North Vancouver History

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Norgate Park: Across The Bridge to Modern Living

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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”.

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The Dollar in Dollarton

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Did you ever stop to think about the origin of the name Dollarton that is so pervasive along the southern shores of the Burrard Inlet before it becomes the Indian Arm? There is the Dollarton Highway that extends the entire length of the road from the 2nd Narrows Bridge almost to Deep Cove. And there is Dollar Road, Dollarton Village and Dollarton Plaza too. Its naming has nothing to do with the currency and everything to do with the Scottish-born Robert Dollar, who left his birth country at the age of 14 for the promise of a better life on the other side of the Atlantic and actually found it! But we’re getting ahead of ourselves!

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The St George Ferry

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This week, we share a short story, based on fact, about the St George ferry and its signalling system.

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Pastimes in Past Times

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The theme for Heritage Week in BC this year is Pastimes in Past Times! What a fabulous topic! Upon hearing this, I scoured the North and West Vancouver Archives for relevant photos and dug deep into my memory bank and those of anyone I knew over the age of 50. As it turns out, there are a lot of activities that people used to do in the good old days that are no longer popular today. Things like gathering as a family to listen to the radio, riding a rope tow and using a film camera plus lots more. If you actually remember doing any of these things, you are old! If you don’t, I suggest you disconnect from TikTok and read on to learn about good old-fashioned fun!

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Ernest and Piper’s Moodyville Adventure

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The blast of a whistle wakes Ernest from his slumber. Through the window comes a flash of silver. Their train, gleaming in the Canadian morning sunlight, is chugging into - what he assumes is - their destination, the rail terminus at Vancouver, British Columbia. Quickly, he wipes the window, in his head checking the date - 23rd May 1887....Read on for a waggish tale from author, Paul Haston, about two less than savvy adventurers trying to find their way back in the old days!

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Merry Christmas from Walter Draycott

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Many of you will know Walter Draycott as the bronze figure who sits on a bench in Triangle Park at the corner of Lynn Valley Road and Mountain Highway. That he deserved to be immortalized is without question. He was a veteran of the Boer War and WWI. But his work documenting the development of Lynn Valley is what amazes me. Using his education in topography, his experience as a sketcher during the war, his talent as a photographer, and his interest in natural and social history, he published a 140-page book called Early Days in Lynn Valley. This book has become a definitive historical record and probably his most important legacy. However, I recently discovered another amazing legacy in his annual Xmas cards, drawn and annotated by him and sent to his closest friends. Many of these cards are held by the Archives of North Vancouver. I spent an afternoon there, going through his cards, laughing out loud and uttering “wow” more times than the other users of the Archives probably wished to hear! His love of the natural world, gardening and the “good old days” is evident, documented in fine detail and with a great sense of humour. But what really impressed me was how his yearly themes are still relevant today – inflation, the “cost” of development, crazy weather, thievery and so much more. Read on as I share my favourites. And watch for his signature squirrel which is present on every single card!

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The Jewel in the Green Necklace

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North Vancouver’s Victoria Park is an oasis of lawns, shrubs and trees set amidst high-rises and surrounded by a steady flow of traffic. The east park is the site of the North Vancouver Cenotaph and the 1950s Cold War Air Siren while the west park is home to an equestrian sculpture and granite horse trough, a reminder of the park’s beginnings in the early 19th century when horse power was indeed horse power and when Victoria Park was created as the jewel of Edward Mahon’s vision,  the Green Necklace.

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Striking It Lucky

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And now for something completely different... read on for a whimsical, timely story by our resident published author, Paul Haston, that involves a tram ride and a packet of matches!

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Taylor Made

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Lions Gate Bridge, once described as a bridge to nowhere, is one of three vital links across Burrard Inlet connecting the North Shore and Vancouver. It was built to provide a link to the British Properties, a large and ambitious real estate development in West Vancouver. Both the bridge and the development were the enterprising vision of Alfred James Towle Taylor aka Fred Taylor, who is the Taylor of Taylor Way, which is the portal road to his planned upmarket residences. It was a vision that eventually became a reality. His bridge became a bridge to somewhere – the British Properties and the North Shore.

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North Shore Tent Homes

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While researching for another blog many months ago, I was perusing the 1913 North Vancouver City Directory. I noticed that, for many individuals, their home was listed as “tent”. It surprised me that a tent was permanent enough to be listed as a person’s home. I was curious to know more about the appearance of these tents, so I visited the websites of the North Vancouver and West Vancouver Archives and entered the search word “tent”. And this is when I went down the proverbial rabbit hole into the warren of tent homes and some of the fascinating families who occupied them. As I read about the families, what struck me was that they were mostly Western European immigrants, who left a civilized life behind to come to the new world to live … in a tent! Clearly, they all came with a sense of adventure but in the end, their best attribute would be perseverance! Life in the new world was definitely not easy.

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Rudyard Kipling’s Speculative Investments

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If you’ve ever thought of making a speculative land investment on the Burrard Inlet’s north shore you might want to heed the experience of the English novelist, short story writer and poet, Rudyard Kipling. Famous as the creator of Mowgli, the ‘man-cub’ raised by wolves in the children’s classic, The Jungle Book, Kipling was a visitor to our shores in his early 20’s, firstly in 1889, and then later in 1892, whilst on honeymoon with his newly wed, Carrie Balestier. On both occasions he made an investment in real estate and lived to rue the day.

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Hendry Hall – Community Builder Extraordinaire

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Originally built as an Air Raid Precautionary Post, Hendry Hall has been at the centre of the Lynnmour community in one way or another for 82 years! Currently the home of the talented North Vancouver Community Players, it also served as the Hendry Community Hall for over three decades. Imagine the stories that would be told, if the walls of this tiny but mighty building could talk! But since they cannot, I’m going to tell you what I’ve learned in my research and take you on a virtual tour of this amazing building and its people through the decades!

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Blackadder Goes Forth. Not ‘Edmund’, but Henry!

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Mention the name ‘Blackadder’ and people think of Rowan Atkinson’s character in the BBC comedy series. The final episode of the last series, Blackadder Goes Forth, is known for its final scene, called “Goodbyeee,” which sees ‘Captain Blackadder’ and his side-kick, ‘Baldrick’ going “over the top” into the smoke filled no man’s land of the First World War trenches, presumably to their deaths. Crazy as that sounds, there was a real Captain Blackadder from Dundee, Scotland, who was awarded the Military Cross and whose older brother Henry had a very special connection to North Vancouver.

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Hiding in Plain Sight: North Van's Recycled Churches

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Hiding in Plain Sight: North Van's Recycled Churches

Did you know that three North Vancouver buildings that are now a recital hall, garden centre and dance school, all started out as some of the earliest churches in their areas? These buildings didn’t have long lives under their built purpose, as their congregations quickly outgrew them, but they have been around for over a century by being either re-purposed or recycled and given new life. One survived as the top of a church, one as the bottom, and one was saved in one piece but moved. Learn the fascinating stories of these three former churches by reading on - you may be surprised to learn where a couple of them have been hiding! I know I was.

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Old-Fashioned Christmas

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The commercialism of Christmas overwhelms me! We’re bombarded with flyers, Christmas music 24/7, mall traffic and shelves lined with environmentally-unfriendly toys and decorations, sometimes as early as the day after Hallowe’en! How I long for simpler times, without all the hustle and bustle and stress! Join me as we time travel to years gone by to celebrate an old-fashioned Christmas in the homes, schools and businesses of former North Shore residents!

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Bridge over Burrard's Water

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The Lower Mainland is awash with bridges, three of which cross the Burrard Inlet. In the shadow of the Iron Workers’ Memorial Bridge sits the historic Second Narrows Rail Bridge, a critical link in the supply chain that transports Canadian commodities from the North Shore to world markets. While it earns little attention from most of us, it is a significant factor in the prosperity of the North Shore.

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Wings to Your Heels

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Arthur and George Coles were flying Spitfires and Lancaster bombers for the Allied war effort when tragedy struck for the North Vancouver based brothers. Reported as missing in action in the latter part of 1943, one brother returned home after the war whilst the other, sadly, did not. Eighty years on, our Remembrance Day tribute offers thanks for their service.

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Putting the Grand in Grand Boulevard!

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The Ellis Residence at 800 Grand Boulevard is one of the nicest heritage homes I’ve ever seen! It definitely puts the “Grand” into Grand Boulevard! And this was exactly the goal of the North Vancouver Land & Improvement Company when they first proposed the Grand Boulevard development in 1906. Grand Boulevard was marketed as a high-class residential neighbourhood, with a required minimum building cost of $4000, to ensure a certain size and quality of home. The original homes were mostly built in the arts and crafts style including 800 Grand, which was designed by the architectural firm of Maclure and Fox in a traditional half-timbered Arts and Crafts style. Jenny Morgan, my fellow blog writer, and I were privileged to get a tour of this house earlier this year and after our tour, as we walked back to our cars, she told me this is her “dream” house! I then asked her how we might get ourselves adopted by the current owners, Ken and Jenny Tekano, so we could live there too! The house is stunning, from the first glimpse through the pergola and in every room throughout the house. Read on to see why we fell in love with this home, learn more about the restoration work the Tekanos did (in their own words) and learn about the 15 families who came before them.

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The Evolution of the Corner Store

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Independent Corner Stores, once familiar features of local life, are gradually fading from our street corners. Owning a corner store often gave newcomers not only a livelihood, but also a roof over their heads and, for many, they served as a gateway business to move up the socio-economic ladder. Although many of the original corner stores are gone, a few still exist as corner stores, while many of them have been re-invented as coffee shops and sandwich shops, which still thankfully serve as local gathering spots.

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Lewis Through The Decades

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After the publication of my previous blog on Bob Lewis (My Bob Lewis Odyssey), Steve Gairns (my partner in the Lewis Research Project) and I received a lot of emails from owners of Lewis houses who were keen to show off their homes. Visiting these homes has been an odyssey of its own! And what I’ve learned is that the post and beam construction style which was embraced by Bob Lewis for its simplicity and inexpensive building costs, is so functional and versatile that it has allowed homeowners to easily adapt and personalize their homes to styles and standards which suit their lifestyles. Join me as we journey through the decades from an Original Lewis to a Brutalist adaptation.

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