The Vancouver Art Gallery is marking their 80th anniversary Wednesday, October 5, 2011. It first opened in 1931 at 1145 West Georgia, a few blocks away from its current location in the old courthouse building, where it moved in 1983. 1931 – Vancouver Art Gallery’s original location under construction. Archives item# Bu P401.1. Photographer: Stuart […]

A boy and girl playing with a chained bear in their front yard in Kitsilano, a horse-drawn taxi rolling down Cordova Street, the Hotel Vancouver on the corner of Granville and Georgia. These are all images that I have featured during my weekly history photo series and which have been sourced from the City of […]

Next month McClure’s Cabs will be celebrating 100 years as a business in Vancouver, making it the oldest taxi company in the Lower Mainland. It was also the first taxi company to provide airport service in Vancouver. The theme of this week’s roundup of photos from the Vancouver Archives and the Vancouver Library collection is: […]

John and I are in Kansas City this week and when driving through KCMO, you get welcomed downtown by classic old billboards on rooftops and painted advertisements on the side of buildings. Photo credit: John Bollwitt on Flickr Vancouver used to have a lot of these until they slowly disappeared due to city bylaws. Now […]

While it’s not a brand most associate with our city specifically, yesterday Nabob coffee celebrated its 115th anniversary in Vancouver, where it originally began. 1924 – Water at Cordova (between Waterfront and Steamworks, today). VPL Accession Number: 10698. Photographer: Leonard Frank. 1932 – Water at Cordova. Archives item# Bu N436. Photographer: W.J. Moore. Founded in […]

Today’s historic photo collection comes from the Surrey Archives and features early scenes of our province’s largest city (by area), largest school district, and second largest city (by population). Although Surrey didn’t receive “city” status until 1993, the municipality was formed in 1879. Left: 1910 – Ocean Park. Archives# 180.4.04 Right: 1958 – Crescent Beach. […]

Lumberman’s Arch is a popular meeting place and landmark on the North side of Stanley Park, West of Brockton Point. The single log propped up by two others is a monument to the major industry that built up our province and was installed by the Park Board and the BC Lumber Manufacturers Association almost 60 […]

Whether you take to the trails, the sea wall, or the specified road lanes, there’s no denying that Vancouver is a bicycle town. From heavy duty shock absorbers to fixies and colourful cruisers, bikes pepper our urban landscape and are a large part of life in this city. As such, this week’s theme from the […]

It was a big week for transit in Metro Vancouver as the Canada Line and the original SkyTrain both celebrated anniversaries. Although it’s been 26 years since we first heard the memorable 3-toned chime announcing the next SkyTrain station it was 25 years ago this week that it was put into regular service. It’s also […]

My last Archives Photos of the Day were a collection of summertime photos found thanks to the Vancouver Archives and Vancouver Public Library‘s online photograph directories. This week, as summer has truly arrived with sunshine and high temperatures, I thought it would be most fitting to focus on the lovely month of August. All of […]