I read an old headline last week that on May 27th 1902, Vancouver’s baseball team defeated the University of California on the Powell Street Grounds (now, Oppenheimer Park). Seeing this tidbit on the Vancouver History website made me realize that I have never actually talked about Vancouver’s Japantown before and the significance of the Powell […]

This morning I had the opportunity to chat with Jon Mikl Thor, a hockey historian and archivist who sold the rights to the Vancouver Millionaires to the Vancouver Canucks back in October. Aside from knowing all there is to know about hockey history on the West Coast (and owning the Millionaires brand since 1977), Jon […]

Vancouver Heritage Foundation’s Heritage House Tour is a one-day self-guided tour historic homes in Strathcona, Grandview Woodland, and Shaughnessy. Heritage House Tour 2010. Vancouver Heritage Foundation. The tour book (which also serves as your ticket) features a map and photos of nine participating heritage houses around Vancouver that will open their doors for the day […]

While on a photowalk through Stanley Park recently I grabbed a few shots of the site of the Cathedral trees. New evergreens reaching up to the sky from their oversized stumps just off the Cathedral trail, I realized that I haven’t yet shared the tale of the Seven Sisters. The group of majestic trees was […]

For the Vancouver Icons series I have been profiling buildings, statues, and landmarks that we see every day in Vancouver but are perhaps unaware of their history. The posts are photo-heavy, peppered with tidbits of information about the selected icon. When looking for ideas for this week’s subject I put the call out on Twitter […]

On this day in 1989 SFU opened a downtown campus in the old David Spencer’s Department Store building on West Hastings between Seymour and Richards. 1930’s – Spencer’s Department Store. Archives item# CVA 1495-32 Built in 1908 and restructured by 1925, the Spencer’s stores in BC were bought up by Eatons in 1948 and most […]

Having previously featured photographer Leonard Frank I wanted to profile the photography of another Vancouverite who helped document our city during a specific era. Scanning the Vancouver Archives, I found a collection from someone I’ve featured many times before in some of my history posts or “Then and Now” photo collections: Don Coltman. 1940 – […]

Vancouver Icons: Hotel Vancouver – Vintage Photos of the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver – The First, Second and Third Buildings

It’s been 15 years since News1130 hit the airways in Vancouver offering up all-news, all the time (with traffic and weather on the 1’s). They’ve survived some tumultuous times in the local radio economy and have branched out to social media – even hosting their first Tweetup a few months ago that welcomed about a […]

The Vancouver Archives will be hosting a panel discussion at the UBC Robson Square Lecture Theatre April 26th called “Legacies, Lessons, and the Future: Harland Bartholomew’s Master Plan and Papers on the City of Vancouver, 1926-1948”. 1928 – Vancouver Town Planning Commission, Harland Bartholomew and Associates. Archives Item# PD 3113 In 1926, Harland Bartholomew and […]