Secord Hotel

Built in 1890, the Secord is one of Vancouver's oldest hotels outside of Gastown. It's location in the middle of Japantown was perfect for providing housing to families of workers at Hastings Mill just down the road. For years it was a liquor-free establishment, but by 1920 it had been taken over and renamed the Imperial Hotel, with a beer parlour on the ground floor. In 1947 the name was changed again to the Marr and it became a popular watering hole, until BC Housing purchased it and converted it into a SRO, managed by Atira.  (1890 photo from Vancouver Photo Archives).