April in Vancouver History

Add a Comment by Rebecca Bollwitt Wednesday, April 2nd, 2014 — 1:44pm PDT

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April is one of the most significant months in Vancouver history since it was incorporated on April 6th in 1886. Here are a few more interesting moments in our city’s story that occurred this month, sourced from The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver.

April in Vancouver History

April 2, 1920 The Japanese-Canadian War Memorial, designed by Vancouver architect James Benzie, was installed at Stanley Park. Chuck Davis writes: “It commemorates Japanese-Canadians who fought in World War I. It’s there to this day, a handsome structure surrounded by flowering cherry trees. A Japanese-Canadian entrepreneur, Koichiro Sanmiya, sold war bonds to raise the money for the memorial.”

April 5, 1917 Women were awarded the right to vote in BC (unless they were of Asian decent or Indigenous, that didn’t happen for many more decades).

1886: City Hall and 1st Council. Photograph taken in September, after the City of Vancouver was incorporated on April 6, 1886. Archives# CVA 1477-419.

April 6, 1886 The City of Vancouver was incorporated.

April 7, 1993 The Friends of the City Archives group was founded.

April 16, 1913 Bob Brown (“Mr. Baseball”) opened Athletic Park stadium at West 6th and Hemlock. Babe Ruth once played there in an exhibition game.

April 11, 1865 The first telegraph message in the area was sent from Moody’s Mill on the North Shore to New Westminster. It was followed, three days later, by the first telegraph message from the ‘outside world’ telling of the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln.

April 13, 1950 The Ridge Theatre opened on Vancouver’s Arbutus Street, it met its demise in the fall of 2013.

April 2, 1977 The Orpheum reopened and became the home of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. It was bought by the City of Vancouver in 1974 before it could be gutted and turned into a multiplex theatre. It was closed in 1975 for a complete renovation and restoration, and was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1979.