History Walks in Vancouver with James Johnstone

EAST END HISTORY WALK based on OPENING DOORS by Daphne Marlatt and Carole Itter

2011-09-13T17:32:00.000-07:00

Departs Saturday, September 17th at 10am & 2pm

696 East Hastings

Most of you already know that one of the most important books to chronicle East End history, OPENING DOORS, a collection of 50 oral histories from East End pioneers collected and edited by Daphne Marlatt and Carole Itter and published in 1979 has been republished this year through the support of a Vancouver 125 Grant. In preparation for this republishing Carol and Daphne approached me to see if I would write an updated intro for the book. It was a huge honour to be asked. The book is on sale now from Harbour Publishing. Here in the East End it is available at Benny's Market, Union Market, The Wilder Snail and Les amis de fromage.

As I reread through the book, looking for inspiration for my introduction, I thought, when the book is finished and out I have to do an East End tour that focusses on the people, stories and addresses mentioned in the book. This Saturday I will be launching that tour.

I will be doing two departure--one that starts at 10:00am and one that starts at 2pm.

Both tours will depart from in front of the Heatley block at 696 East Hastings and loop north along Cordova and Powell then south along Gore Avenue to Hogan's Alley, south as far as Prior, then East as far Campbell, then back up to the Heatley Block.

Those of you who have a copy of the book, please bring it with you so you can read along at the various stops.

There is plenty of parking on Hastings and nearby on Heatley. Most of the Hastings Street buses stop either one block west or one block east of Hastings and Heatley.

There are plenty of lunch opportunities in the neighbourhood. Chinatown is closeby. Au petit chavignol, recently rated as having the best cheeseburger in Vancouver, is at 845 East Hastings about one an a half blocks away from the departure point.

Cost $20.00

People wishing to reserve a spot are encouraged to e-mail me at historywalks@gmail.com Please indicate which time you will be coming.

Cheers!

Oh! P.S. If you are interested in the East End and its unique and fascinating history, don't miss our upcoming Vancouver 125 Festival called THIS IS STRATHCONA on September 25th.

COME TOUR VANCOUVER'S MOST FASCINATING NEIGHBOURHOOD - TWO EAST END TOURS - AUGUST 27, 2011

2011-08-25T02:26:00.000-07:00

EAST END (NORTH OF HASTINGS) HISTORY WALK

A Vancouver Toothpick - CVA Photo SGN 40 Hastings Sawmill in the early 1900s

Tour Starts at 10am from in front of 611 Alexander Street near Princess Avenue.

The largely industrialized area of the Strathcona North of Hastings is the oldest part of the city of Vancouver. Here was the first European settlement on the south side of Burrard Inlet, a small village that grew up around the Hastings Sawmill, Vancouver’s first industry.

The sawmill manager, R. H. Alexander and Vancouver’s Bell-Irving family had their first stately homes on the 300 block of Alexander Street. 30 years later the 500 and 600 blocks of Alexander was Vancouver’s Red Light District. There are still some original bordellos standing.

Brothel at 578 Alexander's foyer tiles by Curt Lang, 1972 VPL#85872X

Vancouver’s first Mayor, Malcolm A. MacLean, as well as world-renowned theoretical physicist Shuichi Kusaka, a protégé of Albert Einstein both lived on the 300-block of East Cordova Street. One of the oldest houses still standing in Vancouver, the Thomas Dunn house, is on the south side of the same block.

Port P179 Thomas Dunn & Family 1880s Studio Portrait

Though many of the physical reminders are now gone this neighbourhood, the oldest part of Strathcona and Vancouver, is very rich in history.

Come for a two-hour walk as see what is left. You will be amazed. Like my other tours, I will bring a binder filled with old archival images of houses, buildings and people from days gone by. This tour starts at 611 Alexander. Cost is $20 per person.

SGN 47 East End School 1890

EAST END (SOUTH OF HASTINGS) HISTORY WALK

Tour Starts at 2pm from in front of 696 East Hastings near Heatley Avenue.

The route is a culmination of years of researching over 250 homes in the East End. Although architecture is a theme in the tour, my focus is more on the social history—the ebb and flow of different waves of immigrants who established themselves here before moving on to other parts of the city. Most people know about Little Italy, Hogan’s Alley, the East End’s early Jewish Community, and Japantown, but did you know that there were whole blocks of Newfoundlanders and a sizable Syrian colony here as well in the early 1900s?

CVA Photo Port P165 by Stuart Thomson 1930s

CVA 371-478 The Flying Seven Tosca Trasolini on left

Bu P508.53 Hogan's Alley April 1958 by A. L. Yates

The tour leaves from the Heatley Block at 696 East Hastings. Tour costs $20 per person.

People interested in doing both tours the same day get a special price of $30 per person. There are great lunch opportunities nearby, including the very popular Au petit chavignol beside Les amis de fromage at 845 East Hastings.

609 Hawks - 1940 Mr and Mrs Zitko of the National Bakery at Hawks & Keefer

For those of you interested in learning more about the history of Vancouver's oldest neighbourhood, check out www.thisisstrathcona.ca for information on a Vancouver 125 festival celebrating the East End's history, heritage and unique contributions to Vancouver on September 25th.

TWO EAST END HISTORY WALKS - Saturday July 16th 10am & 2pm

2011-07-13T12:26:00.000-07:00

District Lots 196, 181 and 182-- the old East End

I have two different East End History Walks scheduled this Saturday July 16th. The 10am tour departs 611 Alexander at Princess Avenue. This is a 2 hour history walk of oldest Vancouver--Strathcona North of Hastings. The 2pm tour departs 696 East Hastings at Heatley Avenue for a 2 hour tour of Strathcona south of Hastings.

To reserve space e-mail me at historywalks@gmail.com.

Cost is $20 per tour or $30 for an am/pm tour combo.

CVA Str P223 J. A. Brock 1887 Cordova near Heatley

EAST END (NORTH OF HASTINGS) HISTORY WALK

The largely industrialized area of the Strathcona North of Hastings is the oldest part of the city of Vancouver. Here was the first European settlement on the south side of Burrard Inlet, a small village that grew up around the Hastings Sawmill, Vancouver’s first industry.

1901 Fire Insurance Map showing Alexander Street

Madame's name in front of Alexander Street Brothel

395 Powell Street

337-341 Powell St. in 1928
VPL#21174

390 Powell Street, Tamura Building, c.1935, JCNM 95-102

Though many of the physical reminders are now gone this neighbourhood, the oldest part of Strathcona and Vancouver, is very rich in history.

401 Powell St., Secord Hotel ca 1890 CVA Photo Hot P85

Detectives Sinclair and Ricci CVA Photo Port P165
by Stuart Thomson 1930s

EAST END (SOUTH OF HASTINGS) HISTORY WALK

The route is a culmination of years of researching over 250 homes in the East End. Although architecture is a theme in the tour, my focus is more on the social history—the ebb and flow of different waves of immigrants who established themselves here before moving on to other parts of the city. Most people know about Little Italy, Hogan’s Alley, the East End’s early Jewish Community, and Japantown, but did you know that there were whole blocks of Newfoundlanders and a sizable Syrian colony here as well in the early 1900s?

BC Sugar Refinery workers in 1890s

Somewhere in Strathcona in 1966
CVA 780-309

It also gives participants the chance to see the locations of the previous homes of well-known East End residents, like pioneer female aviator Tosca Trasolini, premier Dave Barrett, champion boxers Jimmy McLarnin and Felice Di Palma (Di Palma boxed under the name Phil Palmer), Rabbi Nathan Meyer Pastinsky, award-winning authors Paul Yee and Wayson Choy, Ross and Nora Hendrix (Jimi’s grandparents), community activists Mary Lee Chan and Shirley Chan, community leader and BC Supreme Court Judge Angelo Branca, as well as k.d. lang.

Vancouver's Amelia Earhardt, Tosca Trasolini and the Flying 7
CVA 371-478

JULY 2011 HISTORY WALK SCHEDULE: July 2nd, July 9th & July 16th

2011-06-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

Summer is finally here and I have a number of private and special event related tours booked in July but here is my schedule for the next three Saturdays. Each tour costs $20 per person. There is a special price for the July 16th East End tours: $20 for one, or $30 for both if you do them the same day. To reserve a space on any of these tours, please e-mail: historywalks@gmail.com and indicate which tour you are coming on.

Please note that the Mount Pleasant and West End Tours are not loop tours.

July 2nd at 10am
WEST END HISTORY WALK (2hrs)
Departs from in front of the Listel Hotel at 1300 Robson Street and ends up at English Bay

1101 Harwood Street - Richard Bowman house - VPL #1879

My fascination with Vancouver began when I lived in the West End and worked downtown. At first glance, the West End seems to be totally dominated by modern highrise apartment, but tucked here and there in between the highrises are some pretty impressive remnants from when the West End was Vancouver's first high class residential district. Each daywhen I walked to work I would take a different route downtown, weaving through the streets and back alleys of my neighbourhood, taking in the beauty of its old houses and stately brick apartments.

John Hendry House on Burnaby St. in 1908 by P. Timms - VPL #1881

Highlights of this tour include the house where O Canada was written, Barclay Heritage Square, beautifully restored Mole Hill, the building where Hollywood swashbuckler Errol Flynn died, and a number of other house and locations with some surprising stories. A plane crash? Joe Fortes' Cabin? A church that moved on a sled? The home of the renowned sharpshooting champion of the British Empire? It's all my old stomping grounds, Vancouver's Wild West End.

July 9th at 10am
MOUNT PLEASANT HISTORY WALK (2hrs)
Departs from in the NW corner of 12th & Yukon (City Hall) and ends up at Main Street near Broadway

Mt. Pleasant from Scotia Street and 6th Avenue 1891 LP 198

What better way to promote the development of Vancouver's first suburb than to name it Mount Pleasant? With the opening of the Westminster Avenue Bridge in the late 1880s the development of the south side of False Creek took off.

Philip Timms Residence on West 6th.

Turreted Queen Anne houses mixed with more humble pioneer cottages along the blocks sloping to the crest of land at 9th Avenue which was renamed Broadway in 1909 in an effort to further promote development in the area. Street car service along Broadway and down Westminster Avenue further spurred development in the neighbourhood.

Mt. Pleasant Methodist Church

Along the height of land a number of brick and stone churches were built and further south at 14th and Cambie the Monastery of Our Lady of Charity. The monastery is gone, but a number of the old churches stand--some of them converted to condos.

Highlights of the tour include Vancouver's City Hall, Vancouver's "Most Beautiful Block", and the home of BC's renowned stained glass family, the Bloomfields. As with all of my other history walks I have a good supply of archival images of the neighbourhood to supplement what we will see along the way.

July 16th at 10am
EAST END NORTH OF HASTINGS (2hrs)
Departs 611 Alexander Street at Princess Avenue

CVA Str P223 J. A. Brock 1887 Cordova near Heatley in 1887

The largely industrialized area of the Strathcona North of Hastings is the oldest part of the city of Vancouver. Here was the first European settlement on the south side of Burrard Inlet, a small village that grew up around the Hastings Sawmill, Vancouver’s first industry.

Though many of the physical reminders are now gone this neighbourhood, the oldest part of Strathcona and Vancouver, is very rich in history.

July 16th at 2pm
EAST END SOUTH OF HASTINGS (2hrs)
Departs from 696 East Hastings at Heatley Avenue

609 Hawks - National Bakery

The route is a culmination of years of researching over 250 homes in the East End. Although architecture is a theme in the tour, my focus is more on the social history—the ebb and flow of different waves of immigrants who established themselves here before moving on to other parts of the city. Most people know about Little Italy, Hogan’s Alley, the East End’s early Jewish Community, and Japantown, but did you know that there were whole blocks of Newfoundlanders and a sizable Syrian colony here as well in the early 1900s?

CVA 371-478 The Flying Seven Tosca Trasolini on left

The tour leaves from the Heatley Block at 696 East Hastings.

TWO EAST END HISTORY WALKS - Saturday June 4th 10am & 2pm

2011-06-01T10:48:00.000-07:00

Inclement weather forced a lot of people who wanted to come on my last two tours of the East End to cancel. This Saturday, June 4th is supposed to be sunny so I plan to escort my two East End Tours again. The morning tour covers the oldest part of Vancouver's first neighbourhood, Strathcona north of Hastings Street. The afternoon tour covers the remainder of the neighbourhood south of Hastings between Gore and Campbell. Both are fascinating on their own.

SPECIAL PRICE
Each tour is $20 per person and lasts two hours. If people want to come on both tours the same day, you can get two for one at $30 per person. For those interested in doing both tours, a great lunch is available close by at Au Petit Chavignol (beside Les amis de fromage) at 845 East Hastings.

BC Sugar Refinery Workers

EAST END (NORTH OF HASTINGS) HISTORY WALK
This tour departs 611 Alexander at Princess Avenue at 10am

The largely industrialized area of the Strathcona North of Hastings is the oldest part of the city of Vancouver. Here was the first European settlement on the south side of Burrard Inlet, a small village that grew up around the Hastings Sawmill, Vancouver’s first industry.

Hastings Sawmill Workers atop a Vancouver Toothpick CVA SGN 40

578 Alexander foyer tiles with Madam's name - VPL Photo #85872X by Curt Lang, 1972

Shuuichi Kusaka

Mayor Malcolm MacLean

337 and 341 Powell Street January 5, 1928 VPL#21174

Though many of the physical reminders are now gone this neighbourhood, the oldest part of Strathcona and Vancouver, is very rich in history. Come for a two-hour walk as see what is left. You will be amazed. Like my other tours, I will bring a binder filled with old archival images of houses, buildings and people from days gone by.

Oppenheimer Park and 400 block East Cordova 1965 Province VPL#42936

EAST END (SOUTH OF HASTINGS) HISTORY WALK
This tour departs 696 East Hastings at 2pm

First Presbyterian Church atGore & Hastings SE Ch N67.1

CVA Photo Port P165 by Stuart Thomson 1930s

CVA 371-478 The Flying Seven Tosca Trasolini on left

Vancouver Oldest Neighbourhood - The East End in Two Parts Saturday May 21 at 10am & 2pm

2011-05-17T16:53:00.000-07:00

Thanks for your patience. Several of you have asked when I will be starting up my tours this year and the weather is finally amenable to some weekend walking tours. I will be escorting two East End Tours this Saturday, May 21st. The morning tour covers the oldest part of Vancouver's first neighbourhood, Strathcona north of Hastings Street. The afternoon tour covers the remainder of the neighbourhood south of Hastings between Gore and Campbell. Both are fascinating on their own.

SPECIAL PRICE
Each tour is $20 per person and lasts two hours. If people want to come on both tours the same day, you can get two for one at $30 per person. For those interested in doing both tours, a great lunch is available close by at Au Petit Chavignol (beside Les amis de fromage) at 845 East Hastings.

EAST END (NORTH OF HASTINGS) HISTORY WALK
This tour departs 611 Alexander at Princess Avenue at 10am

Though the massive forced dislocation of Vancouver’s Nikkei (Japanese) community in 1942 changed the neighbourhood forever, there are still many physical reminders of the time when Powell Street was a vibrant, flourishing neighbourhood called “Little Tokyo”. Oppenheimer Park, the site of the annual Powell Street Festival was once known as Vancouver’s Hyde Park. It was the scene of many labour demonstrations, and Pssst! Communists were known to meet and plot at the World Hotel at Powell and Dunlevy.

Though many of the physical reminders are now gone this neighbourhood, the oldest part of Strathcona and Vancouver, is very rich in history.

Come for a two-hour walk as see what is left. You will be amazed. Like my other tours, I will bring a binder filled with old archival images of houses, buildings and people from days gone by.

EAST END (SOUTH OF HASTINGS) HISTORY WALK
This tour departs 696 East Hastings at 2pm
The route is a culmination of years of researching over 250 homes in the East End. Although architecture is a theme in the tour, my focus is more on the social history—the ebb and flow of different waves of immigrants who established themselves here before moving on to other parts of the city. Most people know about Little Italy, Hogan’s Alley, the East End’s early Jewish Community, and Japantown, but did you know that there were whole blocks of Newfoundlanders and a sizable Syrian colony here as well in the early 1900s?

To reserve a space, e-mail: historywalks@gmail.com. Please indicate which tour you wish to participate in and how many people will be in your party.

This has to be the nicest feedback I have received so far on my tours...

2011-02-14T18:51:00.000-08:00

This was sent to me by a visitor from Ireland who is here for a couple of months and stumbled on my walking tour information on the web. She is heading back to Ireland in the next week or so, so I took a risk and scheduled a tour this past Saturday. It rained cats and dogs... but in spite of that...

Just a little Email to say thank you for the wonderful tour (s) on Saturday! I thoroughly enjoyed both of them and it was great to see a different side of Vancouver from the usual tourist trails and I feel very lucky that I found you! Your tours were so engaging and kept my attention throughout and gave me a great appreciation and understanding of the city’s early days. The photographs were a great aide to peel back the years, and you breathed life into the houses, churches etc that we viewed. The tours were definitely worth going on - despite the rain – so thank you for the best tour I have been on!

--N. Allabyrne, Dublin Ireland

1st TOURS of 2011 - THE EAST END in TWO PARTS - Feb 12, 2011 10am& 2pm

2011-02-08T00:50:00.000-08:00

The weather and light has been improving and I have received a number of e-mails asking when my tours would be starting up again. Last week I looked at the long-term weather forecast and saw that it was to be rainy last Saturday and didn't plan anything...
so off course, it was a sunny day. : (

I am crossing my fingers for this Saturday, February 12th. I will be running two tours that will cover the East End from north to south in a total of 4 hours (with two hours for lunch in between).

Cost: $20/tour or $30 for both (Special combo price offered for same day only)

CVA Str P223 J. A. Brock 1887 Cordova near Heatley

Morning Tour
SEARCHING FOR TRACES OF VANCOUVER'S BEGINNINGS:
STRATHCONA NORTH OF HASTINGS
Starts:     10:00
Departs:   611 Alexander (at Princess Avenue)
                - plenty of free parking

Vancouver's earliest European settlement began as a little village of workers' cottages built close by the Hastings Saw Mill which operated for close to 60 years on a promontory at what is now the north foot of Dunlevy Avenue. Alexander Street, named after the mill's owner, R. H. Alexander, was where some of Vancouver's early elite, including Mr. Alexander and two Bell-Irvings had their first stately homes.

By the turn of the last century, these early East End blue bloods had moved on and the area north of Hastings became home to different waves of immigrants, including the Japanese. See some of the oldest houses still standing in Vancouver, the ghost of the Alexandra Street's Red Light District, the site of early labour demonstrations and worker's protests, as well as the site of the home of one of Vancouver's pioneer Black families, the Sullivans, and where a protégé of Albert Einstein, theoretical physicist Shuichi Kusaka, once lived. Keep an eye out for 100 year-old wooden cobblestones peeking out from under the asphalt. Any V fans out there? St. James' Anglican Church is used as a set for that popular Sci-Fi TV series. As always, I will be bringing along a binder full of archival images of a lot of the lost buildings and streetscapes so you can imagine the "before" while looking at the "after".

Afternoon Tour
THE NEIGHBOURHOOD THAT STARED DOWN BULLDOZERS:
STRATHCONA SOUTH OF HASTINGS
Starts:     14:00
Departs:   696 East Hastings (in front of the Heatley Block at Heatley)
                - free parking along Heatley and Keefer
Though not as old as the section north of Hastings, this part of the old East End has a lot of extant Victorian and Edwardian streetscapes. Hee you will see the old Jewish neighbourhood along Georgia Street, the ghost of Little Italy along Union and Prior. On Princess Avenue, you will see a number of blocks pioneered by Newfoundlanders. I will show you the homes of bootleggers, cow barns in "Cow Shit Alley", old bocce courts, the home of world welterweight champion boxers, row houses which were first used as brothels, and the site of Vancouver's most notorious shoot out. This is the neighbourhood where Dave Barrett was born, where Jimi Hendrix's grandparents lived and k.d. lang lived.

609 Hawks - 1947 Zitko family and friends

Despite this rich history, the entire neighbourhood south of Hastings was under threat of demolition in the 1950s and 1960s. A plan that would have seen an 8-lane freeway run through Union and Prior and destroy substantial parts of Chinatown and Gastown was finally stopped in 1968. This neighbourhood's story, how it successfully fought three levels of government, is an inspiration to all those fighting "done deals".

CVA 371-478 The Flying Seven Tosca Trasolini on left

Reservations?
Although it is not absolutely necessary, a heads up would be appreciated. Please e-mail me at historywalks@gmail.comto let me know which tour you want to sign up for. We go rain or shine!

ENCORE PRESENTATION - A Virtual Walking Tour of the Old East End to raise funds for Children in Need

2010-10-18T14:27:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, November 24th at 7pm I will be doing an encore presentation of a 240+ slide presentation on the fascinating history and multicultural heritage of my neighbourhood, Vancouver's first neighbourhood, the Old East End. The first presentation on October 27th was made to a full house. After this event, I received several e-mails concerning the possibility of a re-show. So here's your chance to learn about the fascinating history of Vancouver's first neighbourhood, the East End and to support a very important programme that provides over 100,000 meals to children and elders in need in Strathcona.

CVA Photo Mi P47 Lumber ships loading at Hastings Sawmill - ca. 1890

The presentation will take place in the Seniors' Lounge on the first floor of the Strathcona Community Centre at 601 Keefer (near Princess Avenue).

CVA Photo Sch N11 - Strathcona School ca 1923

This will be a fundraiser for the Strathcona Community Centre Food Security Programme... It is actually a fundraiser for a fundraiser as I am trying to raise funds for an espresso machine that the Strathcona Community Centre (SCC) is planning to buy that will both help them raise money for the Food Security Programme and at the same time help train East End neighbourhood kids to become barristas. The goal is to raise around $2500 to $3000. At the first event we raised over $750 of that amount.

CVA 780-309 A Strathcona Home in 1966

As mentioned above, The Strathcona Community Centre Food Security Programme provides over 100,000 meals and snacks a year to East End children and elders in need.

Admission: Sliding Scale $5-10

"Donations" of $25 and above will receive a tax receipt. All monies raised will go to the Strathcona Community Centre Food Security Programme Espresso Machine Fund. All coffee sold through this initiative at the SCC and community events will support the Food Security Programme.

Horse and wagon on Keefer - courtesy Pelman Family

Though most of the archival images in this show are from the City of Vancouver Archives and the Vancouver Public Library Special Collections, many of the images in the show are from private collections from former and current East End residents. This is a great way to learn about Vancouver's old East End and is a doubly good way to support youth in need in this neighbourhood.

Strathona School Twins in 1930 by Stuart Thomson, CVA 99-2186

People who cannot make it to the presentation but still wish to donate to the programme can send cheques made out to:

Strathcona Community Centre (earmarked for the Food Security Programme)
c/o Ron Suzuki
Strathcona Community Centre
601 Keefer Street, Vancouver, BC, V6A 3V8.

Thanks for your generous support.

CVA 371-891 - 459 East Pender Street ca. 1900

Tour The East End - Vancouver's Oldest Neighbourhood - Monday, October 11

2010-09-29T12:22:00.000-07:00

Come tour the East End, Vancouver's oldest and most fascinating neighbourhood, in two separate two-hour tours. The first walk that starts at 10am (at 611 Alexander at the North foot of Princess) takes you back to the 1860s and Vancouver's earliest beginnings. See the site of the old Hastings Sawmill, 100 year-old wooden cobbles, and houses that go back to the 1880s. Tour old Japantown, the Red Light district on Alexander Street, and see the site of one of Vancouver's most violent labour confrontations during the Great Depression.

CVA 371-1127 Police dispersing the crowds at the Powell Street Riot 1935

The East End north of Hastings is one of Vancouver's true hidden gems. The morning tour ends very close of another, more modern East End gem, Au Petit Chavignol, where you can enjoy a hearty lunch of fine wine and cheese-based cuisine.

Bu P508.53 Hogan's Alley April 1958 by A. L. Yates

The 2pm tour departs 696 East Hastings (at Heatley) and tours the south half of the old East End. See the historic Heatley Block with its pioneer and Klondyke era attached houses, the alley where an overworked undertaker had to stack bodies during the Spanish flu epidemic, the site of Vancouver's oldest Synagogue, Wayson Choy's childhood home, bootlegging joints, Hogan's Alley, Vancouver's first Little Italy, the site of Vancouver's most notorious shootout, a depression era hobo village, and two houses associated with Jimi Hendrix.

The tours are two hours long and cost $20 each. People wishing to come to both tours on the same day pay only $30. To reserve a space on either or both of the tours (please mention which) e-mail me.

So You Think You Know The East End? - Come Find Out, September 6th

2010-09-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

Aerial shot of the East End in the 1930s -VPL Special Collections

Strathcona? East End? DTES? Oppenheimer? Ever since the failed attempt in the 1950s and 1960s to totally obliterate large sections of the old East End and replace its historic Victorian and Edwardian houses and apartments with concrete blocks of social housing, there has been a tendency to disassociate the historic heart, in fact the oldest heart of the East End north of Hastings, from the mainly residential neighbourhood south of Hastings which has since that time been named Strathcona. On some city maps it shows the entire area between Main Street and Clark Drive, from the port, south to the railroad tracks as Strathcona. Other maps split the area into Oppenheimer, Strathcona, and the Downtown East Side, and some maps show Strathcona and Oppenheimers as sub neighbourhoods of a Greater Downtown East Side.

Whichever way you slice it, the two sections north and south of Hastings are historically one neighbourhood.

View of the East End from Dufferin Street in the 1890s CVA Photo Bu P677.2

On Monday, September 6th I will be doing two tours of the east end that explored these two entities.

10 am gather at the north foot of Prince Avenue (611 Alexander) for a 2 hour tour of Strathcona North of Hastings. I am calling this East End Irredenta (The Unredeemed East End).
From the Hastings Sawmill, to the red light district on Alexander, to Japantown and beyond, Strathcona North of Hastings is chock-full of history and some amazing built heritage. You will see wooden cobbles, and a number of houses that still stand from the 1880s, including a house that many think is Vancouver's oldest. The tour of built heritage is supplemented with dozens of archival images of the area which brings the lost streetscapes and the people who inhabited them back to life.

2pm gather at 696 East Hastings (the Heatley block) for a 2 hour East End History Walk touring the residential area south of Hastings.
Jimi Hendrix, k. d. lang, bootleggers and brothels, Vancouver's earliest Jewish community, Vancouver's most notorious shootout, Hogan's Alley, female aviators, haunted houses, unsolved murders, Little Italy; come and see where the immigrant dream in Vancouver began.

Each tour costs $20 per person, but if you want to do two in one day, you can do Two for $30.
For more information or to confirm your attendance, e-mail: househistorian@yahoo.ca.

If you can't make it Monday, private tours for groups of five and above of both these historic areas, as well as Mount Pleasant, and the West End are available uppon request.

Hobo camp at present day Strathcona Garden, Photo Courtesy of CVA

EAST END IRREDENTA - Strathcona North of Hastings: A Brand New Tour

2010-08-27T12:56:00.000-07:00

CVA Photo Mi P21 Hastings Sawmill from the foot of Gore Avenue in 1888

On Saturday, August 28, 10am

A Brand New East End History Walk with Vancouver Historian James Johnstone

East End Irredenta - Strathcona North of Hastings

The largely industrialized area of the Strathcona North of Hastings is the oldest part of the city of Vancouver. Here was the first European settlement on the south side of Burrard Inlent, a small village that grew up around the Hastings Sawmill, Vancouver’s first industry.

CVA Photo Str P223 Gore and Cordova in 1887

Port 118.4 R. H. Alexander

Vancouver’s first Mayor, Malcolm A. MacLean, as well as world-renowned theoretical physicist Shuichi Kusaka , a protégé of Albert Einstein both lived on the 300-block of East Cordova Street. One of the oldest houses still standing in Vancouver is on the south side of the same block.

CVA 371-1126 Powell Street Riots

395 Powell - World Hotel by Fred Herzog

Though many of the physical reminders are now gone, this neighbourhood, the oldest part of Strathcona and Vancouver is very rich in history.

CVA Photo SGN 295 - 414 Alexander Street in the 1890s

Come for a two-hour walk as see what is left. You will be amazed. Like my other tours, I will bring a binder filled with old archival images of houses, buildings and people from days gone by. This tour is every bit as interesting and exciting as my regular East End History Walk. Hope to see you there.

Cost: $20

Departs from in front of 611 Alexander Street at the North End of Princess Avenue

Though not absolutely necessary, an e-mail to reserve a space would be appreciated: househistorian@yahoo.ca

EAST END HISTORY WALKING TOUR - 2pm Saturday August 14th

2010-08-09T09:24:00.000-07:00

CVA Photo Port P. 165

I am offering my East End History Walk this Saturday at 2pm. The route is a culmination of years of researching over 250 homes in the East End. Although architecture is a theme in the tour, my focus is more on the social history—the ebb and flow of different waves of immigrants who established themselves here before moving on to other parts of the city. Most people know about Little Italy, Hogan’s Alley, the East End’s early Jewish Community, and Japantown, but did you know that there were whole blocks of Newfoundlanders and a sizable Syrian colony here as well in the early 1900s?

The tour touches on the impact and influences of portside industries (BC Sugar, shipyards, etc.) prohibition, (the proliferation of bootlegging), the Oriental Exclusion Act (bachelor rooming houses, etc.), the Japanese Canadian internment, as well as the City Planning Department’s attempts to wipe out “urban blight”. It also gives participants the chance to see the locations of the previous homes of well-known East End residents, like pioneer female aviator Tosca Trasolini, premier Dave Barrett, champion boxers Jimmy McLarnin and Felice Di Palma (Di Palma boxed under the name Phil Palmer), Rabbi Nathan Meyer Pastinsky, award-winning authors Paul Yee and Wayson Choy, Ross and Nora Hendrix (Jimi’s grandparents), community activists Mary Lee Chan and Shirley Chan, and BC Supreme Court Judge, community leader Angelo Branca, and k.d. lang.

City of Vancouver Archives Photo Re N8.2 P6

From sports heroes to gun-toting anti heroes, from bootleggers to humanitarians, from hobo camps to labour activists, the East End has been home to them all. Every house in this neighbourhood has its stories waiting to be discovered. Come and hear some of them this Saturday and see for yourself why Vancouver's first neighbourhood is also its most fascinating.

The tour leaves from the Heatley Block (lots of free parking on Heatley) at 696 East Hastings at 2pm this Saturday, August 14th. Entertaining company from out of town this week and want to do something different? Bring them along!

To reserve space or for more information contact me at househistorian@yahoo.ca

$20.00 per person, with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 30 per tour. Depending on the size and pace of the tour the duration is 2 to 2 and a half hours.

East End and West End History Walks this Saturday - Special Combo Price

2010-07-29T11:04:00.000-07:00

Last week I launched my West End tours and toured around some great people in the morning and afternoon. The West End Tour is quite something in that there are so many more archival images you can use on a history walk.

My general idea is to do my West End Tours regularly at 10am and 2pm on Saturdays starting in August. August 14th I am doing a benefit tour for Heritage Vancouver Sociery in the morning so there will only be one West End tour that day...

But for this weekend, I am doing my East End History Walk in the morning and my West End History Walk in the afternoon.

East End History Walk - July 31st
departs the Heatley Block (696 East Hastings) at 10am
Cost $20 per person

West End History Walk - July 31st
departs the SW corner of Robson and Jervis (in front of O'Doul's) at 2pm

Cost $20 per person

People up to taking both tours the same day pay only $30 for both tours.

To reserve space, please e-mail me at househistorian@yahoo.ca

For those of you only taking the morning tour, there is a great lunch available close to the end of the tour at Au Petit Chavignol at 845 East Hastings (This restaurant is run by Les amis du frommage and the menu is absolutely killer. If I was on death row and was asked what I wanted to eat for my last meal, I would ask for their Croque Madame. Yum!)

For those of you starting in the West End, O'Doul's has a great lunch and brunch menu... And drinks at the bar in The Sylvia Hotel is a great way to end the tour.
Remember, to reserve space, please e-mail me at househistorian@yahoo.ca

See you on Saturday!

Top photo City of Vancouver Archives - Mayor Templeton's residence at 1213 Barclay
2nd photo City of Vancouver Archives - Detective Donald Sinclair after a raid on the docks
3rd photo City of Vancouver Archives - Wooton Manor on Burnaby Street in the West End
Last Photo City of Vancouver Archives - Children on old English Bay Pier

West End History Walk, Saturday July 24 at 10am and 2pm

2010-07-20T13:09:00.000-07:00

At long last I have my route planned for my West End Neighbourhood History Walk. I will be launching my West End Tours this Saturday, July 24th at 10 and 2pm. In contrast to my East End Tours, which are a loop, my West End tours this Saturday will depart from the SW corner of Robson and Jervis in front of the Listel Hotel (O'Douls) on Robson Street and end up at the Sylvia Hotel on English Bay. (In future, my afternoon tours will depart from the Sylvia and end up at the Listel).

Like my East End tours, I will be using a large number of archival images to show tour participants exactly how the neighbourhood looked in its late 19th and early 20th century heyday.

Depending on the number of people the tours can last from about two to two and a half hours. Cost is $20.00 per person, with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 30 per tour.

So if you like the West End and want to know more about its history, if you were ever curious about where Joe Fortes lived, or where Errol Flynn died... If you want to find out why there is an O Canada House on Barclay, or want to know which Pendrell Street building was used as the set for Muldaur's apartment in the The X Files or find out what stately mansion stood on the site of your highrise apartment, come on out and join the tour.

Space is limited so to reserve space or for more information contact me at househistorian@yahoo.ca. When reserving space, please indicate which tour you will be coming on, the 10am one or the 2pm one.

Credits:

City of Vancouver Archives Photo SGN 1080.2 William Templeton residence on Barclay

Vancouver Public Library Photo #1881 John Hendry Residence on Burnaby

City of Vancouver Archives Photo CVA 371-723 1900 block of Pendrell in the 1910s

City of Vancouver Archives Photo CVA 7-249.1 The Scantleburys on Burnaby

East End History Walks 10am and 2pm Saturday, June 26th

2010-06-23T13:22:00.000-07:00

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND...

My route, first offered on August 15th, 2009 to an oversold crowd of 44 people is the culmination of years of researching over 250 homes in the East End. Although architecture is certainly a theme in the tour, my focus is more on the social history—the ebb and flow of different waves of immigrants who established themselves here before moving on to other parts of the city. Most people know about Little Italy, Hogan’s Alley, the East End’s early Jewish Community, and Japantown, but did you know that there were whole blocks of Newfoundlanders and a sizable Syrian colony here as well in the early 1900s?

CVA 371-891 427 Princess Street now 459 East Pender Street circa 1900. Courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives

STR P74.2 Powell Street looking west from Secord Hotel. Courtesy City of Vancouver Archives

CVA 371-478 Tosca Trasolini and The Flying Seven 1936 Courtesy of City of Vancouver Archives

SGN 342 Daniel McPhalen and family in front of 209 Harris (East Georgia) Street

Courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives

The tours leave from the Heatley Block (lots of free parking on Heatley) at 696 East Hastings at 10am and 2pm this Saturday, June 26th. Entertaining company from out of town this week and want to do something different? Bring them along!

To reserve space or for more information contact me at househistorian@yahoo.ca

$20.00 per person, with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 30 per tour. Depending on the size and pace of the tour the duration is 2 to 2 and a half hours.

THE FRIENDS OF THE VANCOUVER CITY ARCHIVES SOCIETY PRESENTS:

2010-06-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

Houses on the 1900 and 2000-blocks of Nelson Street in 1908

The Old West End Revisited:

An Interactive Street by Street Photographic Journey

Date: July 19^th

Time: 7pm

Location: City of Vancouver Archives, 1150 Chestnut Street

Enjoy a sentimental trip back to the time when the West End had no highrises and its streets were still lined with intact blocks of stately Victorian and Edwardian homes.

Mayor Templeton's house on the corner of Barclay and Thurlow in 1895

Come time travel with Vancouver house historian, history walk guide and Chair of the Friends of the Vancouver City Archives, James Johnstone as he guides you on a street by street tour of the old West End using the City of Vancouver Archives’ fascinating collection of archival images.

Do you like old photographs of Vancouver? Did you grow up in the West End or have memories of the neighbourhood you would like to share? Or are you curious about what once stood on the site of your highrise apartment or condo? Can you help us identify some houses or people in some of our mystery photos? Then this would be a perfect night for you.

This is a FREE event for members of the Friends of the Vancouver City Archives.

Seating is limited.
Non-members are certainly welcome.

Suggested donation for non-members is $10.

Or, you can buy a $20 annual membership to the Friends of the Vancouver city Archives and become immediately eligible for a 50% discount on all 8x10 B&W archival prints.
For more information call 604-736-8561

House of J. P. Nicoll on Seaton Street (Do you know where that is?)

EAST END HISTORY WALKING TOURS - 10am & 2pm Saturday May 22nd

2010-05-19T13:24:00.000-07:00

My route, first offered on August 15th to an oversold crowd of 44 people is the culmination of years of researching over 250 homes in the East End. Although architecture is certainly a theme in the tour, my focus is more on the social history—the ebb and flow of different waves of immigrants who established themselves here before moving on to other parts of the city. Most people know about Little Italy, Hogan’s Alley, the East End’s early Jewish Community, and Japantown, but did you know that there were whole blocks of Newfoundlanders and a sizable Syrian colony here as well in the early 1900s?
CVA 371-891 427 Princess Street now 459 East Pender Street circa 1900. Courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives

STR P74.2 Powell Street looking west from Secord Hotel. Courtesy City of Vancouver Archives

CVA 371-478 Tosca Trasolini and The Flying Seven 1936 Courtesy of City of Vancouver Archives

SGN 342 Daniel McPhalen and family in front of 209 Harris (East Georgia) Street

Courtesy of the City of Vancouver Archives

The tours leave from the Heatley Block (lots of free parking on Heatley) at 696 East Hastings at 10am and 2pm this Saturday, May 22nd. Entertaining company from out of town this week and want to do something different? Bring them along!

To reserve space or for more information contact me at househistorian@yahoo.ca

$20.00 per person, with a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 30 per tour. Depending on the size and pace of the tour the duration is 2 to 2 and a half hours.

A Walk Along Alexander Street in Vancouver's Old East End

2010-04-20T15:32:00.000-07:00

The official announcement is a couple of days off, but since they announced it on last Saturday's bus tour I feel comfortable letting you know that Heritage Vancouver Society has included Strathcona North of Hastings Street on their 2010 Top Ten Endangered List.

I am thrilled to see some proper attention given to the oldest part of Vancouver's oldest neighbourhood.

In the 1990s a community Plan was drawn up that helped revitalize and protect the built heritage of the East End south of Hastings Street. Through a long and thoughful process the community and the city worked together to develop a special zoning to protect Strathcona south of Hastings. This is called RT-3. For whatever reason, the neighbourhood north of Hastings was not included in this process. Some of Vancouver's oldest houses and historic commercial buildings, including Vancouver's old Japantown and the remains of the former Red Light District along Alexander Street were left unprotected.

There has been a tendency over the past decades for Strathcona North of Hastings to be seen as a separate neighbourhood, either part of the rapidly expanding and constantly redefined Downtown East Side or described as an entirely new entity, Oppenheimer. At present the area is under intense pressure for redevelopment as sections of the Downtown Eastside are rehabilitated and/or gentrified and the homeless are pushed further east along Hastings. No one can argue that this city has a terrible poverty and homelessness issue and that something urgently needs to be done about it. It would seem though that the City plans to attempt to find a solution for all of these problems by focussing all its attention on one area of town, and that has huge implications to Strathcona north of Hastings in particular, and for Strathcona as a whole.

So what exactly is so important about Strathcona north of Hastings? I encourage you to read the Heritage Vancouver Position Paper on Strathcona North to find out. In the meantime, here are some images related to the short walking tour I gave for the participants of the 2010 Top Ten Most Endangered Bus Tour this Saturday.

We parked in the parking lot of the old American Can Company Building at 611 Alexander, and walked along west to Gore, then back to the bus along Railway Street. The American Can Company was a major employer in the East End for a number of decades. Nikkei historian Dr. Audrey Kobayashi in her booklet on Powell Street mentions that the parking lot was a favourite place for neighbourhood children to ride their bicycles. Just east of American Can Company is the old Ballantyne Pier, the site of one of the bloodiest labour related confrontations during the Great Depression. Here's another great read from Vancouver Historian Lani Russwurm on the Battle of Ballantyne.

The American Can Company is actually built on the site of a number of houses that once stood on the north side of Alexander. Many of these were once used as brothels during the time when the 500 and 600 blocks of Alexander formed the nucleus of a thriving Red Light District. Vancouver's oldest red light district was on the unit and 10-block of Dupont Street, now East Pender, and then was relocated to Canton and Shangai Alleys for a while before relocating to Shore Street (100 block of Harris, now East Georgia) before finally relocating to Alexander Street beside the port in the 1910s. A number of the buildings that still stand on Alexander were originally built as brothels. Some of the madams actually had their names spelled out in tiles outside their front doors.

Sadly, 578 Alexander with Marie Gomez' name at the entry has been demolished... Did anyone think to save the tile sign for the Vancouver Museum? I did a check of the building records and found that her building at 578 Alexander cost $9000 to build. Marie apparently was the designer of the building and a contractor named R. C. Douglas built the structure.

Though 578 Alexander was demolished not long ago several examples of buildings that were built as brothels still stand. Here are some pictures. 514 Alexander was built in 1912 by Alice Bernard. According to the 1911 Census, Alice was born in France in March of 1873 and came to Canada in 1891. The 1911 Census shows her as the head of a household with seven other women at 102 Shore Street. Most of Alice's co-vivants also were born in France.

A little but west of 514 is a beautiful little brick apartment block at 504 Alexander. This was built in 1913 by Miss L. Gray, most likely American-born Lucille Gray, who worked for a madam named Cleo Devere at 108 Shore at the time of the 1911 census.

Here is a closeup of the entryway.

Located very conveniently to all these working women was the British Seaman's Mission at 500 Alexander.

Here are two great archival images of the building. This one was taken in 1924.

This one with the British Sailors Society sign was taken in 1940.

But here is perhaps the most interesting house left on the street, 414 Alexander. This house was built around 1889 and is one of the four or five oldest houses still standing in Vancouver.

Not that remarkable, you may say, but look how this house looked around 1890. This is one of the most stunning pictures I have ever seen of a Vancouver house.

Doubtless there were more of these gems in our early years but they were all torn down or lost their early embellishments like 414 Alexander. Currently, this house is not on the City's Heritage Register. This house is interesting for a number of reasons. In the 1920s this house was bought by a Japanese family and a number of additions were added to the back of the house. The house with its additions functioned as a rooming house and served as home for Japanese seasonal workers who often spent many months up north in forestry, mining and fishing camps, then returned to Vancouver in the off season.

Here are some great pictures of the side of the house taken in the 1970s showing how the house was extended.

One door to the west of 414 is 412 Alexander. It is a much younger house than 414, built in 1898 by stonemason James Harris.

Its unique arched porch draws a lot of attention. In 1901, this house was home to Rev. John Reid of Know Presbyterian Church. By 1909, 412 Alexander was a rooming house.

Across the street is the Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall. This is one of the few remaining buildings used by the Japanese community in the area that was once the heart of Vancouver's Japantown. Before this building was erected, the community used another building which once stood to the west of the current structure.

Here is a photo of the earlier Nippon Kyouritsu Gogakkou at 439 Alexander. In 1942, of course, the Nikkei community was forcibly removed from the BC Coastal area and relocated to internment camps in the interior. The Japanese Hall and all other property owned by Japanese Canadians was expropriated by the government. Much of it was sold for bargain prices. The Japanese Hall and Language School was one of the few properties returned to the community after they returned to Vancouver in the late 1940s.

Not much is left of the original 300 block of Alexander. Even some of the older buildings that still stand replaced much earlier houses built here in the 1880s. Take a look at this building at 300 Alexander at Gore.

The Vancouver and Victoria Stevedoring Building was built in 1922. It replaced a Japanese rooming house. Before the building was a Japanese rooming house, it was a single family dwelling built sometime before 1887 for R. H. Alexander, the owner and manager of the Hastings Sawmill. This address has the oldest Water Service Application Record in Vancouver, Number 1. Anyone who knows anything about Vancouver's old blueblood families knows the name Bell-Irving. The Bell-Irvings lived a couple of doors down from the Alexanders at 308 and 310 Alexander.

Before World War II this block was a bustling mixed residential commercial street in the heart of Japantown. 313 Alexander was built in 1898 by Yonekichi Aoki, a Japanese immigrant who first found work at the Hastings Sawmill but later made his fortune working as a railway contractor for the CPR.

313 Alexander is typical of the type of multi-storeyed wooden apartment buildings built by the Japanese in Vancouver. Here is a picture from the rear.

Gore Avenue, Vancouver's original "skid road" forms today's westernmost boundary of Strathcona. From Gore Avenue our tour walked a few paces north to Railway Street and admired the beautifully preserved old warehouse and commercial buildings on the port side as we walked back to the bus.

Along the way, a number of people on the tour took turns looking at the binder of archival photos I had brought along, some of which I have included in this post. What I forgot to mention then, but will now is, if you like old photos and are thinking of buying them, you can save money on any 8x10 black and white prints purchased at the City of Vancouver Archives if you become a member of the Friends of the Vancouver City Archives. The prints make marvelous gifts, and with a Friends' 50% discount, you can buy twice as many as you would without the discount. Membership in the Friends is $20 a year for individuals and $30 a year for families.

It will be interesting to see the response towards Heritage Vancouver Society including Strathcona North of Hastings in our Top 10 Most Endangered List. It may not be a popular move in certain circles, but being popular is not our job. Our job is to create a future for heritage and to act as the voice of built heritage in Vancouver through education and advocacy. It's a great organization doing some very important work. I hope you will support these efforts by joining us or coming out to one of our events.

To help raise awareness about Strathcona North's heritage I will be hosting a walking tour of the area on July 10. This is a fundraiser for Heritage Vancouver. I will be doing reprises of that tour from time to time throughout the year. In the meantime, I will post more about Strathcona North of Hastings in my regular house history blog and will get things together to organize some Walking Tours of the West End and the Commercial Drive/Grandview Woodland area.

My Vancouver Neighbourhood History Walks - The Background Story

2010-03-31T14:59:00.000-07:00

In July of 2009 I was approached by Heritage Vancouver Society, to do a history walking tour of my neighbourhood, Vancouver's old East End, now known as Strathcona. Though I have researched hundreds of houses in the neighbourhood and have a background in tourism, at first I resisted. There were already a number of people and organizations offering tours in the neighbourhood: John Atkin, author of a number of great books, including Strathcona: Vancouver's First Neighbourhood, the UBC Department of Urban Geography, the Architectural Insitute of BC, the BC Jewish Museum and Archives, and even the Vancouver Police Museum. Ultimately, I realized that all of these people and groups have a different focus, and each of them show and talk about different aspects of this fascinating neighbourhood.

My route, first offered on August 15th to an oversold crowd of 44 people is the culmination of years of researching over 250 homes in the East End. Although architecture is a minor theme in the tour, my focus is more on the social history—the ebb and flow of different waves of immigrants who established themselves here before moving on to other parts of the city. Most people know about Little Italy, Hogan’s Alley, the East End’s early Jewish Community, and Japantown, but did you know that there were whole blocks of Newfoundlanders and a sizable Syrian colony here as well in the early 1900s?

The tour touches on the impact and influences of portside industries (BC Sugar, shipyards, etc.) prohibition, (the proliferation of bootlegging), the Oriental Exclusion Act (bachelor rooming houses, etc.), the Japanese Canadian internment, as well as the City Planning Department’s attempts to wipe out “urban blight”. It also gives participants the chance to see the locations of the previous homes of well-known East End residents, like pioneer female aviator Tosca Trasolini, premier Dave Barrett, champion boxers Jimmy McLarnin and Felice Di Palma (Di Palma boxed under the name Phil Palmer), Rabbi Nathan Meyer Pastinsky, award-winning authors Paul Yee and Wayson Choy, Ross and Nora Hendrix (Jimi’s grandparents), community activists Mary Lee Chan and Shirley Chan, and BC Supreme Court Judge, community leader Angelo Branca, and k.d. lang.

Even with 250 houses under my belt there is still so much I don't know and want to know about my neighbourhood. In an attempt to better prepare for a second set of tours offered on September 5th to two smaller groups I looked up some houses on a street I was researching in the census records and stumbled on a second house with a Hendrix family connection. Ross and Nora Hendrix don't actually appear in the directory listings for the year the census was taken so no one knew about this Hendrix house before. I introduced the house as a special surprise treat at the end of my tour.

I happen to know the owners of the house, and when I e-mailed them to let them know the exciting news, they were of course delighted, but more importantly, they told me another important piece of history associated with the house. The same house that the Hendrix family lived in earlier in the century was home to Charles Yip Quong and Nellie Towers, the first mixed Chinese/Caucasian married couple in Vancouver. Apparently Nellie was a well-known and much loved midwife in the neighbourhood. Here is a link to a Parks Canada page on Nellie Yip Quong.
http://www.pc.gc.ca/culture/ppa-ahp/itm3-/page02_e.asp

So there you have it. Piece by piece, this neighbourhood's lost history gets revealed and shared by happenstance and amazing coincidences. And I am sure that there is so much more to discover.

Stay tuned for my next Vancouver Neighbourhood History Walk. In the following month I will set up a schedule for a tour in the West End and will announce other tours for Comercial Drive/Grandview Woodland, Downtown, and a new tour for the East End.

Anyone with family members or a group of over 6 people who would like to book a private tour, please drop me a line at househistorian@yahoo.ca.

Rate $20.00 per person, with a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 30 per tour.

CVA Photo Port P165 by Stuart Thomson 1930s