Category Archives: street scenes
Drinking Fountains in the City
Early A very early (if not the first) Vancouver water fountain was situated at the corner which, from the 1930s, was known as Pioneer Place but is better known, today, as Pigeon Park. This piece of real estate was useless … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes, Uncategorized
Tagged bc, bubbler fountain, charles marega, history, James Blomfield, Joe Fortes, King Edward VII Memorial, Kiwassa monument, Maple Tree Monument, memorial fountain, Pauline Johnson, pigeon park, Pioneer Place, public health, Queen Victoria Memorial, Tuberculosis, vancouver
3 Comments
Happy Dominion (er. . . Canada) Day!
Originally posted July 1, 2014. This is a view from 1220 Homer (Yaletown) made by Ernie Reksten on a ‘holiday Monday’, July 3, 1967. The holiday was Dominion Day (known as Canada Day since 1982), and most Canadians should be able … Continue reading
Posted in books/reading, churches, street scenes
Tagged 1967, bc, Canada Day, Dominion Day, downtown, history, vancouver
2 Comments
Lest We Impress: Georgia Medical-Dental Building
Update It is all too easy to impress the present onto the past. Especially in cases where there has been an attempt made by contemporary architects to ‘nod’ to a prior building that once occupied a lot (which I consider praise-worthy). … Continue reading
A Few Photos Showing Changes to Our Urban Landscape Over the Past Decade
Happy New Year! I’m not going to devote much text to this post; it is a slideshow, for the most part. The photos are my own made in Greater Vancouver over the past ten years. The photos have a story … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes
Tagged bc, changes, history, re-development, urban landscape, vancouver
2 Comments
Vancouver’s David Spencer Department Store
This post is about David Spencer, Ltd. This was a now-long-gone but once much-loved B.C. department store chain with a store located in downtown Vancouver, which most residents of the city today know as the locations of Harbour Centre tower and … Continue reading
Vending Before Food Trucks
Posted in Al Ingram, people, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, beatty street drill hall, Canadian Youth Hostel Bike Hike, commodore lanes, english bay, european-style wieners, expo 86, food vendors, granville street, history, hot dog stand, hudson's bay company, japadog, lemon soda, Pineapple Vending Machine, popcorn stand, Sea Festival, stanley park, vancouver
Leave a comment
The Shop at Sich’s Corner
Sich’s Corner was the name of an early Vancouver tobacconist’s shop located on the southwest corner of Cambie at Cordova. The person who named it and for whom it was named remained at the corner and, indeed, in Vancouver, for … Continue reading
Posted in businesses, street scenes
Tagged bc, buxton & rodney, cambie, cordova, England, history, hops farming, j.g.v. field-johnson, realtor, retail, Thomas Thrale Sich, tobacco, vancouver
Leave a comment
Sea of Hats
Updated This is a somewhat unusual view of the Cambie Street Recreation Grounds (for ome later years, the site of the long-distance bus station, later still – optimistically – dubbed Larwill Park and serving as a City car park with … Continue reading
Posted in people, sport, street scenes, stuart thomson
Tagged bc, bus station, cambie street recreation grounds, hats, head wear, history, larwill park, men's hats, vancouver
Leave a comment
‘Bailey Bridge’ in Downtown Vancouver, 1944
Updated (First Published August 2015) This photograph shows a 240-foot Bailey Bridge (1 of 2 by Don Coltman; the other image appears below) spanning Georgia Street at Howe Street in 1944. Zooming on the image reveals a sign on the structure … Continue reading
Views of CPR Right of Way: Before and After 1932
Re-Posted February 2018 (First Posted Jan. 2016) I was recently struck (again) by what excellent images these two are of 1930s Vancouver. How exemplary of how I often have thought of the ’30s in this city, and how great an … Continue reading
Southern View (Pender at Seymour), 1892
This view of Vancouver as it appeared to early Vancouver photographer, Charles S. Bailey just six years after incorporation as a city has appealed to me since I first clapped eyes on it a couple of years ago. Vancouver may … Continue reading
Posted in churches, First Baptist Church, Vancouver, street scenes
Tagged bc, congregational church, Cosman & Son, empire building, Father Patrick Fay, Father Patrick Fey, First Baptist Church, history, Holy Rosary Church, Homer Street Methodist Church, Lady Superior Mary Alexander, Mary Casher grocer, Ontario House, pender street, Rev. E. D. McLaren, Rev. James W. Pedley, Rev. K. K. Maitland, Rev. W. C. Weir, Sacred Heart Academy, seymour street, St. Andrew's Presbyterian, vancouver, Walter Middleton grocer
8 Comments
Up Granville from Hastings, 1909
This is another outstanding scene by early Vancouver photographer, P. T. Timms. Timms would have been standing with his back to the second C.P.R. station (1898-1914; Edward Maxwell, architect) at Granville and Cordova. His camera was pointing up Granville from the … Continue reading
Posted in P. T. Timms, street scenes
Tagged bc, Birk's Jewelers, C. D. Rand Real Estate, canadian bank of commerce, fairfield block, history, Iroqouis Seattle steamship, James A.McIntyre, McIntyre's Cafe, O. B. Allan Jewelers, Post Office, Purdy's Chocolate, Roger's Building, Second CPR Station, vancouver
2 Comments
Nina Raginsky’s ‘LIP Grant’ Images
I have recently been introduced to British Columbia photographer, Nina Raginsky. How I have managed to live this long without being aware of her amazing photographic skill and talent, I don’t know! Raginsky makes her home on Salt Spring Island … Continue reading
Posted in Nina Raginsky, street scenes
Tagged bc, black and white, portraits, vancouver
Leave a comment
First Baptist Church in Disguise?
Update: February 10, 2017 This postcard of mis-identification was presented to me about a year ago as a gift by JMV of Illustrated Vancouver. The image appears to have been made between 1911 (when construction of FBC at Nelson & Burrard was completed) … Continue reading
Ackers’ Shoeshine Shop
I like this photo. It has a strong human element but enough contextual content that it isn’t exclusively about the two men who are its subjects. If I’d had my ‘druthers’, I would like to have seen the image in proper exposure … Continue reading
Posted in businesses, street scenes
Tagged 132 W. Cordova, Carrie Smith, Dougall House, Fred Ackers, Shoeshine/Tobacco Shop
3 Comments
Where W.E.C. Shopped?
Updated October, 2016 This image appears to have been made sometime in the 1970s; right around the same period when the hapless Wile E. Coyote was entertaining fantasies of terrorizing the nameless Roadrunner using machines built from products made by Acme. The company portrayed in the image, … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, automobiles, street scenes, theatre/vaudeville/cinemas
Tagged acme novelty, bc, burnaby, history, looney tunes, Roadrunnner, vancouver, warner brothers, Wile E. Coyote
5 Comments
Use Your Head (With IBM)
Updated September, 2016 This is an exterior shot of IBM’s Vancouver presence on Georgia Street (on north side, between Seymour and Richards Street) in 1936 (there is another image showing the building and NCR’s office in context with St. Andrew’s … Continue reading
Posted in businesses, street scenes, stuart thomson
Tagged bc, georgia street, history, IBM, vancouver
5 Comments
Designated Alien Landing Zones?
Real estate in Vancouver is at a premium. That is a truism. It has nearly always been the case in this city. Sure, there have been periodic and relatively short-lived dips. But only rarely has the real estate market here been … Continue reading
Posted in Opinion, street scenes
Tagged 181 W Pender, Avalon, bc, cambie, history, pender, real estate, vancouver
2 Comments
The Lumberman and His Boy
This is one of my favourite early photographs of Vancouver, the condition of the negative, notwithstanding. I love it for the usual reason for love . . . just because! But also for compositional and historical reasons. It seems to … Continue reading
Posted in J. D. Hall, people, street scenes
Tagged bc, cambie, flack block, hastings, history, inns of court, news-advertiser, vancouver, victory square
2 Comments
Answers to “Find The Errors”
1. CVA 99-3791 The image is not the Marine Building (which is decorated with terra cotta marine features such as seahorses); it is the Georgia Medical-Dental Building (decorated with healthcare-related features (such as the nurse figure at the very top of the … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes
2 Comments
West Cordova Unit Block*
It is a pity that we don’t know who made this photograph. To me, it is one of gems in the City of Vancouver Archives (CVA) collection. Why do I say that? The muted colour tones, for one thing, speak … Continue reading
Mudge the Poultry Man
William Mudge’s business was known in early Vancouver as Mudge & Son and (probably better) as Mudge the Poultry Man. As indicated in the latter name, he specialized in providing chicken products to hard-working, hungry Vancouverites. He hung his shingle … Continue reading
Posted in biography, businesses, P. T. Timms, street scenes, stuart thomson
Tagged bc, City Market, cobble hill, history, poultry, seed potatoes, vancouver, William Mudge
4 Comments
The Lesters and their Dance Schools/Halls
It’s Hazy in Detroit There isn’t a lot known about the proprietress of M. Lester Dancing Academy. Maud was an Ontario girl (although exactly where in Ontario she was born and raised or what her maiden name was isn’t clear to … Continue reading
Posted in A. L. Yates, businesses, street scenes, stuart thomson
Tagged AOUW Hall, bc, burrard, Davie, Driard Hotel, Embassy Ballroom, granville, history, Lester Court, Lester Hall, M. Lester Dance Acadamy, vancouver, Victoria
12 Comments
Church Parades and Church Street
I think I may have a reasonable explanation as to why Church Street (the north-south lane between Seymour and Richards and Georgia and Robson) was so named in the early years of the city. It seems to me that the name … Continue reading
Posted in churches, parades, street scenes, stuart thomson
Tagged anglican church, Christ Church, church parade, church street, georgia street
Leave a comment
325 Howe
The Name Game The building shown above has been known as the “Welton” Building (1912-1919), the “Pacific Coast Fire” Building (1920-?), and recently, probably, simply as good old 325 Howe. Who decides what a building shall be called? It is usually safe to … Continue reading
Fairview/Roxy Theatre
There isn’t much known about the Fairview Theatre (1912-38), later called the Roxy Theatre (1939-55?). In fact, I have never before seen a photograph of the theatre. According to the building permit for the Fairview (which appears in the permit database … Continue reading
Belmont Grocery and Quality Gifts
These are two separate images of adjacent shops made at the corner of Granville & Nelson in 1969. Left image: CVA 780-26 – Belmont Grocery, Theatre Row, [at 999 Granville Street] 1969. Right image: CVA 780-24 – [View of a] … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes
Tagged bc, belmont grocery, granville, history, nelson, quality gifts, vancouver
Leave a comment
Victory on 500 Block of West Hastings
This is a very nice image made by Jack Lindsay, probably on VE or VJ Day.* The photographer was on ground level for this shot, standing in a vacant parking spot in front of the Bank of Toronto building (later, the … Continue reading
The Foot of Main Street
Posted in automobiles, street scenes, W. E. Frost
Tagged alexander street, bc, burrard iron works, CN Steamships wharf, history, main street, vancouver
Leave a comment
Answers to ‘Name Those Streets’
Image #1 This is Granville Street. The image was made from elevation near the intersection with Georgia; the camera was facing south. The Vancouver block, Castle Hotel, and the Orpheum and Capitol Theatres are visible (among other landmarks). As of today’s … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes
2 Comments
Name Those Streets!
I will show below three City of Vancouver Archives (CVA) photos. Each photo has been wrongly identified by CVA. Your challenge (if I may borrow from the theme of a 1950s-80s U.S. television network game show) is to correctly Name Those Streets! … Continue reading
Posted in Jack Lindsay, street scenes
3 Comments
1936 Commissioned Image of Granville
I very much enjoy the image above, made by one of my favourite local photographers, Stuart Thomson. I like the gentle blur of the strolling crowd. And I especially like the lady caught in profile looking into Saba Bros. Silk … Continue reading
The Old Cecil
I refer in this post to the “old” Cecil Hotel (on the north side of 100 block West Hastings Street) to help distinguish it from the newer Cecil Hotel with which most Vancouver contemporaries are probably more aware – the one on Granville near … Continue reading
Posted in hotels/motels/inns, street scenes
Tagged "Old" Cecil Hotel, abbott street, bc, cambie street, hastings street, history, The Southern Hotel, vancouver, ymca
2 Comments
Happiness Cafe and Neighbours
I love this Walter Frost image for several reasons. But my three principal reasons appear below. First of all it shows a city block that was on the cusp of huge change. Within a few years of the making of this photo, this … Continue reading
South Granville’s Mid-Century Office Building
The Block Building (CBK Van Norman) stands at the corner of (South) Granville and 11th Ave. It was built in 1965, I believe. The art work over the main door is a work by Lionel and Patricia Thomas and is called … Continue reading
From Lumber to Racquets
The address of the yards of Coast Lumber & Fuel Co. was at a corner of Bodwell Road* (today’s 33rd Avenue) and Ontario Street. According to a City website, there was a streetcar track along Bodwell Road, so that, I’m … Continue reading
Church Street (Lane)
It is not unusual to find a “Church Street” in a Canadian city. Even today, in our post-church-attendance era, streets called “Church” can be found in New Westminster, North Vancouver, and in the Collingwood district of the City of Vancouver (near Boundary … Continue reading
Posted in churches, street scenes, W J Moore, yesterday & today
Leave a comment
Winter on Davie at Homer
A zoomed image on the same (December) day in 1968 appears below.
Posted in advertising, Ernie Reksten, street scenes
Leave a comment
The Gifted Mr. Bradbury
A real pleasure for me in this photo-historical adventure I’ve called VanAsItWas is in discovering and re-discovering crisp, well-exposed images that speak of an attention to detail and a real concern (whether consciously or not) for issues that would ultimately be … Continue reading
Hycroft Towers Service Station
This is an early 1950s image of Hycroft Towers at the SE corner of Granville and Marpole Ave. Hycroft Towers was originally the “kitchen garden” of Hycroft Manor (which today is across Marpole Ave from HT). It isn’t clear to me how long … Continue reading
Posted in Artray, homes/apts/condos, street scenes
Leave a comment
An All But Unknown Burrard Street
This is a northward view along Burrard Street from near Melville Street (the street that today is adjacent to the Burrard St. Skytrain Station). The most striking aspect of this image to me is that the only building I recognize … Continue reading
Posted in Don Coltman, street scenes
Tagged bc, burrard street, history, melville street, vancouver
2 Comments
Fur Vault
The first and second image in this post were apparently commissioned by Nelson’s Laundry to local pro photographer Jack Lindsay to demonstrate the secure fur coat storage service offered by the launderer. It is difficult to recall/conceive in this day when fur … Continue reading
Posted in businesses, Jack Lindsay, street scenes, stuart thomson
Tagged bc, cambie street, fur coats, history, nelson's laundry, vancouver, vaults
Leave a comment
China Creek Cycle Oval
This cycling oval was originally built for the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Vancouver in 1954. After the Games were over, it became known as China Creek Cycle Oval. The oval seems to have been located just east of where … Continue reading
Handsome Garage
Ah, these were good days; when architects and automotive dealers/mechanics cared enough to make even a garage appear as though it were a work of art! This was one of two Fred Cheeseman garages in Vancouver at this time. This one was … Continue reading
Posted in businesses, street scenes, stuart thomson
Tagged Auburn Auto Sales, bc, Fred Cheeseman Garage, history, howe street, vancouver
Leave a comment
80 Years
There are differences that leap to my attention when I consider these two images together. A principal one is how much more clothing we Vancouverites wore 80 years ago as against today (although it must be admitted that the seasons shown are … Continue reading
Posted in P. T. Timms, people, street scenes
Tagged bc, dunsumir, granville, history, pender, vancouver
Leave a comment
PNE Parade on East Hastings
The scene above captures well the enthusiasm of PNE Parade spectators at East Hastings and Princess Street in the mid-1950s. There would be parades to kick off the Pacific National Exhibition each year for another 40 years (ending in 1995). … Continue reading
Posted in parades, people, street scenes
Tagged 1957, bc, east hastings, history, PNE, princess street, vancouver
Leave a comment
Welding Vancouver Streetcar Track
There was something about the image above that bothered me. Something that didn’t look safe. Then it struck me. The fellow standing next to the wagon with the warning: “Danger: 500 Volts. Do not touch machine or watch flame” had … Continue reading
Posted in public transit, street scenes
Tagged bc, BC Electric Railway, BCER, downtown, history, railways, streetcars, vancouver, welders
Leave a comment
Robson Square Ice Rink Formerly Public W.C.
If you are a Vancouver resident or have visited the city, you will probably know that these apparently quite handsome public washrooms are no longer here (there are two remaining sets of these relics, neither in the downtown core and … Continue reading
Georgia Through a Windscreen. . . Dimly
The image above seems to have been made through the windscreen of a vehicle that was stopped on Georgia St. for a red light. (Not, in 1963, we may safely assume, taken with the driver’s mobile phone!) It appears to have been shot eastwards … Continue reading
Rectory: Holy Rosary
Posted in churches, street scenes, stuart thomson
Tagged bc, downtown, dunsmuir street, history, holy rosary cathedral, manse, rectory, richards street, vancouver
Leave a comment
Human Traffic Signal
Posted in street scenes, W J Moore
Tagged abbott, bc, hastings, history, olympia confectionery, vancouver
Leave a comment
Northwest Seymour & Nelson (1920/’26)
These two images were taken by the same photographer (Stuart Thomson), the camera is facing the same direction (northwest), and are of nearly the same locations (Seymour Street at Nelson in the first image; Seymour from a bit south of Nelson in the … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes, stuart thomson
Tagged accidents, advertising, automobile, bc, history, nelson street, posters, seymour street, vancouver, wrecks
Leave a comment
Granville at Beach
We are looking toward the northeast corner of Granville Street at Beach Avenue in these two images. The first photo (above) was taken slightly to the east of the second (1909) Granville Bridge; the photo below was made a little ways to the … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes, W J Moore
Tagged auto laundry and paint removal, bc, history, vancouver
Leave a comment
Betwixt and Between
This post consists of two 1914 images that appear to have been made on the same day by BCER (and of the mates made last week by the author). The 1914 images were interesting to me because they were made at one … Continue reading
Posted in hospitals/health care, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, City Hospital, courthouse, history, vancouver, victory square
Leave a comment
Moonlit Night After Late Shift
Posted in P. T. Timms, people, street scenes
Tagged bc, dusk, hastings street, history, vancouver
Leave a comment
Irwinton Apts
This is a crop of a BC Electric photo of Burrard Street looking to the southwest and made in 1914. The Wesley Methodist Church (William Blackmore, 1902) – an ancestor congregation of St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church which would be built a couple decades … Continue reading
Mucky Lane Work
I have become quite fond of the work done in the early years of the 20th century by BC Electric Railway photographers. Most of these anonymous souls don’t seem to me to have been amateurs (although a few images are very over-exposed). … Continue reading
Posted in people, street scenes
Tagged bc, BC Electric Railway, granville street, history, Horse, lane, vancouver, wagon
1 Comment
Old Kits Presbyterian Church (1911-1925)
A friend noticed this striking older building at 1855 Vine Street (between 2nd and 3rd Avenues), which today consists of private condo units. She asked me if I’d encountered it and if I had any idea what the original purpose … Continue reading
Posted in churches, street scenes
Tagged Kitsilano Presbyterian Church, St Stephen's United Church
3 Comments
George H. Hewitt Co., Ltd.
When I first saw the George H. Hewitt rubber stamp company in the image above, it occurred to me that this was a business that must surely have disappeared with the dawn of the 21st century – until I started to … Continue reading
Posted in people, street scenes
Tagged conference badges, George H. Hewitt Co., industrial markers, pet tags, rubber stamps
Leave a comment
Yellow Sub Records
The Yellow Submarine record shop shown above in 1975 and the commercial building to the left of it appear still to stand. Unfortunately, the baby-blue-coloured home on the other side of the Sub seems to be gone.
Posted in street scenes
Tagged 319 East Broadway, 323 East Broadway, fairway used cars, yellow submarine records
3 Comments
One of Our Early Flatirons
The building which was formerly the Hotel Europe (and, indeed, is still remembered as such) was designed by Parr and Fee for Angelo Calori and was constructed in 1908-09. It was, apparently, the third of Calori’s hotels. It isn’t clear where … Continue reading
Who is He When Not in His (Sentry) Box (1914-18)?
Posted in people, street scenes
Tagged bc, beatty street drill hall, duke of connaught's own rifles, great war, history, sentry, vancouver, world war I
Leave a comment
Strathcona Lane
The image above shows a former back lane in 1978, apparently then used principally for accessing the garage of 808 Hawkes Avenue (home on the right; not visible). The image below was made this week. It shows the home on … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes
Leave a comment
Wilson’s
This retail corner (SE Cordova and Granville) was anchored by a newspaper vendor called The Checking Depot in the 1910s (I suspect that this image was made in 1914 – the only year I could identify in BC Directories in which … Continue reading
Dairy, Apartment Block, Big Box
The early image above was made at the 2300 block of Yukon Street (near 7th Avenue and Cambie Street). Later, this block became less industrial and more residential. The wood frame apartment block which appears below was on the same side of the block … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes
Tagged apartmemts, bc, canadian tire, dairy, history, home depot, vancouver, winners
Leave a comment
Meet me at Birk’s Clock
Posted in street scenes
Tagged bc, castle hotel, georgia, granville, henry birks and sons, history, international cinema, vancouver
Leave a comment
Ashnola Area
This is a photograph which I believe has been misidentified by CVA. The City of Vancouver Archives identifies this scene as being on Cambie Street near 12th Avenue. But in fact, I believe it is the 2200 block of Main … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, people, street scenes
Tagged 2200 block, 6th avenue, bc, history, main street, vancouver
1 Comment
The Arcade
Both of these images are looking roughly in the same direction (although the 2014 photo was taken a block further north from Hastings than was the ca1900 one). At the time the ca1900 image was made, the Dominion Trust Building … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, street scenes, yesterday & today
Leave a comment
Percy’s and Flo’s Garage
Nye’s Garage was designed by architects Townley and Matheson and built in 1922 at the corner of 2nd and Cambie for Percival and Florence Nye. The couple. who apparently ran the operation very much as a partnership, lived in an apartment … Continue reading
Appropriated Orthodoxy
Work on the Fir Street off-ramp for the most recent Granville Bridge (construction 1952-53) has just begun in the image above and was at a more advanced stage in the photo below. The question that was most pressing for me was: Which church was … Continue reading
Seymour Billiards
The first image was taken on Nelson Street from near the back lane between Granville and Seymour streets. The second image was made on Seymour from Nelson Street looking north toward Smithe. The Vancouver (Ford) Motors building (which today houses Staples on … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, people, sport, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, nelson street, pool, seymour billiards, seymour street, sport, vancouver
2 Comments
Love the ‘Paint-In’ of ’66
The “paint-in” at the court house (which is, today, the Vancouver Art Gallery) in 1966 was apparently a response by artists to B. C. Premier W. A. C. Bennett’s wish to keep the installation of the Centennial Fountain at the … Continue reading
Posted in art, Ernie Reksten, L. F. Sheraton, people, street scenes
Tagged bc, centennial fountain, court house, georgia street, paint-in, vancouver, vancouver art gallery
Leave a comment
CCF-Brill Vancouver Trolley 2341
This trolley is stopped just north of Eaton’s department store (Granville and Robson; the stop is on the east side of Granville) in 1976 ; it is a model T48 (built 1954?) for BC Transit’s fleet of CCF-Brill trolleys. CCF stood for Canadian … Continue reading
Posted in Al Ingram, people, public transit, street scenes
Leave a comment
Ho Sun Hing Printers and Neighbours
The image above is of the 200 block of East Georgia Street (in Chinatown), made in the 1960s. If you compare this image with the one immediately below, there are really very few substantive changes to the buildings on the block, so … Continue reading
Watson Gloves
The image above was taken in an unknown year at the original manufacturing site of Watson Gloves — on East 2nd Avenue, just west of Main Street. I was walking in that neighbourhood this afternoon and spotted the entry to … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, east 2nd avenue, main street, vancouver, watson gloves
1 Comment
Gas Warehouse
This is the last existing structure of Vancouver’s “gas works” (Sharp & Thompson, 1910). The warehouse appears to be the building center-left in the first image above. The city heritage plaque on the building notes that “the choice of this … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged 131 keefer street, bc, columbia street, gas company warehouse, history, vancouver
Leave a comment
BCER Men’s Quarters
Architect Robert Lyon designed the Men’s Quarters of the B.C. Electric Railway (1913), shown under construction above. This structure is located at the SW corner of Main and Prior streets, across the street from where the BCER’s car barns were at … Continue reading
Posted in public transit, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged "Robert Ryan", bc, BC Electric Railway, BCER, conductors, dormitories, Luxton, men, motormen, quarters, vancouver
5 Comments
Vancouver Opera Association
These photos of the 100 block of Dunsmuir Street (between Cambie and Beatty) reveal quite different structures within a relatively brief period. In 1941, the YMCA (Edward E. Blackmore, 1905) was located here (although it faced onto Cambie, its longest wall was … Continue reading
Posted in books/reading, street scenes, W J Moore, yesterday & today
Tagged amec, bc, beatty street, dunsmuir street, opera association, Stantec, vancouver
Leave a comment
Rae-Son Shoe Rack?
The image above, made in 1974, is of 615-619 Seymour Street. At the time, tenants of the building were the Rae-Son Shoe Rack and the Salon George beauty salon. During the years that this art deco structure has been here (from 1936, … Continue reading
St. Regis
For some history on the St. Regis Hotel (W. T. Whiteway, 1912), see here.
Posted in hotels/motels/inns, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, dunsmuir street, history, seymour street, st regis hotel, vancouver
Leave a comment
Astor Hotel
The image above shows Vancouver Buisness College at 147 West Hastings (just east of Cambie) in 1904. By 1909, the space had been taken over by the Hotel Astor (not to be confused with the Hotel Astoria, which still stands today in … Continue reading
MacEwan Arts
This is the west-facing side of the Hartney Block. In 1974, McLeod’s Books was the principal retailer on the main floor. Holding down the back end of the building were MacEwan Art Supplies and Cassels Window Shade. Today, a funky … Continue reading
The Workingman’s Store
This is an image from the City of Vancouver Archives which I hadn’t noticed before. It is most interesting. First, it is worth getting oriented. We are looking north on Main Street and Stuart Thomson, the photographer, is standing with … Continue reading
Burrard Skytrain Station
Posted in advertising, churches, hotels/motels/inns, public transit, street scenes, stuart thomson, war, yesterday & today
Tagged ailsa lodge, ailsa rooms, bc, Belfred Hotel, burrard skytrain station, burrard street, Glencoe Lodge, history, hyatt regency hotel, macMillan bloedel building, melville street, Staples, vancouver, wesley methodist church
3 Comments
Stuart Thomson’s Shop
This set shows “yesterday/today” images of an early shop of one of my favourite Vancouver photographers, Stuart Thomson. It was his shop in the 1910s and ’20s. He later moved up to Robson at Burrard (adjacent to the Toronto Dominion Bank). … Continue reading
Posted in people, Photographers, street scenes, stuart thomson
3 Comments
Wesley Methodist from Thurlow
The view above is an atypical one. In the distance, of course, is the (unfinished?) Vancouver Block. The church in the middle distance/right is Wesley Methodist Church which in the 1930s would be demolished to make way for the Burrard Building … Continue reading
Remember to Tie Up Your Horse on Georgia
The “empty lot” where the horses are in the image above was then known as the CPR Park. By the 1970s, it would be Pacific Centre. The building across Georgia Street from the horses is Hotel Vancouver #1, where the Toronto … Continue reading
Hot Dog or Hamburger: 10 Cents
One could be forgiven for not recognizing this as one of the most popular and well-known spots in Vancouver’s Chinatown. The slimmest building in the city and home to Jack Chow Insurance today, it was in the 1930s, apparently, where … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, people, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, carrell street, history, jack chow insurance, lender street, vancouver
Leave a comment
Chocolate Shop Cafe
The building in which the Chocolate Shop Cafe once was housed has plainly been replaced since the 1920s. The toughies glaring out the window of the second story of the building might have given Stuart Thomson pause! Note: The sign atop … Continue reading
Famous Cloak and Suit Co.
The first business occupying this site (adjacent to the Royal Bank building on the north side of Hastings near Granville) was the Leland Hotel Annex. The Leland Hotel’s main building (with its four big Greco-Roman columns at the front) was across … Continue reading
Downtown Granville Street
Among the intriguing elements to be seen when you click on the image above (for a closer view), is Harrron Bros., Undertakers (mid-image on the right). Note: I checked the name of the firm against BC Directories for the early years of … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, hotels/motels/inns, people, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, downtown, granville street, history, nelson street, smithe street, vancouver
Leave a comment
Esquire Cafe
For a 1969 image of the same space, see this earlier posting.
Posted in advertising, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, esquire cafe, granville, movieland arcade, smithe, vancouver
Leave a comment
Three Views of the Casa Loma Cafe
CVA 1184-3262. Cafe Casa Loma, 1940-48. Jack Lindsay photo. Note: This image has been cropped and otherwise edited. To see original image, go to CVA,)
Posted in advertising, people, street scenes, theatre/vaudeville/cinemas
2 Comments
Third CPR Station/Waterfront Station Viewed from Seymour at Hastings
Posted in public transit, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, cordova street, cpr station, downtown, seymour street, vancouver, waterfront station
Leave a comment
BC Permanent Loan Co.
This building lived with the contradiction that was its name for a number of years (there is no such thing as a permanent loan, except in the nonsense-world of art galleries and museums). There is at least one other contradiction … Continue reading
Posted in interiors, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged 330 W Pender, bc, history, Permanent Loan Co., photography, The Permanent, vancouver
3 Comments
Farewell Ormidale
There are those who argue that preservation of a historic building’s facade is cause for celebration; that the building’s heritage is thereby preserved. I am not of that group. I believe that preserving a heritage building’s facade is preferable to destroying … Continue reading
Posted in people, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged 151 W Hastings Street., bc, history, ormidale building, vancouver
2 Comments
Hogan’s Alley
Hogan’s Alley, the only predominantly (though not exclusively) black neighbourhood in Vancouver was destroyed by the City in the late 1960s. The reasons were two-fold: partly it had to be demolished to make room for a highway that (thankfully) never … Continue reading
Posted in bridges/viaducts, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, history, hogan's alley, prior, union, vancouver
Leave a comment
A Few of my Favourite Junk Yards
I confess to a longstanding fondness for junk yards; well, actually it is more accurate to say that I harbour a fondness for the idea of junk yards. This is a holdover, I think, from my pre-teen enchantment with The Three Investigators … Continue reading
Former Strathcona Park, Future City Hall
The photo above is a view of what would become within a couple of years the home of Vancouver’s City Hall. The site was known then as “Strathcona Park” (a name now given to a park that is actually within the … Continue reading
Posted in parks, street scenes
Tagged bc, cambie street, city hall, history, photography, strathcona park, vancouver
Leave a comment
Before Rogers Building
This image was made just prior to (and very likely in anticipation of) the construction on the corner of Granville and Dunsmuir of the Rogers Building. C. D. Rand, whose office is visibly prominent in the single-storey structure at the … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, people, street scenes
Tagged bc, C. D. Rand, granville street, history, pender street, photography, vancouver, VSE
Leave a comment
100!
To celebrate my 100th post, published yesterday, I wanted to choose an image which was, to me, truly new. One I don’t remember ever seeing before, nor knowing anything about. This building was in the 100 (no coincidence) block of West … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes
1 Comment
Early Occupants of the Main Flatiron Property
The image above has a semi-rural charm to it that is a feature of many Canadian photographs made during the Victorian period. The lad in the foreground was almost certainly standing where he was at the request of the now-unknown photographer … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, Duthies, history, kingsway, main street, photography, vancouver, w.d.muir grocery
Leave a comment
Railway Club: 1974, 2014
The Railway Club has been at the northeast corner of Dunsmuir at Seymour (579 Dunsmuir) since 1931. The image above was taken in 1974; the one below in 2014. It was originally a member’s-only club, called the Railwaymen’s Club. In … Continue reading
Posted in businesses, street scenes
Leave a comment
Across From Pigeon Park
The corner across from Pigeon Park (or, more formally, Pioneer Square) is shown below in two images: the first was made sometime in the first decade of the 20th century; the second in 1926. This is the northeast corner of … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, street scenes
Tagged Bakery, dodson rooms, joseph dodson, northeast corner hastings and carrall, pigeon park, pioneer park
1 Comment
Early Days of Labour
This image appears to have been shot on Dunsmuir Street, facing west towards Granville. The Bank of Montreal building at the time was located on the northeast corner of Granville at Dunsmuir and is the castle-like structure visible behind the float. … Continue reading
Posted in people, street scenes
Tagged bank of montreal, bc, carpenters and joiners, history, labour day, may day, trade unions, vancouver
1 Comment
War Dance and Carnival, 1917
There was a four-day fundraiser called the War Dance and Carnival held May, 1917 on the Cambie Street Grounds and the adjacent ‘old’ Georgia Street Viaduct. The Carnival was sponsored by the B.C. Commercial Travellers’ Association in aid of four charities: the Red Cross Material … Continue reading
Cobblestone Lane
These images were taken from roughly the same location. In both, the photographer was facing south in a back lane just north of Water Street in Gastown and opposite what once was known as Homer Street Arcade and today is called … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, history, homer street arcade, le magasin, vancouver, water street
Leave a comment
Wild About Arches
From the incorporation of Vancouver through the early decades of the 20th century, residents of Vancouver were nuts about erecting arches. Most arches were constructed to celebrate special occasions and visits of dignitaries. There are photographic examples in the City of Vancouver Archives … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, street scenes
Tagged arches, bc, Connaught, history, Li Hongzhang, lumbermen's arch, millennium gate, peace arch, stanley park, vancouver
1 Comment
Burrard Inlet Waterfront Reclamation
These two images, made 78 years apart, were taken from roughly the same location. It is apparent from these images that in the years since the 1930s, much commercial waterfront land has been ‘reclaimed’ by building up and northwards. In … Continue reading
Posted in boats/ships, street scenes
Tagged bc, Burrard inlet, history, marine building, north vancouver, reclamation, vancouver, waterfront
Leave a comment
Electric Vaudeville
The building pictured above at the corner of Main Street and what was then the eastern end of the Georgia Viaduct is what was once a centre of Vancouver vaudeville, the Avenue Theatre building. The Avenue was a little off the beaten … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes, theatre/vaudeville/cinemas, W. E. Frost
Tagged avenue, bc, georgia viaduct, history, imperial, main street, theatre, vancouver, vaudeville, venus
Leave a comment
It’s a Long Way… to Ypres, Passchendaele, and the Somme
The photo below honours the men and women who left for Europe during the 1914-18 war, to serve Canada. The Great War began, unceremoniously, a century ago today. We are looking at Cordova (the street that extends to the right of the image) and … Continue reading
Posted in people, street scenes, war
Tagged bc, cordova, crowds, first overseas troops, grandview hotel, great war, history, seymour, st. francis hotel, vancouver, world war I
Leave a comment
1974: Ped Zone. 2014: Not So Much
These images were both taken from the southwest corner of Granville Street at Georgia in downtown Vancouver. The 1974 image (CVA; photographer unknown) shows pedestrians strolling down the middle of the road to celebrate the recent completion of renovations to … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, bc transit, georgia, granville mall, history, vancouver
Leave a comment
Farewell, McHarg Viaduct
This is a view of the eastern end of the McHarg (aka the “old” Georgia) Viaduct as demolition of it began in 1971. (1) The photograph was taken from the surface of the viaduct, looking toward Main Street. The demolition would … Continue reading
Posted in bridges/viaducts, street scenes
Tagged 1971, bc, beatty, blacks, demolition, georgia viaduct, history, hogan's alley, main, mcharg, urban blight, vancouver
Leave a comment
Familiar. . . Yet Different
Although the City of Vancouver Archives (CVA) – the source of this image – apparently isn’t satisfied that all necessary details of the image are pinned down (its title as of the publication of this post is “Description in Progress”), it appears … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, street scenes
Tagged "description in progress", 900, bc, eve, granville, history, joe's apartment, paradise, studio, vancouver, vogue theatre
Leave a comment
When Hudson Street Boomed (Sequel): Eburne Hotel
The Eburne Hotel, which appears in yesterday’s image (with that section of the photo enlarged, above) seemed, at first blush, unlikely to be mysterious and very likely to help with dating the photograph. After all, the name of the hotel … Continue reading
Posted in hotels/motels/inns, research, street scenes
Tagged bc, eburne, history, marpole, vancouver
2 Comments
When Hudson Street Boomed
Those familiar with the Vancouver neighbourhood of Marpole may be surprised that this is a view of neither Granville nor Oak Streets (the principal north/south thoroughfares, today), but rather what currently is the relatively sleepy Hudson Street (near Marine Dr). The image … Continue reading
Posted in books/reading, hotels/motels/inns, street scenes
Tagged bc, eburne, grand central hotel, history, marpole, paton's books, vancouver
Leave a comment
Hastings Street Scene (1904)
This is one of my favourite images by Philip Timms. The two ladies (sisters?) in the centre foreground may have been just leaving Paterson Shoe Co. (according to the BC Directory of 1904, that was the shoemaker’s establishment just behind them … Continue reading
Posted in books/reading, Howard King, P. T. Timms, Photographers, postcards, street scenes, Wadds Bros.
Tagged bc, history, philip timms, photographers, retailers, s j thompson, vancouver, wadds bros., west hastings
3 Comments
Trim That Carbon!
These BCER employees were part of the Arc Lamp Department and their job was to “trim” – i.e., replace – the two carbon rods that were the principal components of carbon arc street lights of Vancouver in the late 1800s and early … Continue reading
Posted in public transit, street scenes
Tagged arc lamps, bc, electric, history, railway, vancouver
1 Comment
Homer from Pender
The images above and below both show what today is called the West Pender Building (402 W Pender; SW corner Pender at Homer) — known originally as the British Columbia Securities building. Construction was completed during the pre-WWI boom in … Continue reading
Posted in street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, bc securities, history, homer, pender, vancouover, victoria block, victorian hotel, west pender
2 Comments
How Odd . . .
This image shows what remains of the Pender Street side of the cornerstone at the Odd Fellows Hall at Hamilton and Pender. The structure was built for the IOOF (Independent Order of Odd Fellows), a secret fraternal society akin to that of the Masons, in … Continue reading
Century of Change
The image above was made in 1913 from the rooftop of the Lee Building (in 1913, just a year old; still standing today) at Broadway and Main. This is a crop made from a panorama view — this part looking … Continue reading
Posted in city views, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, beatty street drill hall, history, lee building, sun tower, vancouver, world tower
Leave a comment
Courthouse Fountain ‘Switcheroo’
These images are of roughly the same view of the north side of the Vancouver Courthouse (as it then was; now, although not for much longer, the Vancouver Art Gallery). The top image is of a drinking fountain on the … Continue reading
Posted in books/reading, Jack Lindsay, parks, postcards, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged art gallery, bc, charles marega, courthouse, devonshire hotel, fountain, georgia hotel, history, king edward vii, vancouver
1 Comment
Game Ranch on Granville
This shop is still on the SE corner of Granville Street (near Smithe), although it is today a shadow of its 1960s self, as shown in this image. Today, a dominant feature of the front face of the shop is the … Continue reading
Posted in advertising, street scenes
Tagged bc, game ranch, granville, history, movieland arcade, smithe, vancouver
Leave a comment
Georgia Viaduct #1 and Eastern Entry of Dunsmuir Tunnel
This coloured postcard was made sometime after 1915; that is the year that the ‘first’ Georgia Viaduct — the one shown here — was constructed. This viaduct (unlike the current one, which was constructed in the early 1970s) was not twinned; both … Continue reading
Posted in bridges/viaducts, postcards, public transit, street scenes
Tagged 1920s, bc, beatty street drill hall, dunsmuir tunnel, georgia viaduct, history, skytrain, vancouver
1 Comment
CPR Depot #2
This is the second of three CPR depots that have stood in Vancouver over the years. This depot was located on Cordova at the north foot of Granville. The third station — now known as Waterfront Station, Skytrain’s downtown terminus — is at … Continue reading
Posted in postcards, public transit, street scenes
Tagged 0, bc, cordova street, cpr, depot, granville street, heraldic postcard, history, seymour street, vancouver
1 Comment
Trorey Clock
This postcard, published probably in 1907, shows the NE corner of Hastings at Granville (where the Royal Bank of Canada building is today). Prominent in the image is the clock — what most Vancouverites alive today would identify as the Birks … Continue reading
Posted in postcards, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, birks, birks clock, george trorey, history, royal bank, trorey clock, vancouver
Leave a comment
Old Main St Wharf?
This image is a recent acquisition, purchased at a metro Vancouver antiques/ephemera fair. There is nothing written on the back of the photo and there are precious few clues in the image itself, but I’ve recently reached the tentative conclusion that the … Continue reading
Posted in bridges/viaducts, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, history, main street wharf, North Vancouver Ferry wharf, vancouver
2 Comments
Let’s Date! (Research Notes)
This post is about a few standard methods I often use for narrowing down the date that an undated photograph was taken. I’ll be using real-world examples: online image records of the City of Vancouver Archives which (as of the … Continue reading
Posted in books/reading, research, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, historical dating, history, vancouver
6 Comments
When Imperial Was King
The striking image above is one of the photographs in the City of Vancouver Archives which is categorized as “Description in Progress”(1). I assume that the label is meant to indicate that the site of the photograph (and/or the period … Continue reading
Posted in interiors, street scenes
Tagged bc, cambie street, Goad's Atlas, history, imperial oil, smithe street, Sweeney's Cooperage, vancouver, Vancouver Milling and Grain, yaletown
1 Comment
Tweedsmuirs in Lotusland: A Few Notes
John Buchan (b. 1875) was raised in Scotland. He was a writer of many novels — including, most famously, The 39 Steps — biographies, histories, articles, and poems. He was invited by King George V to become his representative in Canada (on the advice of then Canadian Prime … Continue reading
The Hamilton St. Shuffle
If you are familiar with the streets of Yaletown, you will have noticed that, south of Smithe, Hamilton Street makes a slight jog to the east and then becomes Mainland Street. That isn’t the end of Hamilton, however. If you walk … Continue reading
Posted in city views, parks, sport, street scenes
Tagged ball park, bc, Goad's Atlas, hamilton street, history, lacrosse, mainland street, recreation park, vancouver, yaletown
Leave a comment
Light and Shadow in the Borderlands: Duncan/Shelly and Earlier Buildings
This 6-storey office building at 119 W. Pender St. was constructed in 1911 (H. L. Stevens, architect) and was known originally as the Duncan Building; later, as the Shelly Building. It is located in what might be described as the … Continue reading
Posted in interiors, street scenes, yesterday & today
Tagged bc, drill hall, duncan building, history, Imperial Opera House, shelly building, vancouver
Leave a comment
1886: Tremont House (212 Carrall)
This photograph of Tremont House (entry to right) and Abrams & McLean Clothing Store (entry to left), was made by J. A. Brock sometime in 1886, prior to the June 13 Great Vancouver Fire of that year (CVA-Hot P29). Almost … Continue reading
Posted in hotels/motels/inns, J. A. Brock, street scenes, W. E. Frost
Tagged Abrams Block, bc, history, tremont house, vancouver
1 Comment
Vancouver As It Was: A Photo-Historical Journey 