What's New

 This well-preserved 1904 building overlooking Victory Square has seen many tenants, including Wrigley Directories and the Odd Fellows shown here. Today it's home to a high-end furniture store. 

 This 1909 building has both architectural and historical significance in the city. The CBA was instrumental in advocating for the rights of Chinese Canadians, who faced severe discrimination in the first half of the 20th century. The building itself set the tone for the Chinatown style of architecture, such as recessed balconies and inscribed parapets, many of which are still visible today. 

 When it was built in 1910, this building had five floors. Several months later, a sixth floor was added, shown in this picture. In 1966 a fire destroyed the top floor and it went back to 5.  In 2018 another fire damaged several suites.  And that's the 'storey' of Washington Court. 

The West End experienced a massive building boom during the 1920s, including the Marlboro, and the Queen Charlotte, pictured here. Built by Dominion Construction for a businessman and politician named H H Stevens, whose beliefs in white supremacy led to his active involvement in the shameful  Komagata Maru incident. It was restored by the late Robert Ledingham and now consists of 25 million-dollar condos.

 If you look closely you can see two small children posing in front of the bandstand. When I took this photo, a homeless guy was camped under the shelter of the overhang. The Heritage Foundation claims it was built in 1914, but the photograph is dated 1912. The North Shore mountains in the background of the old photo appear much closer than in my shot, because the original photographer used a much longer lens than mine. You can see the old English Bay Pier in the background. 

 This 1928 image shows the Marlboro in the last stages of completion, and as you can see it hasn't changed much over its 92-year life. It was built by one of the Lightheart Brothers, prolific builders of apartment buildings in the West End. 

If you have ever driven down Davie Street toward Denman you would have noticed this West End landmark. Its unique architecture is matched by the legends that surround it, including bootlegging, brothels, and secret tunnels to the Rogers family mansion a few blocks up the street. All that remains is the front façade of the original building. The rest has been gobbled up by a 21-storey condo development - its 4 floors of underground parking failed to unearth any tunnels, but did awaken a few ghosts. 

 This 1907 building was the first purpose-built fire hall in North America for motorized trucks. Very few buildings in Vancouver have survived as long as this one.  And it is still an operating fire hall. 

When it was built in about 1895, the Templeton Block sat on one of the busiest intersections of the city. It was among the first brick buildings constructed after the Gastown fire. Over the years it attracted a wide variety of tenants. In 1910 Knowlton’s Pharmacy moved in, and stayed there until just a couple of years ago, still using its original display cases and shelving.

Originally built as a private school for boys, the school had to move after only a few years to make room for a military hospital. The RCMP took it over in 1920, and it has served as a training facility and barracks through the years. In 2014, the property was acquired by First Nations members, and a joint venture between them and Canada Lands Company is in the works. Not surprisingly, the rich history of the Fairmont Barracks is a source of great pride for RCMP members, and great pain for the indigenous community, so its future is being hotly debated.