Ghost Walks with Kati Ackermann are back!
In February/March of 2020 I will be offering four History Walks, two which are co-hosted by my ghost whisperer/paranormal investigator friend, Kati Ackermann!
Dates and costs are as follows (See details below):
February 22nd, 10:00am
East End Vancouver/Strathcona HISTORY WALK
(Price $20/person)
February 29th, 10:00am
West End HISTORY WALK
(Price $20/person)
March 7th, 10:00am
GHOST WALK co-hosted by paranormal investigator Kati Ackermann
Through The Working/Wild Side of Vancouver’s East End
(Price $30/person)
MARCH 14th, 10:00am
GHOST WALK co-hosted by paranormal investigator Kati Ackermann
Through East End Vancouver/Strathcona
(Price $30/person)
The routes of the two paranormal-themed History Walks co-hosted by Kati are the same as my regular walks through the East End: Tour #2 and Tour #1, with the fascinating added dimension of Kati’s spirit-attuned eyes and ears. I will share the history of the buildings and blocks in the neighbourhood while Kati will share with us about the spirits she sees and what they tell her. Kati and I have partnered a number of times on previous walks and it is mind boggling—though not unexpected—just how haunted Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhood is.
Please note that the price for these "Ghost Walks" will be $30 per person and that the size will be limited to 30 people, so please book early. Katie’s bio can be found below.
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| Vancouver's East End in the 1890s photographed from present day Olympic Village site - City of Vancouver Archives |
February 22nd
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: $20 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.
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| From John Mackie Collection |
February 29th
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: $20.00 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.
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| Do the ghosts of old East End bootleggers haunt Union Street? |
March 7th
GHOST WALK
Through The Working/Wild Side of Vancouver’s East End
Departs: 10am from the NW corner of Malkin and Raymur Avenue and ends a few blocks away at 1000 Parker Street.
Duration: More or less 2.5 hours depending on the size and pace of the group.
Cost: $30 per person
Group Size: Limited to 30 people
This tour focusses on the lesser known but equally interesting and photogenic southern and eastern peripheries of Vancouver’s historic Strathcona neighbourhood. Highlights of the tour include a walk by the old Restmore Manufacturing Buildings, known today as the artist studios of 1000 Parker, the Cottonwood and Strathcona Community Gardens (once the sites of Vancouver’s city dump and home during the Great Depression of a sizeable hobo village), the birthplace of Venice Bakery, Malkin Avenue and Prior Street, the birthplace of character actor John Qualin, and a walk down Union Street to see where Michael Bublé's maternal grandparents lived, the home of boxing legend Jimmy McLarnin, the Union Market (which started as a Chinese laundry and was once a bootlegging joint), the birthplace of BC Premier Dave Barrett, Holy Trinity Russian Orthodox Church, the apartments were music legend k.d. lang lived, the site of a pre-World War I era brothel, and the historic Admiral Seymour School.
Parking: There is plenty of free parking along Raymur and Malkin Avenues.
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.
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| A Vancouver toothpick - Lumber from Vancouver's East End went all over the world |
MARCH 14th
GHOST WALK
Through East End Vancouver/Strathcona
Departs: 696 East Hastings (at Heatley) at 10am.
Duration: 2.5 to 3 hours depending on the size of the group.
Cost: $30 per person
Group Size: Limited to 30 people
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, and possibly most haunted 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 streets, every corner, every house, has a story to tell. If you ever dreamt of 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.
Kati-s Bio:
Paranormal investigator Kati Ackermann was born in St. Paul's Hospital (West End), raised in Richmond (1960's-1970's), and has lived in the Vancouver area all her life. She is the founder of Vancouver Spooks Paranormal Investigations - VSPI), a sensitive (walks with the dead), performs house/people cleansings and has an Associate's Certificate in Leadership Coaching. She is an amateur historical researcher and genealogist, writer, and taphophile (look it up) who loves licorice ice cream. For more info, contact her directly at: vancouverspooks@gmail.com
HEY!
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| This CVA photo shows a woman yelling at police during the Battle of Ballantyne Pier. June 19, 1935 Vancouver Sun |
While we are at it... Remember, Private History Walks on any of my regular Vancouver routes are available for groups of five people or more (at $20 per person or a minimum of $100 for groups of four or less) are available on these Sunday mornings:
February 23rd
March 1st
March 8th and
March 15th
To book a Private Tour or for more information, contact me at historywalks@gmail.com.
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