Have a look at the plaque on the side of Via Tevere next to the preserved Shelly's advertisement. Steve Holmes has mounted a brand-new one. The original one, installed a couple of years ago when the sign was restored, had faded to white. We had installed a smaller one temporarily, but the new one is … Continue reading Brand new Shelly’s plaque up on side of Via Tevere
As has become our tradition, GHG had a tent and table at the Commercial Drive Car Free Day festival yesterday (Sunday). It wsas a warm and sunny day, and we attracted a lot of traffic. Folks were interested in ourt displays of books, maps, mechanical articfacts, and bkow-ups of early advertizemements. We also did a … Continue reading GHG At Car Free Day!
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
In an earlier post, we had described the presentation to GHG of the work created by our UBC student intern, Kevin Shackles, on the history, decline, and future of corner stores in Grandview, and their relationship to the development of retail business in the 20th century. Kevin's excellent illustrated thesis can now be viewed as … Continue reading Life & Death of Grandview’s Corner Grocery Stores
Our own Michael Kluckner is giving what sounds like a fascinating talk on the history of apartments and condos in Vancouver. The following is from the Heritage Vancouver Foundation's notice: "A century ago, half of Vancouver’s population rented. Today, that proportion is unchanged, yet the city is so physically different it’s hard to imagine it … Continue reading History of Apartments: June 2nd
Four years ago on Monday we had our first Grandview Heritage Group meeting in Craig’s kitchen in the middle of his rather chaotic home-renovation project! His lovely home is long-since complete, and GHG has accomplished quite a lot! So … CONGRATULATIONS! Good on us! Happy Anniversary!
Richard Mackie and Susan Safyan alerted us to a vintage feature of their building: "The Vault" on 1st just east of Victoria Drive. "It is a good story: we had a leak in the basement that finally we traced to a wall. With the condo's ultimate support we had the wall taken down. The source … Continue reading An authentic coal shute
We had another exciting and stimulating meeting of the Grandview Heritage Group last night, with about 20 folks in attendance. The topics we discussed were as wide-ranging as ever. Ann presented information about a film screening and an art show, both of which will be of interest to Vancouver urbanists. At the Grunt Art Gallery … Continue reading Meeting Notes: April 2015
Another full house attendance last night -- the Boardroom was bursting -- including several new attendees, with a lively level of conversations and questions. As usual, we covered a lot of ground: We began with a presentation by Tania Willard about a piece of public art she is organizing. The art work will be two … Continue reading Notes From The March Meeting
My book, "The Drive: A ... History of Commercial Drive to 1956" is a study of the period from 1935 to 1956. In an introduction, I attempted in a few paragraphs to sketch the history of Grandview prior to 1935. One of the anecdotes I used for this purpose went as follows: "[I]n the fall … Continue reading The First Through Tram
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.
Council is set to approve a report from the city manager that will see the funds that were to go to the demolition and replacement of the Green House (the former rectory next to The Cultch at 1885 Venables) used instead for the repair and upgrading of this historic structure. Grandview Heritage Group is specifically … Continue reading Green House report going to Council
In the early 1960s there was great concern about the health, welfare and education of children in Grandview, and the apparent slumming down of the neighbourhood in general. In that period, much of the health and welfare delivery system was in the hands of United Community Services (UCS, which eventually morphed into United Way). On … Continue reading GWAC Founded 51 Years Ago Today
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
I was researching something this morning and came across the following story from "The Vancouver Daily World" of 10th January 1910 which illustrates what parts of Grandview and Vancouver were like at that time: ***** "A daring attempted holdup was made on a laundry driver Saturday night at 6 o'clock, when three men pointed three … Continue reading Daring Hold-Up In Grandview!
Thanks to Blair Redlin who has pointed out a story in the Vancouver Sun regarding the need for a new future for the wonderful 1947 mural that currently decorates a wall in the Maritime Labour Centre at Victoria and Triumph. The magnificent mural was painted in 1947 by Fraser Wilson and was carefully moved from … Continue reading The Maritime Mural
Once again we had a full house for our meeting on 19th February. We covered a lot of ground and had two very special visitors. Eric began the meeting by taking us through some of the changes in the neighbourhood that we have noticed over the past month or so. These included the sale of … Continue reading Notes To February Meeting
Seventy-five years ago today, the then-newly renovated theatre in the 600-block of Commercial Drive was opened and re-named as the York Theatre. The theatre, previously called the Palace, had been operated by the Vancouver Little Theatre Society since the 1920s. During the late 1930s, the group had fundraised enough money for a complete refurbishment of … Continue reading York Theatre Anniversary
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