Vancouver in 1925
byA new year, another look back at the city’s history through images. Here is a collection of photos and historical tidbits from Vancouver in 1925, 100 years ago.
Vancouver in 1925
Photo are from the City of Vancouver Archives (public domain) and notes are from the Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver unless otherwise noted:
- January 8, 1925 The Vancouver Sun reported that a man is attacked by a shark in the First Narrows. It was described an epic battle at the bottom of the Second Narrows in Burrard Inlet that took place between a six-foot shark and former navy diver John G. Bruce. Fact checking took place in 2018 with this story by Harrison Mooney.
- January 17, 1925 The first organized game of football was played in Vancouver. Two teams, one junior and the other senior, were put together at the University of British Columbia.
- May 7, 2025 The S.S. Beaver memorial cairn at Prospect Point was unveiled. The steamship ran aground at Prospect Point (which at the time was also known as Calamity Point) on July 25, 1888.
- June 13, 1925 “Vancouver Day” was declared. It was marked by the unveiling of a drinking fountain at the corner of Carrall and Water Streets, “where once stood a great maple tree.”
- October 15, 1925 The UBC campus opens in Point Grey.
- November 7, 1925 The first Second Narrows Bridge opened, connecting motorists to Vancouver and the North Shore.
- Also in 1925
- Arthur Whalley opened a service station, general store, and soft drink stand in Surrey. When Pacific Stage Lines opened a bus stop there they called it Whalley’s Corner. The name Whalley would be officially adopted in 1948.
- The first neon sign in Vancouver flickered on. Some say it was on Granville, other sources say it was the giant rooster sign at the Sai Woo Chop Suey restaurant, which opened in 1925.
- The Devonshire Hotel opened at the northeast corner of Georgia and Hornby Streets.
- The Giant Dipper rollercoaster opened at Hastings Park. It cost $65,000. It was almost a mile long, and the cars reached 40 miles an hour. The longest sheer drop was 60 feet. It would be torn down March 6, 1948 to make room for extension of the race track.
- Locarno Beach, between Jericho Beach and the Spanish Banks beaches, was named after the Swiss city where a peace treaty was signed in 1925.
- The Dominion Motors Building was built at 901 Seymour Street. Today, it’s home to Staples.
- In May, the Supreme Court ruled that the City could dispossess Indigenous-European families from their land in Stanley Park. This was just one ruling in a number of dispossession cases launched by the City of Vancouver and the Government of Canada, which had been ongoing for years.
- Recommended read: Stanley Park’s Secrets by Jean Barman
- Related: Her family lived in Vancouver’s Stanley Park until they were forced out in 1931
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