Angus McIntyre was reading Murder by Milkshake  when he stopped and took a closer look at a photo snapped by the Vancouver Sun’s Dan Scott in December 1966. Where I saw a rare photo of Lolly Miller leaving court during the murder trial of her lover, Rene Castellani—Angus was looking at the background. “I just noticed something… Continue reading Lolly, CFUN, and the Brill Trolley Bus

Selwyn Pullan shot these photos of the Ritz Hotel in 1956, shortly after it had been renovated into this awesome mid-century modern look. But while it had a fancy name, the Ritz Hotel at 1040 West Georgia was originally designed as a YMCA in 1912 by Henry Sandham Griffith. Griffith had offices in Vancouver and… Continue reading Our Missing Heritage: The Ritz Hotel

Lots of history to cover on this last leg of the Spirit Trail. We’re starting at Park Royal, which when it opened in 1950, was the first covered mall in Canada. Prior to 1965, most of the land you’re riding on was swamp. Ambleside Beach is the product of 85,000 cubic metres of sand and… Continue reading Riding the Spirit Trail to West Vancouver Part 7

Last week we stopped our ride at Pemberton Avenue. Today we’re going to cross the border into West Vancouver. The first part of the Spirit Trail winds through Norgate, a quiet neighbourhood filled with mid-century ranchers built during the post-war boom period. But did you know that the whole area was originally intended to be… Continue reading Riding the Spirit Trail from Pemberton Avenue to the Capilano River (Part 6)

At the end of our last post, we were watching harbour seals at Mosquito Creek. Now we’re going to take the Spirit Trail to Harbourside. While you may see a large tract of vacant land, as well as some businesses, a Spa Utopia, and an auto mall–developers see 700 condos, office space, retail stores, and… Continue reading Riding the Spirit Trail – from Mosquito Creek to Pemberton Avenue (part 5)

Last Sunday, when Fatidjah Nestman looked out of her high-rise on West 13th she noticed that an old painted ad for White’s Grocery had popped up when construction workers removed the cement siding from a building on Granville Street. Her neighbor, Karen Fiorini, took this picture of the ghost sign and kindly sent it to me.… Continue reading Ghost Signs: White’s Grocery of South Granville

Last week we left off at the Shipyards Coffee at Lonsdale Quay. Grab your bike and we’ll ride the Spirit Trail down Cates court, loop around Waterfront Park and enter Squamish Nation land. Ustlawn: The Coast Salish aboriginal people established a permanent village called Slah-ahn (also known as Ustlawn or Eslha7an), meaning “head bay” in… Continue reading The North Shore’s Spirit Trail – Mosquito Creek – (part 4)

There’s so much history at Lonsdale Quay, that I thought we’d stay here and let it roll over us while we caffeinate at the Bean around the World (now the Shipyards) A Ranch: If we time travelled back to the late 1880s, we’d be sitting on Tom Turner “ranch.” It stretched from Chesterfield to Rogers… Continue reading The North Shore’s Spirit Trail – Lonsdale Quay (part 3)

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)

  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)

From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History In 2016, the Vancouver Historical Society, of which I was a board member, was contacted by the Port of Vancouver and asked what we’d like to do with a three metre-high sculpture made from BC granite that had been sitting on their land at the foot… Continue reading Art, History and a Mission

On September 10, 1968 the Vancouver International Airport opened a spanking new terminal building to handle all domestic, US and international flights. It was one of the few airports where aircraft could pull up to gates attached to the terminal and where passengers could load and unload via a bridge. Designed by Zoltan Kiss: The… Continue reading YVR: A Short History

Long before Jimi Hendrix played the Pacific Coliseum on September 7, 1968, he had a Vancouver connection. Jimi Hendrix played the Pacific Coliseum on September 7, 1968. Four years after the Beatles and 11 years after Elvis Presley played Empire Stadium and changed music forever. The difference was that Jimi had a Vancouver connection—his grandmother… Continue reading Jimi Hendrix Plays the Pacific Coliseum—September 7, 1968

Lynn Headwaters: The BC Mills House Museum at Lynn Headwaters plays a cameo role in Rachel Greenaway’s brilliant new mystery Creep where the action all takes place in upper Lynn Valley. While the little house has sat at the entrance to the park for a couple of decades now, I only recently discovered its back story.… Continue reading The BC Mills House Museum, a Mystery, a Captain and a Troll

Frits Jacobsen arrived in Vancouver in 1968 and drew many of Vancouver’s long since demolished heritage houses. By Jason Vanderhill I first heard about Frits Jacobsen, and saw his beautiful drawings in a post by Jason Vanderhill on his Illustrated Vancouver blog. Jason kindly allowed me to repost it here. 522 Shanghai Alley: Frits Jacobsen… Continue reading The Art of Frits Jacobsen

Occasionally, when I’m searching for photos using the baffling search engine at Vancouver Archives, I stumble across an interesting building or streetscape that I’ve never seen before. Often the information with the photos is quite detailed, but in the above photo all I had was a photo of the Royal Crown Soap Company building and… Continue reading The Royal Crown Soap Company

A little while ago I was having lunch with Tom Carter and Maurice Guibord at the newly renovated Railway Club. Afterwards, we were walking along Richards Street and Tom gave us a tour of the St. Clair Hotel-Hostel. The Blushing Boutique is on the ground floor and a set of very steep stairs takes you… Continue reading Captain Pybus and Vancouver’s St. Clair Hotel

From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History Last week, Michael Kluckner and I were over at Tom Carter’s studio looking out his seventh storey window onto the EasyPark—a cavernous concrete lot that fronts West Pender and takes up the entire city block from Cambie to Beatty Streets. In 2013, Michael had the dubious… Continue reading Our Missing Heritage: Vancouver’s First Hospital

By Michael Kluckner Michael Kluckner is a writer and artist with a list of books that includes Vanishing Vancouver and Toshiko. Summertime, traffic jams, and the changing city are caught in a set of previously unpublished photos taken from the front porch of a Kits Point house in 1923. In 1923, Ogden was a corduroy road.… Continue reading Kits Point and the Summer of ‘23

There is a chapter in Sensational Vancouver called West Coast Modern which explains the connections between artists and architects and the West Coast Modern movement in Vancouver. Last week I wrote about Selwyn Pullan’s photography exhibition currently on display at the West Vancouver Museum. I focused on his shots of West Coast Modern houses now… Continue reading West Coast Modern Architecture