GHG Meeting Minutes, April 19th

Regular Monthly Meeting, Britannia Centre Board Room, 7:00-9:00 1. We began with a lively slide show and presentation by Michael Kluckner, a teaser for his new book, Vanishing Vancouver: The Last 25 Years, which he is launching on May 3 at People's Co-op Books on The Drive. We also got to see a sneak preview … Continue reading GHG Meeting Minutes, April 19th →

How Grand View Was Sold

In 1903 and 1904, Grandview (or "Grand View" as it was generally called then) was being opened, with uncleared lots being offered in dribs and drabs in the early months, and then in a rush as 1904 began. By early 1904, one particular realtor -- Dow, Fraser & Co. -- seemed to have cornered the … Continue reading How Grand View Was Sold →

Vanishing Vancouver: The Last 25 Years

Our very own distinguished historian and painter Michael Kluckner has published a new book: There will be a book launch at People's Coop Bookstore on Commercial Drive on Thursday 3rd May at 7pm and a number of other events the details of which can be seen at Michael's own website.

March 25 letter from GHG to Mayor and Council

The photo at the top of this website was taken in about 1920 by Edward Faraday Odlum from the top of the very tall flag pole in Victoria Park. The fire hall at Salsbury and Charles is gone, but pretty well all the original houses you can see in the photo are still here today. … Continue reading March 25 letter from GHG to Mayor and Council →

Historic Victoria Drive Building Unveils 1920s Ad Mural and New Tenant

On Friday evening, March 23, 2012, Dominic and Giorgio Morra's Via Tevere PIzzeria Napoletana opened for business, clearly a unique local business and a welcome addition to the neighbourhood. It actually gives the neighbourhood a whole new feel after the vacant, run down storefront that was there for about a decade. And thanks again to … Continue reading Historic Victoria Drive Building Unveils 1920s Ad Mural and New Tenant →

Brookhouse Looks Safe

The wonderful century-old Queen Anne heritage building at the corner of Victoria & Parker -- known as Brookhouse from a doctor who lived there in earlier times -- seems to be heading safely into the future. The new owners have applied for an HRA which will renovate and maintain the house. Their application with drawings … Continue reading Brookhouse Looks Safe →

Mapping, Naming, Retail History and Fun

We had a splendid meeting last night, headlined by an excellent presentation from Bruce Macdonald regarding the need for a genuine mapping of Vancouver's neighbourhoods and, most importantly, the use of historically accurate and functionally useful names for these neighbourhoods. He noted, for example, that the bureaucratically-defined area of "Grandview-Woodlands" doesn't meet either criteria. The … Continue reading Mapping, Naming, Retail History and Fun →

Moving the Jeffs House

Regular readers will know that we have given coverage to the current renovation project of the Jeffs House at Charles & Salsbury. Now thanks to Jason Vanderhill we have a couple of videos covering the moving of the house. The first video shows the preparation of the house for the move. The second video shows … Continue reading Moving the Jeffs House →

International Women’s Day: Catherine Bufton

In honour of International Women's Day, I thought I'd write a short piece on one of the most dynamic women ever to grace Grandview and Commercial Drive. Catherine Bufton (nee Drake) was born in Gloucester, England, in 1881. She emigrated to Manitoba where she met and married Hubert Bufton. After Hubert's service in World War … Continue reading International Women’s Day: Catherine Bufton →

Bungalows Popular in Grandview in 1922

This little piece comes from the Vancouver Sun 2 February 1922.

More about “$300 a lot”

Jak's post below shows an ad offering the block bounded by Garden, Parker, Nanaimo and Napier for sale. Six houses had been completed by 1912 when the Goad's Atlas (mentioned in a previous post) was published. The great real-estate boom continued for another year or so before collapsing just before the beginning of the First … Continue reading More about “$300 a lot” →

Grandview Subdivision — $300 per lot!

Back in the spring and summer of 1907, Grandview was the hot item both for speculative land investors and working class home-seekers. Much of the land east of Park Drive (now called Commercial Drive) had barely been cleared; new sub-divisions were arriving on the market all the time. This ad from an East End broker … Continue reading Grandview Subdivision — $300 per lot! →

Goad’s 1912 fire atlas on line

Library and Archives Canada have recently added a copy of a century-old property atlas (used by the fire insurance industry) to its website -- the perfect time-waster for a rainy day. Grandview is in Volume 2. Click on the link above and search on the archives site or use Google to search Goad's + Vancouver … Continue reading Goad’s 1912 fire atlas on line →

Power, Energy, Change & Continuity

Today is the first day of Heritage Week. In BC, the theme is Power and Energy. In celebration, thereof, I offer this 1950 image of BC Electric workers fixing a power pole at Grant & Commercial (VPL 81076):Here is the same corner, Grant & Commercial, looking northwest in 2011:The first thing I notice is just … Continue reading Power, Energy, Change & Continuity →

Miscellanea

We had an interesting meeting last night, spending a long time discussing how we can "incentivize" the retention of heritage-worthy buildings, both in the residential and commercial districts of Grandview. James Evans noted that he had recovered a copy of the Toronto Post dated 25th January 1906 from his renovation of the Jeffs House. The … Continue reading Miscellanea →

Moving The Jeffs House: more images

Thanks to Jason Vanderhill, here are more images of the moving of the Jeffs House: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmv/sets/72157629280733019/

Grandview Theatre — 100 Years Ago Today

On February 12th, 1912, Thomas Shiels opened the Grandview Theatre movie house at 1712 Commercial. It is the white-arched building in the middle of this image. The building permit had been dated 10th October 1910, with J.J. Donellan as architect and Jones & Purvis as builders. In his opening advertizing in the Western Call, Shiels … Continue reading Grandview Theatre — 100 Years Ago Today →

The Drive’s First Answering Machine

Fifty-five years ago this week, in February 1957, Jack Bowman -- who had just taken over Illustra Photography at 1525 Commercial -- installed what was probably the Drive's first telephone answering service. It was a service offered by BC Tel and the local press called it a "gimmick." Source: "Highland Echo" 21 Feb 1957

All Ramped Up …

... and ready to go. Here is the Jeffs House jacked up on rollers just before it was moved across the site at Charles & Salsbury.

Waldorf Hotel Anniversary

The Waldorf Hotel on East Hastings has recently been spruced up and thoroughly renovated. The work has been completed in time to celebrate the Hotel's 63rd birthday today. The Waldorf opened to local acclaim on 24th January, 1949. The owners put a full page ad into the previous week's Highland Echo: