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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). 

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). 

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).

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). 

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.)

Another great image from POP SNAP. (1978 image from POP SNAP).

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.)

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).

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). 

Built in 1932 during the depths of the Great Depression, this Kitsilano gas station's neo-Spanish colonial style reflected a strong California influence that can be seen in several buildings throughout Vancouver. The gas station closed in the 1970s, and was replaced by a parade of restaurants, the most recent being Local, part of the Joey restaurant group. (1932 photo from VPL Digital Archives.)