Wednesday 7 August 2024

JOIN ME, SATURDAY 17 AUGUST for a HISTORY WALK through STRATHCONA, VANCOUVER'S FIRST NEIGHBOURHOOD



East End Vancouver/Strathcona History Walk - August 17

Departs: 696 East Hastings (at Heatley) at 10am. 

Duration: 2.5 to 3 hours depending on the size of the group.

Cost: $25 per person


My East End Vancouver/Strathcona walking tour is by far the most popular of my History Walks. It is no wonder... The East End is Vancouver's oldest and most fascinating neighbourhood. 



The humble East End was the first Vancouver home to thousands of people fresh off the boat or train arriving from all over the world. Street by street, block by block, the East End developed ethnic enclaves. This neighbourhood boasted the first Synagogue and first Jewish neighbourhood, Vancouver's first Little Italy, Japantown, and Vancouver's only Black identified neighbourhood, Hogan's Alley. 



Some blocks were dominated by Scandinavians, others by Yugoslavs, Ukrainians and Russians. Over the years the East End became Chinatown's residential district, home to renowned authors Wayson Choy (The Jade Peony/Paper Shadows) and Paul Yee (Salt Water City/Ghost Train). 



Home to three historic red light districts, an unsettling mix of non-British, mostly working class immigrants, three of Vancouver's four Depression era hobo camps, innumerable bootleg joints, even gangs. Vancouver's East End was often viewed by outsiders as an unsavoury, even dangerous place where "those people" lived. 



But it was also home to Angelo Branca, who went on to become Supreme Court Justice for British Columbia, Canada's "Amelia Earhart" Tosca Trasolini, boxing legends Jimmy McLarnin and Phil Palmer, NDP Premier Dave Barrett, media personality, musician, filmmaker and actress Sook Yin Lee, CBC programmer, poet and author Bill Richardson, Canadian singing legend k. d. lang, and the Montreal Bakery where the "royal buns" were baked for the 1939 visit to Vancouver by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. And that is just scratching the surface!


Every one of Strathcona's houses has a story to tell. Want to time travel? Come for a History Walk through Vancouver's oldest and most fascinating neighbourhood, the East End.


Parking: There is plenty of free parking along Heatley Avenue, Hastings Street, and Keefer Street further South.

  

E-mail: historywalks@gmail.com to reserve a space on my regularly scheduled tours, or for more information on how to book a private History Walk.

Thursday 21 March 2024

HISTORY WALKS ARE BACK FOR A LIMITED SEASON THIS SPRING

WE'RE BACK!



Saturday, April 6

EAST END VANCOUVER/STRATHCONA HISTORY WALK

Departs: 696 East Hastings (at Heatley) at 

Time: 10am. 

Duration: 2.5 to 3 hours depending on the size of the group.

Cost: $25 per person

 

My East End Vancouver/Strathcona walking tour is by far the most popular of my History Walks. It is no wonder... The East End is Vancouver's oldest and most fascinating neighbourhood. 

 

The humble East End was the first Vancouver home to thousands of people fresh off the boat or train arriving from all over the world. Street by street, block by block, the East End developed ethnic enclaves. This neighbourhood boasted the first Synagogue and first Jewish neighbourhood, Vancouver's first Little Italy, Japantown, and Vancouver's only Black identified neighbourhood, Hogan's Alley. 

 

Some blocks were dominated by Scandinavians, others by Yugoslavs, Russians and Ukrainians. Over the years the East End became Chinatown's residential district, home to renowned authors Wayson Choy (The Jade Peony/Paper Shadows) and Paul Yee (Salt Water City/Ghost Train). 

 

Home to three historic red-light districts, an unsettling mix of non-British, mostly working class immigrants, three of Vancouver's four Depression era hobo camps, innumerable bootleg joints, even gangs. Vancouver's East End was often viewed by outsiders as an unsavoury, even dangerous place where "those people" lived. 

 

But it was also home to Angelo Branca, who went on to become Supreme Court Justice for British Columbia, Canada's "Amelia Earhart" Tosca Trasolini, boxing legends Jimmy McLarnin and Phil Palmer, NDP Premier Dave Barrett, media personality, musician, filmmaker and actress Sook Yin Lee, CBC programmer, poet and author Bill Richardson, Canadian singing legend k. d. lang, and the Montreal Bakery where the "royal buns" were baked for the 1939 visit to Vancouver by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. And that is just scratching the surface!

 

Every one of Strathcona's houses has a story to tell. Want to time travel? Come for a History Walk through Vancouver's oldest and most fascinating neighbourhood, the East End.

 

Parking: There is plenty of free parking along Heatley Avenue, Hastings Street, and Keefer Street further South.

  

E-mail: historywalks@gmail.com to reserve a space on my regularly scheduled tours, or for more information on how to book a private History Walk.


 


Saturday, April 13

WEST END HISTORY WALK

Departs: SE corner of Bute and Robson Streets at 

Time: 10am

Duration: Approximately two and a half hours and

Finishes: At English Bay near Denman & Davie.

Cost: $25.00 per person

 

My interest in Vancouver neighbourhood history was born when I moved into my first apartment in the West End. Walking to and from my workplace downtown I would choose a slightly different route each time and I was fascinated by what I saw. 

 

Back in the 1980s, the West End had many more of its original houses. Sadly, most but not all of the West End’s early buildings have been demolished, but you can still find some unexpected jewels hidden here and there among the high-rises and hidden behind storefronts.

 

This tour, which lasts usually just over two and a half hours, snakes its way through the West End from Robson Street to English Bay. On the way you will see the site of an unusual roof-top airplane crash, the location of the mansions of two of Vancouver’s mayors, the house in which the first English version of "O Canada" was written, the Gustav Roedde House and the beautifully restored houses of Barclay Heritage Square, the site of North America’s first Fire Hall designed for mechanical fire trucks, the location of X-Files’ Agent Dana Scully’s apartment, the apartment building where actor Errol Flynn died, Sugar magnate Benjamin Tingley Roger’s magnificent stone mansion Gabriola, the home of one of the British Empire’s most renowned sharpshooters, the location of English Bay’s first life guard Joe Fortes’ cabin, and much much more.

 

As with all of my history walks, I supplement what we are able to see today with peeks back into time using archival images to help recreate the lost Victorian and Edwardian streetscapes of the West End.  

 

E-mail: historywalks@gmail.com to reserve a space on my regularly scheduled tours, or for more information on how to book a private History Walk.

 



Saturday, April 20

CEDAR COTTAGE HISTORY WALK

Departs: SW corner of Commercial Drive & East 18th Avenue

Time: 10am. 

Duration: 2.5 to 3 hours depending on the size of the group.

Finishes: near Victoria Drive & Stainsbury Avenue

Cost: $25 per person

 

You have been to Cedar Cottage before, no doubt. It’s the hip East Side neighbourhood that hosts the very popular Trout Lake Farmer’s Market and the enchanting midsummer Illuminares Lantern Festival. It is a wonderful neighbourhood with a lot of interesting little streets laid out at odd angles with a nice mix of old houses.

 

I have been wanting to do a History Walk for this neighbourhood ever since I did a house history research project on the Thomas Bell House on East 15th Avenue near Fleming Street. This beautifully restored Arts and Crafts bungalow has an intriguing history which I will be sharing on the walk. The house is located just across the street from Clark Park—Vancouver’s second oldest civic park, after Stanley Park—and was home of one of Vancouver’s most notorious gangs. If you haven’t read it already, I highly recommend Aaron Chapman’s THE LAST GANG IN TOWN. I can only imagine what the occupants of the Thomas Bell house thought about their neighbours. 

 

During our walk we will tour what I think is one of the most interesting little business enclaves in Vancouver, the two blocks of Commercial Street (Not Commercial Drive!) between Victoria and East 22nd.

 

Later we will explore the streets around Trout Lake, once the source of water used in the boilers at the Hastings Saw Mill with which it was connected by a wooden flume. On our walk around Trout Lake I will show you a house that has a connection to the infamous Chicken Coop Murders that took place in Wineville, California in 1928. These horrific murders were the basis for the 2008 movie CHANGELING with Angelina Jolie and directed by Clint Eastwood. 

 

E-mail: historywalks@gmail.com to reserve a space on my regularly scheduled tours (See current tour schedule), or for more information on how to book a private History Walk.




Saturday, April 27

GRANDVIEW HISTORY WALK

Departs: SE corner Commercial Drive & Venables at 10am. 

Duration: 2 to 2.5. hours depending on the size of the group.

Finishes: Near Commercial Drive and Graveley Street

Cost: $25 per person

 

HISTORY, HORTICULTURE, HERITAGE & CAFFEINATED HIP - Come along on a History Walk through Vancouver's hippest, historic, neighbourhood, “Grandview”. Vancouver’s Grandview is a neighbourhood unlike any other. Originally promoted as a middle class alternative to the West End and Shaughnessy, Grandview, which straddles both sides of Commercial Drive, is a fascinating mix of elegant Edwardian mansions, and edgy Bohemian chic, interspersed with interestingly repurposed  heritage churches, monasteries, beautiful gardens and some of the best affordable restaurants and hippest coffee shops in the city. 

 

You will see the mansions of theologian, scientist, comparative ethnologist and British Israelite Professor Edward Odlum; Kurrajong—the elegant turreted home of Australian-born realtor and PNE founder John James Miller; the former home of author Joy Kogawa; the one-time home of Canadian rockabilly legend Ray Condo; a pre-fabricated Presbyterian church building; the site of Jeff Walls “The Pine on the Corner”; as well as what have to be Vancouver’s shortest and cutest streets, Lily and Rose Streets, and much much more.

 

The tour departs from the SE corner of Commercial Drive and Venables near the site of the neighbourhood’s first electric light and ends near Commercial and Gravely in front of the site of Grandview’s first house.

 

For more information or to book a place on the tour, please e-mail historywalks@gmail.com




Saturday, May 4

EAST END VANCOUVER/STRATHCONA HISTORY WALK

Departs: 696 East Hastings (at Heatley) at 10am. 

Duration: 2.5 to 3 hours depending on the size of the group.

Cost: $25 per person

 

My East End Vancouver/Strathcona walking tour is by far the most popular of my History Walks. It is no wonder... The East End is Vancouver's oldest and most fascinating neighbourhood. 

 

The humble East End was the first Vancouver home to thousands of people fresh off the boat or train arriving from all over the world. Street by street, block by block, the East End developed ethnic enclaves. This neighbourhood boasted the first Synagogue and first Jewish neighbourhood, Vancouver's first Little Italy, Japantown, and Vancouver's only Black identified neighbourhood, Hogan's Alley. 

 

Some blocks were dominated by Scandinavians, others by Yugoslavs, Russians and Ukrainians. Over the years the East End became Chinatown's residential district, home to renowned authors Wayson Choy (The Jade Peony/Paper Shadows) and Paul Yee (Salt Water City/Ghost Train). 

 

Home to three historic red-light districts, an unsettling mix of non-British, mostly working class immigrants, three of Vancouver's four Depression era hobo camps, innumerable bootleg joints, even gangs. Vancouver's East End was often viewed by outsiders as an unsavoury, even dangerous place where "those people" lived. 

 

But it was also home to Angelo Branca, who went on to become Supreme Court Justice for British Columbia, Canada's "Amelia Earhart" Tosca Trasolini, boxing legends Jimmy McLarnin and Phil Palmer, NDP Premier Dave Barrett, media personality, musician, filmmaker and actress Sook Yin Lee, CBC programmer, poet and author Bill Richardson, Canadian singing legend k. d. lang, and the Montreal Bakery where the "royal buns" were baked for the 1939 visit to Vancouver by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. And that is just scratching the surface!

 

Every one of Strathcona's houses has a story to tell. Want to time travel? Come for a History Walk through Vancouver's oldest and most fascinating neighbourhood, the East End.

 

Parking: There is plenty of free parking along Heatley Avenue, Hastings Street, and Keefer Street further South.

  

E-mail: historywalks@gmail.com to reserve a space on my regularly scheduled tours, or for more information on how to book a private History Walk.

Thursday 23 February 2023

HISTORY WALKS ARE BACK! HERE IS THE SCHEDULE FOR 2023 HAPPENING THIS YEAR IN APRIL - Click on RED Links for Tour Details

You'll see some of these historic East End houses on our walk

Saturday April 1 
EAST END/STRATHCONA HISTORY WALK - Tour #1 
10:00 Departs SE corner of Heatley and East Hastings (Circle Route) 
Cost $25 per person 



CVA Photo LGN 504 - View of the 3500 block Commercial St

Sunday April 2 
CEDAR COTTAGE HISTORY WALK - Tour #6 
10:00 Departs SW corner of Commercial Dr. & East 18th, ends at Victoria Dr. & Stainsbury. 
Cost $25 per person 



CVA 392-1773 - Italian grandmother and her two little ones at McLean Replacement

Saturday April 8 
EAST END’S WORKING WILD SIDE HISTORY WALK - Tour #2 
10:00 Departs from NW corner of Raymur and Malkin, ends at 1000 Parker 
Cost $25 per person 



West 10th Avenue Restored Heritage Houses - Photo Courtesy of Joan Lovell

Sunday April 9 
MOUNT PLEASANT HISTORY WALK - Tour #5 
10:00 Departs SW corner of Yukon and West 12th, ends at Main & 6th Avenue 
Cost $25 per person 



I once lived in an apartment block on this site at 1340 Burnaby Street, CVA Photo Bu P468

Saturday April 15 
WEST END HISTORY WALK - Tour #3 
10:00 Departs SE corner of Robson & Bute, Ends at Davie & Denman 
Cost $25 per person



Street workers - Photo courtesy of George Winchcombe via G. Elvidge & K. Stormont

Sunday April 16 
EAST END/STRATHCONA "GHOST" WALK - Tour #1+"G" 
This tour has the same historical content as Tour #1 but has the added value of fascinating paranormal content shared by the tour's co-host, my ghost whispering paranormal investigator friend, Kati Ackermann. 
10:00 Departs SE corner of Heatley and East Hastings (Circle Route) 
Cost $40 per person 



LGN 1228 - Grandview Sheet Metal Works building at 1685 Venables Street 1913

Saturday April 22 
GRANDVIEW HISTORY WALK - Tour #4 
10:00 Departs SE corner of Venables & Commercial, ends at Commercial & Gravely 
Cost $25 



CVA Photo Re N8.2 - Three unemployed men of the jungle at the City dump

Sunday April 23 
EAST END’S WORKING WILD SIDE "GHOST" WALK - Tour #2 +"G"
This tour has the same historical content as Tour #2 but has the added value of fascinating paranormal content shared by the tour's co-host, my ghost whispering paranormal investigator friend, Kati Ackermann. 
10:00 Departs from NW corner of Raymur and Malkin, ends at 1000 Parker 
Cost $40 per person 



Explaining the very interesting history of the 500 block of Heatley Avenue

Saturday April 29 
EAST END/STRATHCONA HISTORY WALK - Tour #1 
10:00 Departs SE corner of Heatley and East Hastings (Circle Route) 
Cost $25 per person

This TOUR is a FUNDRAISER for the LELEKA FOUNDATION. 

The LELEKA FOUNDATION saves lives in Ukraine by delivering critical medical supplies and equipment to teams of medical professionals working on the front lines. ALL MONIES raised through this fundraiser will be donated to the LELEKA FOUNDATION. Here is a LINK to their site.


⬇︎⬇︎⬇︎



Meet Vancouver's very own paranormal investigator and ghost-whisperer Kati Ackermann! In 2006, Kati founded Vancouver Spooks Paranormal InvestigatorsKati and I will be partnering up to host two Ghost-focussed History Walks during this limited 2023 History Walk season:

one, on Sunday, April 16 in the East End/Strathcona, and another

on Sunday, April 23, following the Working Wild Side of the East End route.

The routes and content of these two “Ghost Walks” are the same as my regular Strathcona (Tour #1) and East End's Working Wildside (Tour #2) History Walks with the added value of Kati's spirit-tuned eyes and ears. Kati, who has been on a number of my tours before as a guest, will share with us about the spirits she sees and what they say to her.

Please note that the price for these Ghost Walks will be $40 per person and the size will be limited to 20 people, so reservations are a must.


To reserve a space, please e-mail me at: historywalks@gmail.com.


Thursday 27 January 2022

THEY'RE BACK! HISTORY WALK SCHEDULE FOR FEBRUARY/MARCH 2022


Tosca Trasolini & The Flying Seven

Saturday February 26
East End/Strathcona History Walk - Tour #1
Departs: 10:00
From: SW corner of East Hastings & Heatley Avenue
Duration: Approximately 2.5 hours
Cost: $25.00
/person
Reservations: To reserve a space on this or any other scheduled tour, or to inquire about setting up a private tour, please e-mail me at: historywalks@gmail.com

CVA Photo Re N8.2 - Hoboes at the City Dump

Sunday February 27
Working/Wild Side of Vancouver’s East End - Tour #2
Departs: 10:00
From: NW Corner of Raymur Avenue & Malkin
Duration: Approximately 2.5 hours
Cost: $25.00
/person
Reservations: To reserve a space on this or any other scheduled tour, or to inquire about setting up a private tour, please e-mail me at: historywalks@gmail.com

CVA photo M-11-22

Saturday, March 5
West End History Walk - Tour #3
Departs: 10:00
From: SE corner of Robson & Bute and finishes at Davie & Denman
Duration: Approximately 2.5 hours
Cost: $25.00/person
Reservations: To reserve a space on this or any other scheduled tour, or to inquire about setting up a private tour, please e-mail me at: historywalks@gmail.com

CVA Photo Pol P4

Sunday, March 6
East End/Strathcona Ghost Walk - Tour#1G
Departs: 10:00
From: SW corner of East Hastings & Heatley Avenue
Duration: Approximately 2.5 hours
Cost: $40.00/person
All Ghost Walks are co-hosted by my ghost-whispering paranormal investigator friend Kati Ackerman. (See explanation below)
Reservations: To reserve a space on this or any other scheduled tour, or to inquire about setting up a private tour, please e-mail me at: historywalks@gmail.com

East End in the 1890s seen from what is now Olympic Village

Wednesday, March 9
East End/Strathcona History Walk - Tour #1
From: SW corner of East Hastings & Heatley Avenue
Departs: 10:00
Duration: Approximately 2.5 hours
Cost: $25.00/person
Reservations: To reserve a space on this or any other scheduled tour, or to inquire about setting up a private tour, please e-mail me at: historywalks@gmail.com

The trial of Gordon Northcott - Chicken Coop Murders

Saturday, March 12
Cedar Cottage History Walk - Tour #6 ⬅︎ NEW
Departs: 10:00
From: South side of East 18th Avenue at Commercial Drive
Duration: Approximately 2.5 hours
Cost: $25.00/person
Reservations: To reserve a space on this or any other scheduled tour, or to inquire about setting up a private tour, please e-mail me at: historywalks@gmail.com

CVA Photo 258-1 English Bay near Davie and Denman in 1927

Sunday, March 13
West End Ghost Walk - Tour#2G
Departs: 10:00
From: SE Corner of Robson & Bute and finishes at Davie & Denman
Duration: Approximately 2.5 hours
Cost: $40.00/person
All Ghost Walks are co-hosted by my ghost-whispering paranormal investigator friend Kati Ackerman. (See explanation below)
Reservations: To reserve a space on this or any other scheduled tour, or to inquire about setting up a private tour, please e-mail me at: historywalks@gmail.com


CVA Photo - LGN 1228

Wednesday, March 16
Grandview History Walk - Tour #4
Departs: 10:00
From: SE Corner of Commercial Drive & Venables and finishes at Commercial & Graveley
Duration: Approximately 2.5 hours
Cost: $25.00/person
Reservations: To reserve a space on this or any other scheduled tour, or to inquire about setting up a private tour, please e-mail me at: historywalks@gmail.com


Van Sc P47 - Looking north from City Hall 1938

Saturday, March 19
Mount Pleasant History Walk - Tour #5
Departs: 10:00
From: SE corner of West 12th & Yukon and finishes at Main & 6th
Duration: Approximately 2.5 hours
Cost: $25.00/person
Reservations: To reserve a space on this or any other scheduled tour, or to inquire about setting up a private tour, please e-mail me at: historywalks@gmail.com

CVA 99-1902 Skaters at Trout Lake, 1929 Photographer- Stuart Thomson

Sunday, March 20 - Tour
Cedar Cottage Ghost Walk #6G ⬅︎ NEW
Departs: 10:00
From: South side of East 18th Avenue at Commercial Drive
Duration: Approximately 2.5 hours
Cost: $40:00/person
All Ghost Walks are co-hosted by my ghost-whispering paranormal investigator friend Kati Ackerman. (See explanation below)
Reservations: To reserve a space on this or any other scheduled tour, or to inquire about setting up a private tour, please e-mail me at: historywalks@gmail.com


Kati and me after a very successful Mount Pleasant Ghost Walk

Meet Vancouver's very own paranormal investigator and ghost-whisperer Kati Ackermann! In 2006, Kati founded Vancouver Spooks Paranormal Investigators.Kati and I will be partnering up to host three Ghost-focussed History Walks during this limited 2022 History Walk season:

one in Strathcona on Sunday, March 6th,
one in the West End on Sunday, March 13th, and
one in Cedar Cottage on Sunday, March 20th.

The routes and content of these three “Ghost Walks” are the same as my regular Strathcona, West End and Cedar Cottage History Walks with the added value of Kati's spirit-tuned eyes and ears. Kati, who has been on a number of my tours before as a guest, will share with us about the spirits she sees and what they say to her.

Please note that the price for these Ghost Walks will be $40 per person and the size will be limited to 20 people, so reservations are a must.

To reserve a space, please e-mail me at: historywalks@gmail.com.


MORE DETAILS WILL BE ADDED TO THIS POST IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS