A curious and short item from the Los Angeles Herald 1898: VANCOUVER, B. C. Jan. 16.—Mayor Templeton died this afternoon of an apoplectic stroke. Mr. Templeton is the third one of Vancouver’s mayors to die a sudden death. Templeton was born in 1853 in Belleville Ontario and arrived in the town of Granville, the future… Continue reading “A Fatal Office”
The poor old former Louvre Hotel. Today a portion of the building is propped up with steel posts, bolts and plywood because of some careless demolition next door. Let’s hope the building survives this latest threat. The Louvre has a fascinating history which I wrote about 5 years ago. Here’s the link.
Declared a provincial historic area in the 1970s and a national historic district in 2011, Chinatown is recognized for its significant contribution to British Columbia and Canada. The Chinatown Gate, spanning Pender west of Carrall Street, welcomes visitors and Vancouverites to the district. The never ending parade of tour busses in the summer months attest… Continue reading Chinatown: the freeway didn’t kill it but the zoning just might…
This summer we’re looking at some quirky and interesting bits of the city. Walks start at 7:00pm and cost 10 bucks. No reservations needed, just show up at the location listed. Walks go regardless of the weather. July 13 – Strathcona: the other side of the tracks The area between the CN tracks and Clark… Continue reading Wednesday Night Heritage Walks!
Sometimes the third time isn’t lucky. The Beedie Group has revamped their proposed tower at 105 Keefer yet again. But they really haven’t learned much in the intervening months since pulling their previous design. If you are going to build on the edge of a nationally significant community, it pays to understand the place and… Continue reading Around and Around We Go…
Digging through the New Zealand newspapers for some research I came across this poem in the September 10, 1915 edition of The Star from Christchurch written by C. Fox Smith. C. Fox Smith is Cicely Fox Smith (1 February 1882 – 8 April 1954) an English poet and writer. Born in Lymm, Cheshire and educated at Manchester High School for… Continue reading A Poem for a Sawmill
The vast majority of homes built in Vancouver and the surrounding municipalities were not the work of local architects but from designs found in plan books. Published in the US and Canada, these books illustrated a variety of designs that were available in plan form from the publisher. Companies such as Radford, Keith, Wilson and others… Continue reading Plan Books and Vancouver
