The future of West Vancouver's oldest building is in jeopardy.
Council's decision to demolish Navvy Jack House, located on the Lawson Park waterfront, sparked a swift response from the community that resulted in a pause to the demolition.
The NJH Citizen Group is working on behalf of the people of West Vancouver and of British Columbia to preserve this significant heritage building.
The deadline to build a case for conservation and use for community benefit is September 14, 2020.
Time is short. But the stories of the people who made Navvy Jack House their home and built our community go back long before West Vancouver was established. Navvy Jack House is older by 13 years than the city of Vancouver. The history of the Indigenous people here has been documented to 10,000 years, and even further in their oral tradition.
Built circa 1873, Navvy Jack House was the family home of John Thomas and Magdeleine Slawia of Stawamus, granddaughter of Chief Kiepalano. Their marriage was the first formal union of the local indigenous and settler cultures.
From 1910 to 1928, it was the home of the Lawson family, and the site of the first post office and general store west of the Capilano River: the municipal and economic foundations of West Vancouver.
In our time, stories that shape our collective heritage are not enough to protect elderly buildings. Only a few of this era of 'settler' buildings survive in the Lower Mainland, certainly none with such a significant indigenous connection.
The NJH Citizen Group is building a case based on sustainable community use that will recognize the heritage of Navvy Jack House, and support the restoration and re-purposing of a neglected and almost forgotten community treasure.
Please visit the West Vancouver Historical Society website to read more about Navvy Jack House, its history and the case for conservation.
To subscribe to the Navvy Jack House email list, click here.
Navvy Jack House, shown here in 1957. Built in 1873, the structure is the oldest building in West Vancouver and the oldest continually occupied residence in the Lower Mainland. John 'Navvy Jack' Thomas's marriage to Sla-wiya, granddaughter of Chief Kiepalano, is the first formal union of indigenous and immigrant peoples here. Photo courtesy of West Vancouver Archives.