Vancouver Icons: Pacific Central Station
byThere are only a few dozen public buildings in Vancouver that have celebrated a centennial but in just a few years the Pacific Central Station will join the list. Built when False Creek was first being filled in, this Neoclassical Revival building has served as a train station since 1919, and a bus station since 1993. Once the terminus for the Canadian Northern Railway, it is now the terminus for your VIA Rail, Amtrak Cascades, BoltBus, and Greyhound transportation. Today it’s also my Vancouver Icons photo feature:
Pacific Central Station

1917. Construction begins. Archives# Bu N540.022.
1917. Construction of Canadian Northern Railway depot. Archives# Bu N540.042.
1918. CNR Station under construction (right) and completed GNR (Union) Station (left). Photographer: Canadian Photo Co. Archives# PAN N178.
1918 – January. Final stages of construction before fill of False Creek completed. Archives# Bu N540.080.
1932. Exterior of the Canadian National Railway station on Main Street. Archives# Can P23.1.
1973. Archives# CVA 447-253. Photographer: Walter E. Frost.
Photo credit: JoshNV on Flickr
1925. Photographer: Stuart Thomson. Archives# CVA 99-3523.
Photo credit: Norm Lee on Flickr
Photo credit: Chrystian Guy on Flickr
Photo credit: Bruce Irschick on Flickr
Photo credit: Ricky Leong on Flickr
Photo credit: Martin Deutsch on Flickr
Photo credit: Zorro1968 on Flickr
Photo credit: SukkhaP on Flickr
Photo credit: Chris Wenger on Flickr
Photo credit: Ryan Mezzo on Flickr
Previous Vancouver Icons posts: Randall Building Mural, East Van Cross, Robert Burns Statue in Stanley Park, Vancouver Maritime Museum, Flack Block, The Drop, Prospect Point Lighthouse, Engagement, Ovaltine Cafe, The English Bay Slide, Freezing Water #7, Cleveland Dam, Heritage Hall, School of Theology Building at UBC, Gate to the Northwest Passage, St Paul’s Hospital, Capilano Lake, Stawamus Chief, Nine O’Clock Gun, Malkin Bowl, Search, Vancouver Rowing Club, Echoes, Point Atkinson Lighthouse, English Bay Inukshuk, Hollow Tree, Hotel Europe, Lions Gate Bridge Lions, LightShed, Granville Bridge, 217.5 Arc x 13′, Canoe Bridge, Vancouver Block, Bloedel Conservatory, Centennial Rocket, Canada Place, Old Courthouse/Vancouver Art Gallery, Dominion Building, Science World, Gastown Steam Clock, SFU Burnaby, Commodore Lanes, Siwash Rock, Kitsilano Pool, White Rock Pier, Main Post Office, Planetarium Building, Lord Stanley Statue, Vancouver Library Central Branch, Victory Square, 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 and recognizable to the public.