near Mount Robson in the Rocky Mountains and flowing for , into the Strait of Georgia at the city of Vancouver. It is the tenth longest river in Canada...

 between Delta, British Columbia

Delta, British Columbia

Delta is a district municipality in British Columbia, and forms part of Metro Vancouver. Located south of Richmond, it is bordered by the Fraser River to the north, the United States to the south and the city of Surrey to the east...

 and Richmond, British Columbia

Richmond, British Columbia

Richmond is a coastal city, incorporated in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Part of Metro Vancouver, its neighbouring communities are Vancouver and Burnaby to the north, New Westminster to the east, and Delta to the south, while the Strait of Georgia forms its western border...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The island is home to a regional park approximately 300 acres (121.4 ha) in size. It is home to three historic buildings; Burrvilla, a stately Victorian home, Inverholme, a one-room schoolhouse, and the Delta Agricultural Hall.

The island is also home to many types of birds and is a popular bird watching destination.

The island is notable for being the site of the southern end of the George Massey Tunnel

George Massey Tunnel

The George Massey Tunnel is a highway traffic tunnel in the Metro Vancouver region of southwestern British Columbia. It is located approximately 20 km south of the city centre of Vancouver, British Columbia, and approximately 30 km north of the Canada-U.S...

 (originally the Deas Island Tunnel). The tunnel is part of Highway 99 and connects Delta to Richmond. The tunnel goes from Deas Island to Lulu Island

Lulu Island

Lulu Island is the name of the largest island in the estuary of the Fraser River. The island makes up most of the City of Richmond, a major suburb of Vancouver, British Columbia...

 (Richmond) to the north. There is a small bridge that completes the connection between Deas Island and the main part of Delta.

Origin of the name

The island was named for John Sullivan Deas, a mulatto

Mulatto

Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...

 tinsmith

Tinsmith

A tinsmith, or tinner or tinker or tinplate worker, is a person who makes and repairs things made of light-coloured metal, particularly tinware...

 and cannery foreman who worked on the island in the 1870s.