"Input Magazine", the journal of the Real Estate Institute of British Columbia, has published a number of interesting articles about heritage in their Winter 2013 edition. To quote the Executive Director's introduction: "We have an article that I am sure will make you smile, all the while asking “Who owns heritage?” It gives great background … Continue reading The Business of Heritage
Mary Lindfield was one of the many women who have made Commercial Drive such a wonderful place to live, and it is through her that we celebrate International Women's Day 2013. Mary Lindfield was born in Mosside, Alberta, where her parents were visiting from South Africa. By the mid-1940s she was travelling supervisor for Harriet … Continue reading International Women’s Day: Mary Lindfield
The Vancouver Heritage Foundation has published a very interesting piece of research that shows "the importance of heritage to both public and professionals. It gives an overview of past and present municipal heritage conservation programs and policies, and suggest[s a] strategy to ensure that heritage remains an integral part of the urban environment and landscape." … Continue reading The Importance of Heritage
Another one for the diary in March! At the next meeting of the Grandview Heritage Group, Eric Phillips will present part two of the Grandview Historic House Mechanics and Materials series. This edition of the fascinating presentations will provide a look at early residential electrical systems and will focus on knob and tube wiring, including … Continue reading Historic House Mechanics & Materials #2
Here's one for your calendar! Penny Street, long-time history buff, heritage advocate, and one of the founders of the Grandview Heritage Group, will be leading a workshop on how to research the history of your house. She will be covering the use of building permits, water permits, City directories, Census entries and who knows what … Continue reading Hunting The History of Your House
Those residents of Grandview who have been here for more than, say, seventy years might remember that the north west corner of First & Commercial was the site of the Grandview School of Commerce. Since the mid-1980s,this has been the site of Il Mercarto Mall, which is how most people think of it.However, from the … Continue reading The Bentholme Building
Many thanks to the nine brave souls who joined us this morning -- in pouring rain -- for the second half of our Centenary House signs walkathon to pick this year's candidates. Today we covered a lot of ground, primarily in the south and far east of the Grandview neighbourhood, where we identified a range … Continue reading No Damping Our Enthusiasm
We had a busy, lively and highly productive meeting on Thursday last. The Centenary Birthday House project: We are still exploring options for permanent signs for the Centenary House campaign. These will be offered to those houses that were celebrated in 2012. We followed up on our walk for the 2013 campaign, and will finish … Continue reading Notes From The February Meeting
Many of us of the Grandview Heritage Group took a long walk through the neighbourhood yesterday afternoon. We were looking at the houses we have listed as potentials for the 2013 Centenary House signs and trying to whittle the list down to 25. The walk started in the 2000-block of Pandora and meandered down to … Continue reading Walking The Neighbourhood
While we are talking about historic signs, it seems that the protection of the "Little Theatre" sign on the south fly wall of the re-developed York Theatre has begun. The developer's plans for the preservation (though not display) of the sign is described here.
A plan is coming together to restore the sign on the side of the Via Tevere restaurant at Victoria and William. A small group of us are applying for grants to try to raise about $3000 for wages and materials to allow us to start work in April or May. The sign looked like this … Continue reading Update on the Shelly’s 4X sign
The 1911 Canada Census, now available online, is an extraordinary resource for historians. For those seeking information about individuals or families, a number of geneaological organizations have transcribed some of the data, making it a relatively easy matter to find people. However, the same cannot be said for those of us who study streets and … Continue reading 1911 Census Finding Aid
Lily and Rose Streets are two of the most interesting oddities of Grandview, being “off the grid” of the surrounding streets. No doubt they were a function of lot-splitting at some early date. In August 1907, well-known local auctioneer J.J. Miller and 9 other local residents wrote to Vancouver Council’s Board of Works in regards … Continue reading Notes For The Early History of Rose And Lily Streets
On Thursday evening we had a grand turnout for our monthly meeting. It was, I believe, the largest gathering of its kind that we've had. There were lively discussions about a wide range of topics. We began by discussing the Heritage Workshop put on by the Community Planners that many of us had attended during … Continue reading Notes from the January Meeting
I haven't been writing blog posts regularly over the last few weeks because I am swimming in an ocean of historical data that I am trying to collate for a project. Part of this data is coming from the extraordinarily important work that Heritage Vancouver is putting in to transcribe all the old Vancouver building … Continue reading More Building Permits
On Thursday evening last, Fr. Eugenio, pastor of the St. Francis of Assisi parish in Grandview, very kindly invited a group of GHG members and friends to the Church on Napier Street where he took us on a tour of both the church and the rectory where he lives. In the early 1920s, Franciscan monks … Continue reading Tour of St. Francis Church and Rectory
Just a quick note to wish all of our readers a wonderful season! We have managed to get a lot done for Grandview Heritage in the last 12 months and we are looking forward to even more success in the New Year. Thanks for your interest and donations!
In an earlier post, I had discussed James Guinet who began work in our neighbourhood by building himself a family home at 1556 Grant Street. Now, through the generosity of James Guinet's grand-daughter, we have a photograph of that house taken just after it was built in 1909. Those of you who know the neighbourhood … Continue reading 1500-Block Grant Street
We had a marvelously lively meeting on Thursday evening, dealing with a wide range of topics. We began by discussing the 10-point proposal that GHG has submitted to the Grandview Woodland Community Plan. This led to an animated debate about the role of public engagement allowed under the Plan's Terms of Reference. The 1913 version … Continue reading Meeting Notes: November 2012
The neighborhood of Commercial Drive was served from 1917 to 1995 by a wonderfully quirky local newspaper called The Highland Echo. The Echo was defiantly local, covering no national or international news, but every week detailed the economic and personal stories that animated Commercial Drive and the wider Grandview community. The Echo is a vital … Continue reading Donation of “The Highland Echo” to VPL
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