July 5th, 1959 was the opening day of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in downtown Vancouver and a few weeks later Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II personally gave it her name. The venue accommodates 2,781 patrons and over the years it has hosted some of the world’s greatest plays, musicals, operas, ballets and concerts. 1957, excavation […]

Yesterday was the first day of summer and the season hit Vancouver with a wallop of sunshine. To celebrate the parting of the clouds and the freeing of toes from closed shoes, I searched the Vancouver Archives for some simmering summer shots from days gone by. 1895 – Vancouver Cycling Club at Prospect Point. Vancouver […]

This morning the Vancouver Park Board said on Twitter that June 15th (the date of the Canucks game 7 match-up with the Boston Bruins) is also the 170th 103rd birthday anniversary of the death of Lord Stanley1. While we know Stanley for the park that was named in his honor, and his coveted cup, I […]

It’s no secret that hockey fever is alive and well in Vancouver… and it’s June. While it’s an unfamiliar feeling, it’s something this city’s been waiting for since Cyclone Taylor won the cup at the Denman Arena back in 1915. While browsing the Vancouver Archives’ blog, Authenticity, I noticed their latest post features hockey history […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 – […]

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 […]

All year we will be celebrating Vancouver’s 125th Birthday through public events and celebrations. Since the city was incorporated on April 6, 1886 I thought it would be interesting to see what happened after City Council was formed and our little townsite of Granville became Vancouver. September 1886 – Mayor, Council, City officials. Archives Item#LGN […]