This is an ongoing series that asks people who love history and heritage to tell us their favourite existing building and the one that never should have been torn down. Bill Allman: Bill Allman is a “recovering lawyer” and instructor of Entertainment Law at UBC. Bill has been a theatre manager (the Vogue), president of Theatre… Continue reading Heritage Streeters with Bill Allman, Kristin Hardie and Pamela Post

Last year, Constable Graham Walker of the Metro Vancouver Transit Police was asked to research the history for their 10-year anniversary. Graham promptly fell down the rabbit hole and his journey has taken him to UBC Special Collections, City of Vancouver Archives, BC Hydro Archives, and the Vancouver Police Museum. Graham’s first surprise was that… Continue reading The 100-year-old Unsolved Murder of Special Constable Charles Painter

Kiyoko Tanaka-Goto may not be the first person who springs to mind for women’s history month, but she was brave and entrepreneurial and succeeded at a time when there were few opportunities for women, especially ones who weren’t white. From: Sensational Vancouver Kiyoko Tanaka-Goto was an enterprising Japanese woman who was born in Tokyo and… Continue reading Women’s History Month: Remembering Kiyoko Tanaka-Goto

Our second Hotel Vancouver opened its doors in 1916 and was the most elegant and ornate building that we have destroyed. From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History Built in 1916 and pulled down just 33 years later to make way for a parking lot, the second Hotel Vancouver was  a replacement for… Continue reading Our Second Hotel Vancouver (1916-1949)

  From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History Did you know that a commuter train used to run right through downtown Vancouver? I found out about it when I was over at Tom Carter’s studio checking out one of his amazing paintings. There it was, a train chugging across Hastings Street. The train… Continue reading The train that ran down Hastings Street

Joe Ricci’s story is in Sensational Vancouver Joe was a kick-arse Italian cop who worked for the Vancouver Police Department between 1912 and 1928 and didn’t get bogged down in the details. He’d kick down the doors of opium dens, shoot first and ask questions later, and not worry too much about legal things like… Continue reading The Black Hand’s Vancouver Connection

I’m writing a book about John F.C.B. Vance, the first forensic scientist in Vancouver, and this week I wrote about his first day of work as the new City Analyst. My book is non-fiction, but sometimes you need some creative license. My challenge was to get to get Vance from his house in Yaletown to… Continue reading May 1, 1907: A Trip Across Vancouver

The Vancouver Police Museum’s Kristin Hardie solved the mystery of this ca.1940 photo. The women police officers on patrol are Bessie Say and Jeanette Heathorn. This great Foncie photo of two women police officers ran in Sensational Vancouver, in a chapter called “Lurancy Harris’s Beat.” Lurancy was the first female police officer in Canada when… Continue reading Women Police Officers on Patrol

The Canadian National Steamship terminal was a funky Spanish Colonial-style building that sat on the pier at the foot of Main Street from 1931 to 1983. From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History Foot of Main Street: Before CRAB Park was created in 1987, there was a funky Spanish Colonial-style building that sat… Continue reading The Canadian National Terminal on Main Street

On July 26, 1924, Janet Smith was found shot in the head by a .45 calibre automatic in the basement of a Shaughnessy house. The murder of the Scottish nanny rocked Vancouver. The murder touched on high-level police corruption, kidnapping, drugs, society orgies and rampant racism. This is a short excerpt from my book At… Continue reading Who Killed Janet Smith?

The Flying Angels Club House was built in 1906 by the BC Mills  as their offices for sales of pre-fabricated houses, schools and churches. Story in Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History Kathryn Murray’s association with the Mission to Seafarers goes back to 1902—the same year the Flying Angels Club came to Vancouver.… Continue reading Hastings Mill and the Flying Angels Club House

Just before you hit the bike only section of Point Grey Road at Alma you may have noticed that the corner lot is missing a lovely old heritage house. The lot sold for $4 million last year, and of course was advertised with a demolition permit and plan for a “brand new 2,800 sq.ft. house on… Continue reading Cube House

If you think that museums are full of old fossils and boring exhibits, it’s time to get yourself down to the Vancouver Museum. I went on opening night this week when 20 collectors were hanging out with their obsessions and it’s one of the craziest nights I’ve had in a long time. There were collections… Continue reading The Collectors

The Second Narrows Bridge Collapsed on June 17, 1958, tossing 79 workers into Burrard Inlet and killing 18 of them. Sounded like an explosion: Some described the noise of the bridge collapsing into the Second Narrows as gunfire or an explosion, others as a rumble or a loud snapping sound. On June 17, 1958 at… Continue reading The Second Narrows Bridge Collapse

There are two vastly different West End housing proposals going before Vancouver council this week and both have implications about how we view heritage in our development-mad city. One, in Mole Hill, involves the community’s desire to designate Mole Hill as a Heritage Conservation Area; while the other is a way to redevelop and save… Continue reading West End Heritage–a chance to have your say

Never heard of Manson’s Deep? You’re not alone. It’s one of the deepest points in Howe Sound just off Point Atkinson. It’s also been a burial ground for old sailors since 1941. Manson’s Deep gets its name from Captain Thomas Manson who came to Vancouver from Scotland in 1892. According to an article by Kellsie… Continue reading Vancouver Heritage House Tour and Manson’s Deep

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

From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History I’ve lived in Lynn Valley for 20 years and while I’ve heard rumours of a nudist camp at the top of Mountain Highway, I always thought that it was an urban myth. After reading an article this week, I found their website, fired off an email,… Continue reading Van Tan–North Vancouver’s Nudist Camp

Heritage Vancouver hosted its 16th annual bus tour today, taking people to the buildings, streets and landscapes that the Society believes have the most perilous survival rate. And, it’s not just the mansions—but also schools, churches, streets, and areas—all the things that make a community rich. Not all the buildings are that old either. There’s… Continue reading Heritage Vancouver’s Top 10 Most Endangered Heritage Resources of 2016

1. It’s in Victoria 2. It’s 52 years old That means Munro’s has survived Amazon, consolidation and e-books. 3. Carole Sabiston’s tapestries. Eight large banners depict the seasons and decorate the interior of Munro’s. Carole is an incredibly accomplished textile artist. Her commissions include the giant Sunburst for the Expo ’86 opening ceremony in Vancouver… Continue reading 10 things I Love about Munro’s Books