Research

10 ways to research your home – or someone’ else’s through online sources Writer, librarian and podcaster Megan Cole sent me an email this week asking for some tips on researching the house where she used to live at 2856 West 5th in Kitsilano. It was such a great question, that it’s my topic for… Continue reading 10 ways to research your home (or someone else’s)

When I was researching my 2007 book At Home with History I spent most of my life at the Vancouver Archives and on the 7th floor of the Vancouver Public Library. Now, instead of trekking downtown, much of the information is available to me here at home. Today, the digital world just got a bit… Continue reading Online Porn for History Nerds

In some ways, researching your home is like an archeological dig. But with a bit of patience you can find out who built your home, who lived there before you, who was murdered there, who died of a comfortable old age, perhaps, even, who’s haunting it now. 1. City Directories: I always start with the… Continue reading Who lived in your house — in 10 (mostly easy) steps

On February 23, Jennifer Clay gave an A to Z workshop to home owners wanting to research the history of their homes. Jennifer has written a guest blog based on her presentation. By Jennifer Clay I live in a 1926 heritage home in North Vancouver, and while I had a vague idea of the previous occupants of… Continue reading Researching John Bull’s House

Some of my favourite pictures in Sensational Victoria are the then and now ones in James Bay. There’s a fabulous archival shot of Carr House on Government Street taken in 1869 and a current photo that doesn’t look all that much different—143 years later. Another find is of the Queen Anne house on South Turner… Continue reading James Bay – Then and Now

The Deep Cove Heritage Society has collected and scanned over 3,700 photos of the area. Most are from the scrapbooks of early residents.