What's New

 In this one small corner of the city you could find dentists, cigars, typewriters, clothiers, a drug store, and an accordion school back in the day. Today it's pretty much one big coffee shop.  (1940 photo from Vancouver City Archives).

 The Pavilion is Stanley Park's oldest structure, and was originally built as a concession stand in 1911. It has been a venue for thousands of dinners, parties, and wedding receptions, none of which I ever attended. In fact, I had never seen the outside of it, let alone the inside, until the other day, when I walked the grounds virtually alone. It's an impressive and iconic place with strong links to the history of Vancouver, and I look forward to spending more time there. 

 I'm old enough to remember 1978 pretty clearly. It doesn't seem that long ago to me. But in these pictures, it feels like a lifetime has passed. Even the road is slumping in the recent picture. The funeral home that once occupied this spot has moved a few blocks down the road to a more upscale neighbourhood. 

 In the 1940s this stretch of Granville Street was Theatre Row, and movie patrons could go to the Esquire to enjoy a nice pork chop, or get their tea leaves read by Madam Lucille. Time has not been kind to this building. I wonder if all that beautiful neon signage survived somewhere? 

 Almost unrecognizable today, the Naffzinger Block has lost its proud cornice, and the bricks have been painted over so many times they no longer look like bricks. The retail tenants at the time this 1912 picture was taken were Melvin H. Clapp Shoemaker and Robert G. Woods Candies, now replaced by a yoga studio and hair salon. Notice that West Broadway was still a dirt road. 

 The Second Fergusson Block was built just a year after the first one burned down in the Gastown Fire of 1886. When it was finished, lawyers moved in upstairs and A.M. Tyson sold 'Gents Furnishings' on the main floor. Today it's a restaurant up and a clothing store down. (1887 photo from Vancouver City Archives). 

 This is one of Vancouver's oldest wooden buildings. When it was built sometime around 1890, it stood "alone in the bushes of Hastings Street; there were some Chinese shacks on Dupont Street near it, but on Hastings Street it was the only building.” It was badly damaged during the Chinatown riots in 1908 but somehow managed to survive that and everything else that subsequent years threw at it. 

 A survivor from 1909, Burns Block outlived its next door neighbour the Pantages Theatre, a popular movie and vaudeville house. Today you can rent a 236 square foot micro-loft and live downtown for cheap! (You might notice I really cheated on the perspective of this shot: the original was shot from a window in the building across the street, and I was on the ground.) (1927 Major Matthews photo from Vancouver City Archives). 

 I have walked by this apartment building numerous times and have always wondered about its background. I assumed it used to be a bank, even though it's not on a major street. After a little digging, I found some information about it. It was built as a church in 1911, and eventually became the Vancouver Indian Centre when this photo was taken in the 1970s. Today it is a collection of million dollar condos. (1978 photo from Vancouver City Archives).

 Built just after the 1886 fire that leveled the city, this beautifully restored home is now the headquarters of a Chinese Benevolent Association. Notice the difference in street levels in the two pictures. The current house has a ground floor suite that used to be under ground. Here's some information about the people in the original photo.  (1900 photo from Vancouver City Archives).