North Shore

On April 28, 1947, Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 3 took off from Lethbridge, Alberta on a routine flight to Vancouver. It never arrived. Rice Lake: A couple of Sundays ago, my friend Virginia and I went for a walk around North Vancouver’s Rice Lake. We stopped to pay our respects at the two boulders near the… Continue reading Remembering Trans-Canada Airlines Flight 3

The Ironworkers Memorial Bridge collapsed June 17, 1958 killing 18 men, and one diver the following day. It is the worst industrial accident in Vancouver’s history. Thanks to Bruce Stewart for sending photos that his father Angus shot of the tragedy. June 17, 2025: There is a memorial service today at 1:00 pm at New… Continue reading The Day the Bridge Fell Down

I was driving along Lynn Valley Road for probably the hundredth time this year, stopped at the traffic lights at Fromme. The Lynn Valley Care Centre is on the corner there, sitting behind a stone fence and a very big monkey tree. For more stories like this one, check out Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the… Continue reading Behind the Stone Wall on Lynn Valley Road

An Interview with Jazmin Welch, book designer about working on Vancouver Exposed I’m excited to tell you that Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History is now in bookstores. And, while the saying goes “don’t judge a book by its cover,” I have to disagree. A great cover not only helps to sell the… Continue reading An Interview with Vancouver Exposed Book Designer Jazmin Welch

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

For the last year or so I’ve been receiving emails from a realtor named Trent Rodney at West Coast Modern. They come with an invitation to drop by one of the dwindling stock of West Coast Modern houses on the North Shore, sip a cocktail, eat catered food and listen to jazz. The houses are… Continue reading West Coast Modern: Selling Architecture as Art

On Sunday December 16, 1973, 96-year-old Albina Christiana Lequiea was found murdered in her bed. She lived on the second floor of the Sisters of Saint Paul School in North Vancouver. This story is from Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History and is also part of a Cold Case Canada Podcast The Convent:… Continue reading The Murder of Albina Lequiea

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 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)

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

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

If you’re looking for something a little different, skip Quarry Rock, Honey’s Donuts and the ice-cream shops of Panorama Drive and head to Cates Park. There’s a ton of history spread over the six kilometres of waterfront park. Robert Dollar: In 1916 a San Francisco-based lumber baron named Robert Dollar bought 100 acres and built… Continue reading A Short History of Cates Park

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… Continue reading The Buntzen Power Stations on Indian Arm

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

If you live in North Vancouver you may have noticed the old Tudor-style house at Chesterfield and Osborne in the upper Lonsdale Area. It’s hard to see these days, because several years ago we allowed developers to build two large “carriage” houses, in what was once a magnificent garden filled with hollies, laburnums, cedars, black… Continue reading Chesterfield House