What's New

City Centre Motel
added December 02, 2024
City Centre Motel
In 1953 the City Centre Motel, at 6th and Main, was "Vancouver's newest and most modern motel".  In 2021 it was closed to travelers and the property was sold for $60 million. It has been a popular location for the film industry, and currently serves as a space for artist studios. (1953 photo from Flickr.com)

Red Arrow Biscuits
added October 26, 2024
Red Arrow Biscuits
A row of tenement houses in front of the Red Arrow Biscuit Company warehouse. A lot has changed in this neighbourhood over the years. This photo was taken somewhere between 1940 and 1948, just a few years before I was born, making me feel very old indeed. (1940-ish photograph from Vancouver City Archives). 

Gow Block
added October 13, 2024
Gow Block
In 1911 Walter Gow built this two storey mixed use building (on the left) to cater to the growing foot traffic from the newly-built Cedar Cottage Interurban train station. The area soon boasted grocery stores, movie theatres, a brewery, and even a roller coaster for a period of time. As cars became the more popular form of transportation, business slowly moved south to Kingsway and Knight Streets, and the neighbourhood lost its lustre. The neglected building was purchased and renovated in 2005, and today serves as a popular coffee bar. If you ask nicely, they might take you down the back hallway and show you the original bank vault, still there after 113 years. (1913 photo from Vancouver City Archives). 

Venables and Commercial
added October 01, 2024
Venables and Commercial
This long-standing banquet hall has been a venue for concerts, poetry readings, and flea markets for many years. The property is now owned by Boffo Developments, who have plans to devlop a four-storey, mixed use building on the site. (1978 photo by POP SNAP).

26th Avenue and Prince Edward Street
added October 01, 2024
26th Avenue and Prince Edward Street
Here's a glimpse of what life was like for some people in the early 1900s. This photo also gives you an idea of the amount of work involved in clearing these enormous old growth trees from thousands of acres to create the Vancouver we know today. (1915 photo from Vancouver City Archives). 

William Dick residence
added August 27, 2024
William Dick residence
This was the home of politician, real estate developer and clothier William Dick. He served as a provincial MLA from 1928 until 1933, and developed the Dick Building at Broadway and Granville, among others. (1925 Dominion Photo Company photograph from Vancouver Photo Archives.)

3722 Point Grey Road
added August 16, 2024
3722 Point Grey Road
Another great image from POP SNAP. (1978 image from POP SNAP).

Springer and Van Bramer Block
added August 04, 2024
Springer and Van Bramer Block
Another Victorian Italianate design, this one constructed in 1889 by Ben Springer and  Captain James Van Bramer, two of Vancouver's early real estate entrepreneurs. Built just two years after the Gastown fire that levelled the city, it was one of the earliest large scale brick-clad buildings in Gastown. (1890 photo from Vancouver City Archives.)

The Horne Block
added August 04, 2024
The Horne Block
This 1890 building is named after real estate speculator and local politician JW Horne, who developed a number of buildings in Vancouver.  The Victorian Italianate features include exposed cast iron columns, open stairways leading to below ground retail spaces, and decorative arches in the brickwork. These days the upper two floors are Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units. (1890 photograph from BC Archives).

Western Sports
added June 09, 2024
Western Sports
Recreation of a Greg Girard photograph from the 1970s. The building is currently a safe injection site run by Insite(1970s photo from GregGirard.com). 

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