This Week in Vancouver History
byI don’t think I’ll ever tire of sharing the city’s past and discovering the true meaning behind nicknames, street names, geographic locations and neighbourhoods. While still in the middle of our Vancouver 125 milestone year, anniversary events continue and more history is celebrated each day. I thought today would be an opportune time to look back at This Week in Vancouver History (since I don’t do so as often as I should).
July 24
1994: The Orpheum’s Star Walk was installed to honor the best in BC entertainment. In 2007, it was removed during the Granville Street redesign and has been replaced within the last year.
July 25
1898: Coquitlam was incorporated as a city. It would shrink in size when Port Coquitlam (within its boundaries) would incorporate in 1918.
July 26
1923: US President Warren Harding visited Vancouver and spoke to a crowd of 50,000. A statue in Stanley Park commemorates this visit.
July 27
1929: Following his solo flight across the Atlantic, Charles Lindbergh toured the Pacific Northwest, visiting Seattle. Vancouver’s mayor at the time, L.D. Taylor, invited him up and he refused saying, “your airport isn’t fit to land on.” According to Chuck Davis, that embarrassed Vancouver, and prompted the push to build a suitable airport (which opened in 1931).
July 28
1958: Terrance Stanley Fox was born in Winnipeg. His family then moved to Port Coquitlam and Terry became a national hero during his Marathon of Hope after losing his leg to cancer. Terry is still considered a local and national icon and this year we tragically lost his mother, Betty Fox, to illness as well.
July 29
1930: Hastings Mill Store was moved by barge from Dunlevy Street to where it sits today, in Kitsilano.
July 30
1962: The Trans Canada Highway opened and became the longest national highway in the world (at 7,821kms end to end). It dips into Vancouver proper once it crosses Boundary Road and exits again when it goes across the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge on its way to Horseshoe Bay, Nanaimo, and down to Victoria. There, at “Mile 0” of the Trans Canada Highway, you’ll find a statue of Terry Fox.
For some great reads about local history check out the Vancouver Archives‘ blog “AuthentiCity“, and Chuck Davis’ “History of Metropolitan Vancouver“. The Dependent also posts a “This Day in History” series along with photos from the Vancouver Archives.
