If you stand at the corner of Marine Drive and 22nd Street - where Dundarave and Ambleside meet in a gentle architectural handshake - you’ll find an unmistakably modernist structure holding its ground. While potential development and demolition plans have resulted in much of the building being clad in protective plywood, its folded plate roof still angles confidently toward the sky; a fraction of its clerestory windows still catch the light; its caramel‑coloured dry‑stone veneer still glows warm in the afternoon sun. This is the former Pacific 66 Service Station, built in 1965/66, and one of the last surviving Mid‑Century Modern gas stations in Canada. For nearly sixty years, it has anchored this prominent intersection, quietly embodying West Vancouver’s post-war optimism, its embrace of car culture, and its flirtation with the bold, consumer‑oriented design language of the 1960s. Today, as conversations about heritage, re-use, and community identity deepen, this significant building offers a rare opportunity to reflect on how even the most everyday structures can shape a neighbourhood’s character.
Boxing Day
Boxing Day, the second day of Christmas, has nothing to do with sparring in a ring. It stems from a tradition in Victorian England. But even before that, December 26th was the day of the Feast of St. Stephen. Join our writer, Anne-Marie Lawrence, as she ties this day to North Shore built and photographic heritage.
A Wintery Walk through North Vancouver
The Child Evacuees
Behind the walls of a West Vancouver house lie the memories of a mission of mercy. Built in 1926, 2337 Lawson Avenue was - between 1941 and 1954 – the home of Emma Walker, someone who deserves recognition. Emma, often referred to in formal circles as Mrs Frank Walker, was instrumental in bringing about the evacuation of children from cities bombed by the German Luftwaffe during the second world war.
The Rise and Fall of the Little House on W. 15th
Show Homes of Forest Hills
In November 2024, North Shore Heritage was contacted by a woman who was packing up her mother’s house and wanted to donate “house plans”. The next thing we knew, we were in possession of the Forest Hills development brochure, a 36-page, cirlox-bound booklet with an amazing choice of 31 designs, a stark contrast to the cookie-cutter developments of today! The booklet, while primarily a marketing and advertising vehicle at the time, is now a fantastic piece of history and art, documenting architectural styles and social norms of the mid 1950’s.
Presentation House...if its walls could talk!
Presentation House, the longest serving public building on the North Shore, is also one of the oldest buildings, an unprepossessing structure in Lower Lonsdale that started, “from a small core structure to a rambling complex”. Serving as a school, city hall, a jail, an art gallery, a museum and a theatre, the building tells the story of the development of North Vancouver. Imagine all the people who have played a part in the life of Presentation House since its start in 1902 – school children, politicians, police, photographers, artists, archivists, actors, musicians, audiences and larger-than-life personalities such as, Pierre Elliott Trudeau and, in April 1972, Muhammed Ali who sparred in the hallway with the City Clerk. There was even a royal drive-by in 1939 by King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.
Norgate Park: Across The Bridge to Modern Living
Ten minutes drive from the heart of Vancouver’s downtown section through enchanting Stanley Park and over the magnificent Lion’s Gate Bridge brings you to….Norgate Park.
This was the introduction to Norgate Subdivision from a ca. 1950 pamphlet that advertised the new community at the time. The heading of the pamphlet: Norgate Park: Across the Bridge to Modern Living was an apt description at that time and not just an advertising ploy. Read on to learn how Norgate came to be and how it was known for its “Modern Living”.