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

HISTORY WALK SCHEDULE for FEBRUARY/MARCH 2019

February 23rd - This tour repeats March 9th and March 23rd

East End Vancouver/Strathcona History Walk

CVA 790-0711 - 627, 621 Union Street

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.

March 2nd

West End History Walk

CVA Photo M-11-22 Bird's Eye View of the West End in 1912

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.

March 9th - This tour repeats March 23rd

East End Vancouver/Strathcona History Walk

CVA 99-3470 Vancouver Detectives on a murder case

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.

March 16th

Mount Pleasant History Walk

Van Sc P47 - Looking North from City Hall in 1938

Departs: 10am from SW corner of Yukon and 12th Avenue and ends at 7th Avenue and Main Street.

Duration: More or less 2.5 hours depending on the size of the group.

Cost: $20 per person

Come travel back in time on a History Walk through Mount Pleasant, Vancouver’s first Suburb.  

Beginning at the crest of the hill beside Vancouver’s iconic City Hall, this history walk crisscrosses Mount Pleasant travelling back in time from the Edwardian Era back to the late 1880s when this area was being developed as Vancouver’s first commuter suburb.

Mount Pleasant is an astonishing mix of Edwardian stately homes, Victorian cottages, elegant brick-faced apartments, historic breweries and churches, This fast changing neighbourhood is also home to Vancouver’s “Most Beautiful Block” on the 100 block of West 10th.

Parking: There is plenty of free parking along the streets south of 12th Avenue.

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.

March 23rd

East End Vancouver/Strathcona History Walk

CVA 786-47.25 - 418 & 478 Union St in 1978

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.

PRIVATE TOURS / I TOUR PRIVATI / プライベートツアー

PRIVATE HISTORY WALKS for groups of 5 or more people, or a minimum cost of $100 for smaller groups, are available on Sunday mornings and afternoons on February 24th, March 3rd, March 10th, March 17th and March 24th. These tours are available in English, Japanese and Italian. For more information or to book your private tour, please contact me at:  historywalks@gmail.com.

I TOUR PRIVATI per gruppi di 5 o più persone, o un costo minimo di $ 100 per gruppi più piccoli, sono disponibili la domenica 24 febbraio, 3 marzo, 10 marzo, 17 marzo e 24 marzo. Questi tour sono disponibili in inglese, giapponese e italiano. Per maggiori informazioni o per prenotare il tuo tour privato per favore mandami una e-mail a historywalks@gmail.com.

日本語でのプライベートツアーが2月24日、3月3日、3月10日、3月17日、3月24日の日曜日に手配することが可能です。プライベットツアーを手配する為には5人以上のグループが必要です。5人未満の場合には最低$100のグループ料金を払う必要になります。詳しくは historywalks@gmail.com へどうぞ。

HISTORY WALK SCHEDULE FOR FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018

My TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence-awarded Vancouver Heritage Neighbourhood

HISTORY WALKS 

Are Back for a Limited Engagement. Book Now! 

In front of a bootlegger's house in the heart of old Little Italy in Vancouver's East End/Strathcona

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2018

My regularly scheduled History Walks start at 10am and usually last 2.5 to sometimes 3 hours depending on group size and their pace. Tours that begin and end at or near the point of departure are noted as "Circle Tours". 

Except for my West End History Walk which has some hills, all the rest of my History Walks are relatively flat and easy to walk.  

Details on the content of my East End/Strathcona History Walk (Tour 1), the East End's Working/Wild Side History Walk (Tour 2), West End History Walk (Tour 3), Grandview Neighbourhood History Walk (Tour 4) and Mount Pleasant History Walk can be found by clicking on the appropriate link above.

For more information or to reserve a space please e-mail

historywalks@gmail.com. 

East End in the 1890s as seen from the current site of Olympic Village. City of Vancouver Archives

HISTORY WALK SCHEDULE

Saturday February 24

East End/Strathcona History Walk (See Tour 1 above)

Departs 10:00am from 696 East Hastings at Heatley Avenue 

(Circle Tour)

Tosca Trasolini and the Flying Seven - Courtesy City of Vancouver Archives

Saturday March 3rd

West End History Walk (See Tour 3 above)

Departs 10:00am from SE corner of Robson Street and Bute and ends at Davie and Denman

CVA Photo M-11-22 Bird's Eye View of the West End in 1912

Saturday MARCH 10th

East End/Strathcona History Walk (See Tour 1 above)

Departs 10:00am from 696 East Hastings at Heatley Avenue 

(Circle Tour)

Bird's Eye rendering of Vancouver's East End in the 1890s. Burrard Inlet is to the bottom of the image.

Saturday MARCH 17th

History Walk of the Working/Wild Side of Vancouver’s East End (See Tour 2 above)

Departs 10:00am  from corner of Raymur and Malkin Avenue (near Cottonwood Community Gardens) and ends in front of 1000 Parker Street close to point of departure.

Rev. Andrew Roddan of 1st United Church distributes food in a Hobo Camp in what is now Strathcona Park

Saturday March 24th

East End/Strathcona History Walk (See Tour 1 above)

Departs 10:00am from 696 East Hastings at Heatley Avenue 

(Circle Tour)

In front of the O Canada House during a West End History Walk

Also, 

Sunday Private History Walks

for groups of 5 people or more (or a minimum $100 charge for smaller groups) are available on Sunday mornings and afternoons on
   March 4th,
   March 11th,
   March 18th, and
   March 25th.

Wednesday Private History Walks 

for groups of 5 people or more (or a minimum $100 charge for smaller groups) can also be booked on the mornings and afternoons of 

   February 28th,
   March 14th, and 

   March 21st.

Choose from any of these Heritage Neighbourhood History Walks:

     Strathcona/East End (Tour 1), 

     The East End's Working Wild Side (Tour 2), 

     The West End (Tour 3),

     Grandview (Tour 4), and

     Mount Pleasant (Tour 5). 

These private tours are available in English, Japanese and Italian. 

プライベット歴史散歩は日本語でもどうぞ! 

I History Walk privati sono disponibile anche in Italiano!

For more information or to book a private tour, e-mail me at:

historywalks@gmail.com.

Screen Shot from Janelle Huopalainen's Documentary on my History Walks: Time Traveller

TripAdvisor Reviews my History Walks