On April 6, 1886 Vancouver was incorporated. Historian Chuck Davis writes: “The ceremony was delayed when it was discovered no one had thought to bring paper on which to write down the details. Someone had to run down the street to the stationery store! The ceremony was held in Jonathan Miller’s house. The population of the city was about 1,000.”
Photos of Vancouver in 1886
September 1886 – City Archives# CVA 1477-419.
From the momentous occasion on April 6th, to the Great Fire on June 13th, and beyond, thanks to the City of Vancouver Archives we can take a peek at our town back then. For more dates of note in 1886, I reference Davis’s History of Metropolitan Vancouver:
1886, Foot of Granville Street. Archives# CVA 1477-415
May 15, 1886 Lauchlan Hamilton began to survey what would become Granville Street. (Hamilton named the street for the Colonial Secretary of the time.)
May 28, 1886 Vancouver’s first fire department, Volunteer Hose Company Number One, was formed.
Before the fire (Tremont House in White) Maple Tree Square 1886. Archives# CVA 1477-413
Morning after the Great Fire in 1886. VPL# 1094. Photographer / Studio: Devine, H.T.
July 13, 1886 Vancouver city council passed by-law No. 258 to regulate the use of bicycles, which must henceforth not exceed 8 mph.
Tremont House rebuilt on Carrall Street between Cordova and Powell Streets, erected after fire. Archives# SGN 123
July 26, 1886 The first inward cargo to the port of Vancouver arrived: tea from China.
October 1886 The city council of newly-born Vancouver (a name chosen by CPR president Van Horne) induced the CPR to build shops, stores and other terminal facilities on the north shore of False Creek for which the railway received 20 years of freedom from city taxes on the property. The result was the English Bay Branch and Drake Street yard.
Cordova looking west from Carrall, 5 weeks after the fire. Archives# Str P7.1
Also in 1886 The Oppenheimer family (food wholesaling) built a warehouse that today is home to The Warehouse Studio. It is the oldest brick building in the city.
We’ve seen virtual music lessons and concerts, but how about a virtual gardening, farming and learning about where our food comes from? BC Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation (“BCAITC”) has a multitude of free online resources, lesson plans, and activities to support learning about agriculture and food from home!
“BCAITC is able to assist students, teachers, and parents with at home learning during the current COVID-19 pandemic. We offer a wide range of free elementary, intermediate, and secondary level agri-food educational materials that anyone can download from our website at any time,” said Pat Tonn, BCAITC Executive Director.
“Now more than ever, we believe that it is essential to focus on the important aspects of agriculture, food, and health and provide students with valuable learning opportunities.”
Agriculture in the Classroom… at Home
Geared for grades K-12, the organization’s tools provide valuable agriculture, math, science, art, language arts, technology, and career learnings for children across British Columbia.
Additionally, fun agricultural trivia contests are also being hosted on the organization’s social media sites this spring. More resources and activities are being added to BCAITC’s online sites on a regular basis.
New this spring, BCAITC is hosting weekly storybook readings on Instagram Live and Facebook Live; families are invited to tune into the virtual agriculture adventures. BCAITC has also compiled a comprehensive schedule of weekly downloadable online lesson plans to extend the books’ learnings.
The is monthly series features the latest updates and news from Covenant House Vancouver. Miss604 is proud to be their Official Blog Partner. This month’s post has been written by Jason Bosher of Covenant House Vancouver.
Caring for At-Risk Youth During COVID-19
At Covenant House Vancouver (“CHV”), their role and responsibility during this time, like anytime, is the health and well-being of young people experiencing homelessness. Young people who come to CHV have already experienced trauma and COVID-19’s unique challenges makes this an even more trying time for them.
Sleeping on the streets or in crowded emergency shelters means youth are more vulnerable to infections like the flu, colds, and other serious health conditions. They can suffer from extraordinarily high rates of both chronic and acute health problems because of this.
Food and nutrition are vital to their young people, as many of them have struggled with having enough to eat and often come to us malnourished.
Youth experiencing homelessness face many of the same adversities as adults, but they are still developing physically, cognitively, psychologically, and emotionally, and the risks and trauma they experience at this time can have long-lasting effects.
From Instagram: “Shoutout to our Outreach Team, who, through some creative problem solving, came up with a way to continue providing our Drop-In Centre services to young people even though we’ve had to close the Drop-In space. Youth can come to this outdoor table to request whatever they need (food, clothing, hygiene supplies, etc.) and someone from our team will run into the building to grab everything then slide it over across the table safely”
What Covenant House is Doing
Covenant House Vancouver will rely on its own staffing resources to support essential services and has a COVID-19 Emergency Plan including remote work where possible, minimal staffing (i.e., essential personnel only), and staff travel bans on both international and domestic travel.
They have revised their intake process to include recommended questions from the BC Centre for Disease Control (BC CDC).
If a youth presents with symptoms or has been in contact with someone who has been diagnosed or is symptomatic, they will need to be immediately isolated while staff follow instructions as provided by 8-1-1 HealthLink.
They are maintaining a two-week stock of emergency supplies, including food, linens, masks, hand sanitizers, cleaning materials, and medicines.
In addition to the industry-standard cleaning protocol already in place, they have introduced additional measures to increase the sanitation of spaces/buildings. These include:
Visible hand washing signage posted around buildings
“Cover your Cough” signs at entrances, washroom sinks, and high-traffic areas
Increased attention to high-touch areas – disinfecting multiple times daily with Vancouver Coastal Care Certified Wipes
Providing access to cleaning supplies, tissues, and hand sanitizer throughout programs for staff and youth to use.
Since 1997, Covenant House Vancouver has been providing love and hope to youth experiencing homelessness. They are the premiere service provider of residential and outreach services for homeless and at-risk youth ages 16 to 24 in Vancouver.
Kate Onos-Gilbert, Founder of Tulips of the Valley, the operator of the annual Chilliwack Tulip Festival, announced today that the 2020 festival will not take place due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision to cancel this year’s festival adheres to measures issued by BC’s Provincial Health Officer prohibiting events greater than 50 people.
Photo courtesy of the Chilliwack Tulip Festival
Chilliwack Tulip Festival Cancelled
A springtime tradition in the Fraser Valley, this year would have marked the 14th annual Chilliwack Tulip Festival. Typically, the festival takes place over a four-week period, usually in April, sometimes into May, depending on the weather.
“The health and safety of our guests, staff, and community, is very important to us,” says Onos-Gilbert. “I wish everyone the very best during this challenging time. We hope we will be able to welcome guests back to our fields this summer for the annual Chilliwack Sunflower Festival, currently slated to commence in August.”
Remember the Good Times
Until we can once again tip toe through the rows of tulips at the festival, here are some of my favourite photos from over the years:
Follow the Chilliwack Tulip Festival on Facebook for updates next year, and you can also find the Chilliwack Sunflower Festival on Facebook.
There’s a lot of charm to Burnaby, which plays an important role as Vancouver’s gateway to the rest of the entire mainland of BC. They have lovely natural features from north to south including Burnaby Lake, Deer Lake, Burnaby Mountain, Barnet Marine Park, Central Park and beyond. Here are 10 photos of Burnaby Looking Beautiful, the next instalment in my #604Corners photo series:
Like you, I’m passionate about exploring British Columbia. But now is not the time to travel. Please stay home and follow the advice of health authorities to keep yourself and others safe. Do your part now, so we can all explore BC again later.
