What's New

 I would venture to say that most people in Vancouver have been inside the historic Stanley Theatre at least once. Built in 1930, it lasted as a movie house until 1991, and after a few years in development limbo, emerged as the home of the Arts Club Theatre Company. 

 Home of the Liquor Control Board Warehouse back in the day, now it's a pricey private school. 

 This happy little building has been sitting at the corner of 10th and Spruce for 93 years. The colourful awnings have been replaced by even more colourful ivy, which turns bright red in the fall. I wonder if the little saplings on Spruce Street are the same trees that are in my picture. (1927 photo from Vancouver City Archives).

Virtually unchanged (except for the tenants and a paint job) since the late 1950s and possibly longer. Buildings like these, as plain as they are, give Mount Pleasant an authentic charm which is rapidly disappearing from the Vancouver landscape. (1958 photo from City of Vancouver Archives).

 I took this shot when the house came up for sale in 2015, and came across the vintage photo taken 97 years earlier from exactly the same spot where I was standing. Spooky. Three of Vancouver's most prominent families have called it home over the years.  It sits on an acre of land just minutes from the downtown core, a rarity reflected in its recent selling price. As an added bonus, the most recent seller threw in a horror story to sweeten the deal. 

 Between 1931 and 1953, Wright's Canadian Rope Company occupied what is now part of the Public Market. In that time they produced wire rope for the Army during WW II as well as international projects like the Sydney Harbour Bridge. 

 The building that currently houses the Granville Island Kid's Market used to manufacture white lead, a toxic substance used on the hulls of boats. 

 Yet another beautifully preserved apartment building in South Granville, complete with parapets and unique arched doorways. 

A record store, and one of the last private homes on this part of Broadway. Photo courtesy City of Vancouver. 

 Back when this picture was taken, people drove on the left side of the road, Emily Carr taught painting a few blocks away, and you could buy a building lot in Shaughnessy Heights for $50.  (1908 photo from Vancouver City Archives).