What's New

St Regis Hotel
added February 21, 2021
St Regis Hotel
the St Regis has been standing guard at the corner of Dunsmuir and Seymour Streets for well over 100 years. It experienced a major facelift in 2008, and since then has consistently earned top rankings from hotel review sites. Thanks to Paul Done of Epic Media for the old photo!


Manitoba Grocery
added February 21, 2021
Manitoba Grocery
Just one of the hundreds of corner stores that have closed over the years. The city is looking at policies to encourage new small scale grocery stores to open again, citing their role in creating a social connection in neighbourhoods. This image from 1978 was shot on Kodachrome by POP SNAP, whose work from that era can be seen here.

400 West Hastings
added February 14, 2021
400 West Hastings
Situated on the corner of a block that has remained virtually intact for almost 100 years, this 1903 Royal Bank branch was built by Jonathan Rogers, an early real estate pioneer.  Today it is a campus of the Vancouver Film School. 

Niagara Hotel and Ellesmere Rooms
added February 07, 2021
Niagara Hotel and Ellesmere Rooms
The Niagara Hotel can be seen peeking out from behind the imposing Central City Lodge. The hotel started life in 1912 as the Connaught, one of many hotels in the area between the CPR station and the city centre. It later became the Niagara Hotel, notable for its famous neon sign. The wooden building on the corner is Ellesmere Rooms, a boarding house from 1887 that lasted until the 1940s before it was condemned. In 1993 the Central City Lodge took over the corner spot. 

McMillan Building
added February 07, 2021
McMillan Building
This building was constructed a year after the 1886 fire that destroyed the city, making it one of Vancouver's oldest standing buildings. Once it was the city's post office, and has gone through many incarnations since then, including many facelifts. In the 1960s the entire façade was covered in metal siding for a time. In 2006 it was restored to its original design. 

Hotel Belmont
added February 07, 2021
Hotel Belmont
Sitting on the corner of Nelson and Granville for well over a hundred years, the Hotel Belmont has undergone many name changes in it's century of existence. It was named after its original owner, Colonel Oscar G. Barron, an American hotelier. In 1925 it became the Belmont, in the 1970s it was the Nelson Place, then the Dakota, a Comfort Inn in the early 2000s, and back to the Belmont in 2017. One of its claims to fame was Babalu’s Tapas Lounge, where a young Michael Buble honed his craft. 

Dunsmuir Hotel
added February 06, 2021
Dunsmuir Hotel
When it opened in 1908 the Dunsmuir Hotel was a classy place, offering "American and European plan" rooms "within a minute's walk from the center of the city".  As years passed it's fortunes declined, and it was turned over to the Salvation Army. It has been vacant since 2013, and is currently owned by the Holborn Group, who own the entire block with plans for redevelopment. However, this building has a heritage designation and will probably be restored. 

Vancouver Post Office
added February 03, 2021
Vancouver Post Office
This building was completed in 1910, and served as Vancouver's main post office until 1958.  In the 1980s the entire block, consisting of four separate buildings, was consolidated into the Sinclair Centre, connected by a glass-roofed Atrium. In this 1936 image, the building was being decorated for Vancouver's Golden Jubilee

Hotel Europe
added February 01, 2021
Hotel Europe
This well-known heritage building was Canada's first reinforced concrete structure, when it was built in 1909. Business was booming for the first few years, as it was close to the old steamship docks, but when the Hotel Vancouver opened up across town, the city centre gradually moved north and west, and the hotel fell into disrepair. It has since been restored, converted to affordable housing and retains many of its original finishings. It is apparently haunted.

Dominion Building
added February 01, 2021
Dominion Building
When it was completed in 1910, the Dominion Trust Building was the first steel-framed building in Vancouver, and the tallest commercial structure in the British Empire.  At the time, this street was the banking centre of the city. It's $600,000 price tag forced the builder, the Imperial Trust Company, to merge with its rival, the Dominion Trust Company. It's one of the few Beaux-Arts style buildings in the city. 

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