A few months back, I spent a frustrating hour searching for a plaque at the corner of West Hastings and Hamilton Streets. It was unveiled in 1953, as evidenced in a Vancouver Sun article and photo.
It wasn’t there.
Graeme Menzies, co-author of 111 Places in Vancouver that you Must Not Miss, tells me he did the same thing while researching his book and it’s entry #41: “Hamilton’s Missing Plaque.” Turns out it was taken down about five years ago when the CIBC building was demolished and it was never replaced. I suspect no one wanted to advertise that a white dude called Lauchlan Hamilton named streets after himself and his railway pals.
One plaque you can see is entry #37—the Greenpeace Plaque. It tells the story of the crew of 12 setting sale for Alaska from False Creek on September 15, 1971.
Graeme met his co-author Dave Doroghy when the two worked at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. Graeme looked after the official publications and digital communications, while Dave was director of Sponsorship sales. They bonded over a love for history and quirky Vancouver stories.
“I am a bit of a history buff and in another life would have enjoyed being an archeologist, so peeling back the layers about a place to find something new really rings my bell,” says Graeme. “I enjoyed learning about the Toys R Us sign on West Broadway and finding the original Fluevog store was very rewarding. The Billy Bishop pub is another favourite—it’s one of those places that is so different on the inside that you wonder if the doorway isn’t really some sort of Alice-in-Wonderland portal to another world.”
I’ve written a lot about Jimmy Cunningham over the years—he’s the guy who built most of the Seawall—but until I read this book, I didn’t know that there were symbols—a hockey puck, hockey stick, the four card suits and a maple leaf—carved into the stones of the wall near Third Beach.
You’ll also find some very Vancouver-type businesses such as Lotusland Electronics that sells things like vintage stereo turntables and vertical record players on Alma Street in Kitsilano; and there is Cartem’s on Main Street, a donut shop inside a 1912 building. Just up the road a bit Rob Frith’s Neptoon Records, still does a roaring trade in vinyl.
The good news is that many of our indie bookstores are open for online orders and curbside pick up. For instance, the Book Warehouse is offering a flat $5 delivery fee anywhere in the Lower Mainland. Check out this map for bookstores that deliver near you or offer curbside pickup, and thanks for supporting local bookstores, local publishers and local authors like me.
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23 comments on “111 Places in Vancouver that you may not know about”
Another plaque that has disappeared is the one that used to be on the corner of Cambie & Smithe, marking the site of Canada’s first gas station. It was placed there in the 1950s but didn’t make it through the demolition of the building. A few years ago I heard a rumour that it had re-surfaced somewhere. It’s too bad that these significant monuments can get set aside so easily.
Clearly, we need a “plaque” museum
This reminds me …. you know what else has disappeared? Those footprints (in cement) of Neil Armstrong that used to be at the restaurant atop Harbour Centre building (Chapter 43 in 111 Places). I’m sure they’re in someone’s back garden. And also the notorious bricks from the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre that used to be in what’s now The Alibi Room (Chapter 4). I wonder what became of those??
Billy Bishops pub is on Laburnum just off of Cornwall in Kits. The last place where I lived with my parents was the apartment right beside the Billy Bishop pub. One evening someone tried to leave the bar by driving straight out onto Laburnum. The only driveway was in the rear onto the alley. The car high centered on the curb. Two men wound up in hospital when they tried to lift the front of the car and the driver drove forwards instead of reversing.
I can remember going in for a beer I was 17 so sneaking in might better describe the visit. My dad was a regular customer.
Love the Billy Bishop. We used to go there after Vancouver Historical Society board meetings, actually I’m sure the board still does
The Hamilton plaque was still there in 2011 when I photographed it https://flic.kr/p/9fZvaC but it was gone by 2015. https://flic.kr/p/rvXXxm It does fairly blatantly disrespect the prior Aboriginal residents, so it is probably more appropriate not to put it back in its place. It was a finely crafted plaque though, just not as well written as it could have been.
Jason, do you know if it was “lost” or is it languishing in storage somewhere?
My initial thought when I read the story was that the “missing” Hamilton plaque was just the victim of the relentless metal thieves that roam Vancouver and the Lower Mainland stealing everything they can pry out.
Many publicly displayed bronze plaques around the city have been brazenly stolen over the years by metal thieves who sell them to unscrupulous metal recyclers and foundries as the price of bronze increases.
We live in a city and nation where there is practically no penalty for criminal thieves and are, in fact, protected by the Law when they commit blatant acts of theft like public monuments.
When Vancouver celebrated the 50th Anniversary of our trolleybus system in 1998, a 64 page booklet was published by B.C. Transit on the history of the system. The City of Vancouver produced a commemorative plaque that was installed in a ceremony at the original terminus of the Cambie trolley coach at 29th Avenue, based on an archival photograph taken in August of 1948. I was present at the event, and Kevin Brown of Edmonton took the following photographs. In the first photo you can see a matching Brill trolleybus in the background, part of the Transit Museum Society historic fleet. A parade of trolleybuses proceeded to Stanley Park, where a major celebration took place, including a cake with a Brill trolleybus in icing on top. People came from all over to be at this event.
http://trolleybuses.net/van/htm/can_h_van_misc_plaque_01_aug98_kb.htm
http://trolleybuses.net/van/htm/can_h_van_misc_plaque_02_aug98_kb.htm
The plaque was later placed in the sidewalk at the southeast corner of Cambie and 29th Avenue. Several years later it was “temporarily” removed for the cut and cover portion of the construction of the Canada Line. When it came time to return the plaque to its original location, it could not be found. It was learned that a City employee had taken it home for safekeeping, but had subsequently died and a search of his home produced no results. There was a thought of recasting it, but that never happened.
Shame!
Great info as always, Eve. Now I’ve got to buy this book!
Thanks Maurice. And, always happy to help you spend your money – readlocalbc !
The first meeting of Greenpeace is alleged to have taken place in the Dunbar neighbourhood at Jim Bohlen’s home at 3504 West 19th Avenue, in a house that is still standing in this view:
3504 W 19th Ave – Google Maps
This link may work better for Google Maps:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.2555616,-123.1820063,3a,75y,184.96h,89.75t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1s2gjE3AMbBzpwEIYNQui4ig!2e0!5s20180901T000000!7i16384!8i8192
Angus.
That worked! How great the house is still there
Eve,
You do write about the most fascinating things! Now I’m going to have to get Graeme’s book! I used to shop at Fox & Fluevog, back in the days!
Janet
Thank you soooooooooooooo much for all this wonderful information and where to get it !
You’re so very welcome. Thanks for dropping by!
A while ago, I lived in a building on Comox St.. There was an elderly gentleman who’d also helped build the sea wall. He told me that some of the stones were tomb stone “mistakes” that were turned backwards into the wall. The gentleman has passed away. Wish that I could ask him more questions.
He was right. I have a story about the Stanley Park “tombstones” in my new book coming out this fall https://evelazarus.com/books/vancouver-exposed-searching-for-the-citys-hidden-history/
That is amazing.!Mr. Johnston had lived in the West End for most of his life and had some wonderful stories.
Great post Eve! From memory, I believe this plaque was the first installed in Vancouver? — but I could off the mark there.
Thanks Will! Now you say that, it would be great to get a list of all these plaques at some point