Vancouver Icons: Victory Square
byOn April 30th 1886, Lauchlan Hamilton – a CPR land commissioner and surveyor – laid out the plans for the corner of Cambie and Hastings. This is the site of Victory Square today, and the subject of this week’s Vancouver Icons photo post.
Photo credit: Clayton Perry Photoworks on Flickr
1924. Archives# CVA 99-1477. Photographer: Stuart Thomson.
1918: Land was left vacant at Cambie and Hastings Streets, after the old provincial law courts were demolished. Funds to develop a park there were donated by the Province newspaper, at that time right across the street from the new park, which would be named Victory Square (to commemorate victory in the First World War).
Photo credit: Patricia Meyer on Flickr
Photo credit: Patricia Meyer & Patricia Meyer on Flickr
Photo credit: [travelfox] on Flickr
Photo credit: SqueakyMarmot & SqueakyMarmot
Photo credit: keepitsurreal on Flickr
Photo credit: PiscesDreamer on Flickr
The iconic cenotaph was unveiled on Sunday, April 27th, 1924. Its inscriptions read: “Their name liveth for evermore” (facing Hastings), “1914-1918” (within a stone wreath), “Is it nothing to you” (facing Hamilton), and “All ye that pass by” (facing Pender).
Over the last century Victory Square has been the site of protests, reading of the riot act, Remembrance Day ceremonies, and community festivals.
Previous Vancouver Icons posts include: Digital Orca, The Crab Sculpture, Girl in Wetsuit, The Sun Tower, The Hotel Vancouver, The Gassy Jack Statue, The Marine Building, and The Angel of Victory. Should you have a suggestion for the Vancouver Icons series please feel free to leave a note in the comments. It should be a thing, statue, or place that is very visible to the public every day.
