This is the third chapter in my history of early Commercial Drive. Chapter One: In The Beginning Chapter Two: False Start * * * * What pushed things forward was the change in use of the interurban line and its inclusion in the city-wide streetcar system. The Vancouver Electric Car Co had been given rights … Continue reading The Drive: Birth of a Community (1901-1907)
. In 1890, the boostering land owners of Vancouver and New Westminster -- backed by their respective mayors and financial elites -- decided it had become necessary to link the two cities by means of an electric interurban railroad. One contemporary observer later confided that "there was a strong suspicion in many minds" that an … Continue reading The Drive 1890s: False Start
. In the beginning there was forest, where the local indigenous peoples hunted deer and other animals for untold generations. But then the settlers arrived and much of the rolling hills east of the new city of Vancouver had been granted to the Hastings Mill Company as a timber lease in 1870. They paid a … Continue reading The Drive: In The Beginning
I wrote the following for the Vancouver Heritage Foundation in support of their Grandview Heritage Tour (see below). It has been published today in Spacing, along with photographs. * * * * For scores of generations, the wooded hills of Grandview were prime hunting and trapping land for First Nations. Once the Europeans arrived, Grandview … Continue reading A Very Short History of Grandview
In September 1910, Mayor Louis D. Taylor and Aldermen Stevens and Enright toured the city "to see just what the [public] work was going on." They began in Cedar Cove and then moved into Grandview. The following report, which gives a good description of some parts of Grandview at that time, is from the Vancouver … Continue reading Ruining The Streets in 1910
Ninety-eight years ago today, the Grandview Chamber of Commerce, supported by the Grandview Ratepayers Association, held "an enthusiastic gathering of merchants and prominent men of the district, gathered to unite their efforts to drive out of the district of Grandview the Oriental … Speakers said they did not want Grandview to be overrun with Orientals, and … Continue reading Our Racist Past
As mentioned in the report on this month's meeting, I gave a presentation on the growth of Grandview using the data collated in the growing Grandview Database. This post is a brief and attenuated version of that report. In the maps that follow, the following streets are highlighted to allow orientation: It has often been … Continue reading The Growth of Grandview 1901-1915
Regular readers of this blog, and researchers of local history, will be aware of the 1912 Goad's Fire Atlas, which has been available in low-res images on the national archives website for the past few years. As part of the fantastic digitization efforts undertaken by City of Vancouver Archives, the atlas is now available in … Continue reading Goad’s 1912 atlas now a VanMap layer
Jack Burch worked at Grandview's local newspaper, the Highland Echo, from 1949 until he retired in 1994 as the owner and publisher. This video interview starts with Jack's experiences in Grandview in the 1920s and 1930s, and covers his experiences overseas in World War II. After the War, Jack describes his work at the … Continue reading Jack Burch at Age 92 Recalls Grandview’s 1920, 30s, 40s…
One hundred and ten years ago today, Grandview was essentially empty of residents with, perhaps, two score of enterprising families staking their claim in what was still mostly scrub and tree stumps. But then Dow & Co became agents for the newly opened sub-division, and they became our first boosters. This Vancouver Daily World ad … Continue reading The Sensational Develoment of Grandview
On this day in 1911, the real estate company of Williams & Murdoff Ltd posted the following ad in the Vancouver Daily World.
On 27th February 1915, while the world settled in to a major European War, the following ads were run in "The Vancouver Daily World" (p.16): "$75 cash, $20 monthly, inclusive price only $1,550, buys a new well-built modern bungalow on First Avenue, close to Commercial Drive; has full basement, bath, toilet, open fireplace, best electric … Continue reading 100 Years Ago Today in Grandview
There was a heavy rainstorm and a wintry wind last night, but still the came out for the latest of our regular monthly meetings. As always, the meeting was full of erudite and fun stuff: We discussed: The student program, working with UBG Geog. It didn't work very well for us this year. In fact, … Continue reading Meeting Notes: April 2014
We had about twenty people at our meeting last night, with a couple of new visitors. I don't think anyone was disappointed with all that we managed to cover in a couple of hours. Michael Kluckner gave a detailed and excellent illustrated talk that led us through the history of heritage legislation and regulation in … Continue reading Meeting Notes: March
Kristen Moran has created another of her excellent little studies about heritage issues in Grandview: http://youtu.be/FBBbGn0TbP8 See her previous study here.
A good turnout of enthusiasts spent one of the hottest summer evenings last night in the cool of the Britannia Boardroom, discussing a wide range of heritage and historical topics: We began by patting ourselves on the back for the organization and success of the Shelly's Sign Party in June. Especial thanks were given to … Continue reading Meeting Notes: July 2013
Here is a map prepared by the City of Vancouver that shows almost all of Grandview in 1945. This image is constructed from two maps (343.10 and 343.11) in the City of Vancouver Archives collection. The series of maps is captioned as being "hand coloured to show tax sale property for sale, property with no … Continue reading Grandview in 1945
As I am sure most of you already know, the present boundaries of Grandview Woodland are Clark Drive to the west, the inlet to the north, Nanaimo Street on the east and Broadway to the south. These boundaries were established in the late 1960s. As local historian Bruce Macdonald has noted, the City has never … Continue reading What Might Have Been
While researching through the old "Highland Echo" editions today, I came across this map of streams and creeks that had formerly traversed Grandview. Obviously I cannot verify the accuracy of this map. However, it was prepared by Roy Blunden of the Dept of Geological Sciences at UBC in preparation for a geological map of BC. … Continue reading Former Streams in Grandview
Between 1908 and 1912, during the boom that essentially created Grandview, James Guinet was responsible for building at least 45 houses in the community, and probably more. But only the barest of facts are known about him. These are notes for a biography of what might be one of the most important figures of Grandview's … Continue reading James Guinet: A Builder of Grandview
grandviewheritagegroup.ca 