Vancouver History

Vancouver’s Japanese community began the same way many other neighbourhoods did: forestry, farming and fishing. In the mid to late 1800s Japanese workers settled all around Vancouver, including Kitsilano, Fairview Slopes and Mount Pleasant, finding work in places such as Celtic Cannery and The Hastings Saw Mill at Dunlevy. Japanese immigrants working at the Sawmill quickly made the area around Powell Street their home, with employment wages going right back into the community in the form of housing.

In what might be called a case of too little, too late, Vancouver City Council has designated the Waldorf Hotel a city heritage site. The privately-owned Waldorf on East Hastings has been a popular destination for over 60 years as both a small hotel as well as a music and drinking venue.

Several neighbourhood plans are also underway that could have serious impacts on local heritage resources, but there are no proposed mechanisms for updating the Heritage Register in those areas. Over the next year, Heritage Vancouver will be actively involved in the development of these plans, and other community initiatives in an attempt to preserve Vancouver’s history.

Vintage Vancouver is a new series to Vancity Buzz by Vancouver Heritage Foundation, which tells the historic stories of our city.

Arguably one of Vancouver’s best known neighbourhoods, the West End’s urban jungle is bordered by Denman, English Bay and Robson. It is a vibrant community that includes Davie Village, high end retail and one of Vancouver’s best beaches. Heritage homes sit next to mid-century towers, which stand next to high-end condos.

Every spring, typically in mid-April, Audrey and Robert Brown will make their way to Vancouver’s only horseracing track. Leaving their apartment Saturday morning, they head to Hastings Racecourse with just a set of programs and distant memories.

#EastVanLove Tweet Up Volume 8: Journey to Now! will be hosted by East of Main on April 11 at Djavad Mowafaghian Cinema for a time to learn more about the history of East Vancouver and how it has evolved into the current East Van. The event is expected to have 300 attendees and it is collaborated with Museum of Vancouver and Heritage Vancouver to deliver an informative history of East Vancouver.

In its 65 years the Penthouse has survived blue-nosed liquor laws, police raids, murders, fires and the lure of the condo developer. It has been a favourite watering hole of celebrity glitterati like Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr, Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald. The only place in Vancouver’s history where a judge, a crime boss and a dancing girl could rub shoulders without an eyebrow being raised. Remarkably, the Penthouse is still in business today.

Three years ago on the morning of Friday, February 12, 2010, the Olympic Torch Relay was on its final stretch in Downtown Vancouver. Torchbearers weaved through city streets lined with tens of thousands of people, many waking early to catch a final glimpse of the Olympic Flame before it went into hibernation in preparation for its final destination later that evening. The same will happen again in Sochi next February when Russia stages the most expensive and extravagant Olympic Games ever in its attempt to outdo Beijing’s 2008 Summer Games. Meanwhile, here at home in the time since the 2010 Olympic Cauldron was extinguished, the impact and legacies of the Games have begun to unravel and we have also gained some greater perspective on our performance in preparing for “Canada’s Games.”

To mark the proud tradition of Black History Month a stamp featuring early Vancouver’s beloved lifeguard, Joe Fortes is being issued. With period images of the watery playground at English Bay and photos of Joe swimming and interacting with the community. The stamp was designed by Lara Minja of Lime Design, who has created previous issues of the Black History Month series.