Urban Repurpose and the St. Alice Hotel
January 16, 2026
Urban Repurpose is a hoarders delight. It’s crammed full of furniture, books, music, art, books and panels from the St. Alice Hotel
Edgemont Village: Then and Now
January 28, 2023
Edgemont Village, North Vancouver. Then and Now: 1949-2023 I came across this photo from the North Vancouver Museum and Archives a while back. It shows a fairly ordinary looking building on Edgemont Boulevard taken in 1949. I headed off to Edgemont Village last week to see what we’d replaced it. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised… Continue reading Edgemont Village: Then and Now
Jack Cash, Photographer
March 7, 2020
Jack Cash (1918-2005) started as a Vancouver Sun photographer in the 1930s. He spent most of his life in North Vancouver and went on to have an amazing career. I first heard about Jack Cash when I was researching his mother Gwen Cash, who when she went to work for Walter Nichol at the Vancouver… Continue reading Jack Cash, Photographer
Along the North Shore’s Spirit Trail – Moodyville to Lonsdale Quay (part 2)
September 29, 2018
At the end of last week’s blog, I left you at Moodyville Park, the only thing left of a once thriving town. Now hop back on your bike and follow the signs west along First Street East—and be careful of those construction trucks! I imagine in another year or so this area will be unrecognizable,… Continue reading Along the North Shore’s Spirit Trail – Moodyville to Lonsdale Quay (part 2)
The North Shore’s Spirit Trail – Moodyville (part 1)
September 22, 2018
In May 2014, the City of North Vancouver inked a deal with the Squamish Nation and moved a step closer to realizing the dream of building a 35-kilometre waterfront trail that would wind its way from Deep Cove to Horseshoe Bay. The mostly finished portion of the Spirit Trail runs from Sunrise Park (just above… Continue reading The North Shore’s Spirit Trail – Moodyville (part 1)
Saving History: Twinning the Lions Gate Bridge
August 19, 2017
From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History Last year, Daien Ide, reference historian at the North Vancouver Museum and Archives was sitting at her desk when she got a tip. A 1994 model of a proposed Lions Gate twinned bridge had turned up at the Burnaby Hospice Thrift Store on Kingsway with a… Continue reading Saving History: Twinning the Lions Gate Bridge
Foncie’s North Vancouver Connection
May 28, 2016
When Foncie Pulice was 21 in 1934, he quit house painting and went to work for Joe Iaci and his street photography company Kandid Kamera. Foncie, to my knowledge, never crossed the bridge or took the ferry to North Vancouver—at least not for his work. He did capture many of our most colourful citizens. A… Continue reading Foncie’s North Vancouver Connection
The Capilano Air Park
March 12, 2016
From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History A few people that I know have sold their large houses and downsized to Norgate, one of the few flat areas of North Vancouver just to the east of the Lions Gate Bridge. Norgate is also one of the few areas that hasn’t seen massive change to… Continue reading The Capilano Air Park
Aborted Plans: A Third Crossing for the North Shore
January 23, 2016
I spent the last three months of 2015 working on an interactive project called Water’s Edge for the North Vancouver Museum and Archives. We started at Indian Arm and went a little west of Ambleside to find the stories that would show the massive changes that have happened to the shoreline and to Burrard Inlet.… Continue reading Aborted Plans: A Third Crossing for the North Shore
The unsolved murder of North Vancouver’s Jennie Eldon Conroy
July 25, 2015
Look for the full story of Jennie Eldon Conroy in Cold Case Vancouver: the city’s most baffling unsolved murders A couple of weeks ago, Daien Ide, reference historian at the North Vancouver Museum and Archives came into the possession of a photo album. At first she thought it was just a nice family photo album… Continue reading The unsolved murder of North Vancouver’s Jennie Eldon Conroy
Who lived in your house — in 10 (mostly easy) steps
March 15, 2014
In some ways, researching your home is like an archeological dig. But with a bit of patience you can find out who built your home, who lived there before you, who was murdered there, who died of a comfortable old age, perhaps, even, who’s haunting it now. 1. City Directories: I always start with the… Continue reading Who lived in your house — in 10 (mostly easy) steps
Researching John Bull’s House
March 13, 2013
On February 23, Jennifer Clay gave an A to Z workshop to home owners wanting to research the history of their homes. Jennifer has written a guest blog based on her presentation. By Jennifer Clay I live in a 1926 heritage home in North Vancouver, and while I had a vague idea of the previous occupants of… Continue reading Researching John Bull’s House
The Lynn Valley Hotel
August 30, 2012
The large house at the corner of Lynn Valley and Hoskins Road has always intrigued me, so I dropped into the Community Archives last week to see what I could find out about it. Daien Ide, found this great photo taken around 1912, when the street car ran from the bottom of Lonsdale Street to… Continue reading The Lynn Valley Hotel