Get acquainted with heritage in our province by meeting and celebrating the people who help preserve and promote it. The annual Heritage BC Awards Gala is coming up on February 15th and you’re invited to the party. Heritage BC 36th Annual Awards Gala 1917: Archives# CVA 99-356. Photographer: Stuart Thomson Where: Heritage Hall, 3102 Main […]

A new year has been rung in and while we look ahead to what 2017 might bring, here’s a glimpse at the past to see what our city was like back in 1917. Vancouver in 1917 Thanks to the late, great Chuck Davis for his History of Metropolitan Vancouver that was used as a reference. […]

This evening a painting by a Group of Seven artist became most expensive Canadian artwork ever sold at auction. Lawren Harris‘ 1926 piece Mountain Forms, depicting Alberta’s Mount Ishbel in the Sawback Range of the Rocky Mountains in Banff National Park, sold at the hammer for $9.5 million. The white glove treatment-will this #LawrenHarris set […]

I remember walking through the Othello Tunnels as a child, splashing through puddles in my gumboots and squeezing my father’s hand when bats would flutter by. The Othello Tunnels, a part of Coquihalla Canyon Provincial Park, are a fun walk through local history with many great photo opportunities. Othello Tunnels In the early 1900s, the […]

If you’ve ever been on a road trip through the Fraser Canyon then you’ve been past Spuzzum, the notoriously tiny town along Highway 1 that you can literally miss if you blink. Just past Spuzzum, 3.4km up the road to be exact, you’ll find Alexandra Bridge Provincial Park, and one of the most Instagram-worthy photo […]

Stretching from BC Place to Stanley Park, Robson Street has been one of the city’s most popular thoroughfares, and shopping destinations, for the last century. Thanks to the City of Vancouver Archives, we can take a peek at what this bustling retail corridor looked like decades ago. Shopping on Robson Street in the 1970s Archives# […]

The first public garden in Vancouver was once buried and forgotten, until the storm that decimated the park in 2006 unearthed its history. It’s the Stanley Park Rock Garden was laid out in 1911, the same year that the quarry that would become Queen Elizabeth Park was closed. The First Public Garden in Vancouver The […]

Earlier this summer, Langara Golf Course in Vancouver celebrated its 90th anniversary. Opening in 1926, it was the city’s first public 18-hole course, and was constructed by The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). “In order to sell their large tract of land for housing in South Vancouver, in 1924 the CPR altered their philosophy slightly. They […]

Frisbees, footballs, bikini-clad bodies, blankets, and bicycles parked along the Sea Wall are scenes of summer at Vancouver’s beaches. From Third to Locarno, English Bay to Spanish Banks, the seaside landscape has changed almost as much as the summer fashion trends. Thanks to the City of Vancouver Archives, and my niece who curated this collection, […]

Bowen Island: The Happy Isle. Postcards and advertisements painted a picture of a stunning island getaway just a quick boat ride from Vancouver, where the waters were emerald green and the cottage life was bustling. Picnics, socials, dances, company retreats, hikes, swims, dives — it was the original summer getaway from Vancouver. I had my […]