The North Shore mountains hide, shrouded in a grey cloud of flurries as I look out over an un-touched blanket of snow covering the West End. This morning’s snow in Metro Vancouver is still cascading from the skies as many have taken to staying indoors and bundling up. Growing up in Surrey we used to […]

The Ross Bay Cemetery is frequently mentioned on tours around Victoria as big buses and double-deckers cruise past the historic resting place that sits beside the ocean. It wasn’t until this past weekend that I had the chance to get out of my vehicle and take a frosty walk around to pay my respects to […]

If you have ever wanted to know about the history of your home and the people who occupied it before you, James Johnstone is who you want to track down. Over the years he has researched background information for over 800 houses in Vancouver and 300 of those in East Vancouver alone. 1891 – Mount […]

I have profiled the Hycroft mansion before but have not had the chance to visit until this week. I was invited by the University Women’s Club who has occupied the luxurious and majestic heritage home since the early 1960s. 1927 – Vancouver Archives Item #Bu P688 Photographer Leonard Frank Found just off Granville & 16th […]

It was announced yesterday that the Pacific Central train station on Main Street will receive $5 million in federal funding for a ‘facelift’. Photo credit: DutchAstrid on Flickr Opening in 1919, it was the western terminus for the Canadian Northern Railway (now the terminus for VIA Rail) and was one of the first major structures […]

Several cities around the region are putting their archive collections online, including thousands of historical photographs – and North Vancouver is no exception. By way of a photo contest, they have enlisted the public’s help in promoting not only the use of their online database, but the history of North Vancouver. The North Vancouver Museum […]

Browsing the Vancouver Archives digital collection I sometimes sort my search by category or keyword. The following is a compilation of old-timey images from our city’s past, all having to do with “Automobiles”. Year: 1920 In this photo: Reo Motor Car Agency Limited Vancouver setup at Lumberman’s Arch Photographer: Stuart Thomson Vancouver Archives Item #: […]

Although Vancouver is young compared to most other North American cities, it has a heritage all of its own. From First Nations culture, to the Great Fire, and the 2010 Olympics, people have recorded, photographed, and preserved this legacy. One of the most important institutions for doing such work is the City of Vancouver Archives. […]

At one time it was the largest pocket of Canadian Francophones west of Manitoba and today, Maillardville is historic cultural community in Coquitlam. Notre Dame de Lourdes, 830 Laval Square In 1891 the District of Coquitlam was incorporated and toward the end of the century, Frank Ross and James McLaren opened Fraser Mills, a $350,000 […]

Today’s collection of archives photos come from museums and archives around Metro Vancouver. One theme throughout the various communities in our region is that they have bridges; crossing the inlet or an arm of the Fraser. Date: 1904 Description: Opening day celebrations on the first Fraser River Bridge (now the Fraser Railway Bridge). New Westminster […]