Every Place Has a Story

The Art of Frits Jacobsen

the_title()

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.

…read more

Captain Pybus and Vancouver’s St. Clair Hotel

the_title()

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 up to the Hostel.

…read more

Finding the Rhea Sisters  

the_title()

From Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History

I was driving along Hastings the other day when I saw a huge statue in the yard of Ital Decor in Burnaby. It looked suspiciously like one of the WW1 nurses that guarded the 10th floor of the Georgia Medical-Dental Building before it was imploded in 1989.

…read more

More of Vancouver’s Buried Houses

the_title()

Last month, Michael Kluckner wrote a guest blog about the buried houses of Vancouver. It was hugely popular and readers wrote in to let me know about more of these houses. Today’s blog is a compilation of those comments, photos and emails.

Now a story in Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History.

…read more

The Buntzen Power Stations on Indian Arm

the_title()

The original Buntzen powerhouse came into service in 1904, and was replaced in 1951. A second gothic looking powerhouse was completed in 1914. #2 has been the host to a number of creepy films, including Stephen King’s It, Placid, Freddy Vs. Jason and Roxanne.

Story from Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History

Indian Arm:

A couple of weeks ago, I took a boat ride up Indian Arm with Belcarra Mayor Ralph Drew and the Deep Cove Heritage Society.

…read more

The Navvy Jack House: Past, Present and Future

the_title()

The Navvy Jack house was built in the late 1860s or early ’70s which makes it one of the oldest houses in Metro Vancouver. Lloyd and Bette Williams took care of it for nearly 50 years, now it’s in the hands of the District of West Vancouver

Jane Williams kindly gave me a tour of her parent’s house at 1768 Argyle Avenue last week.

…read more