Eve Lazarus
Joe Fortes arrived in Vancouver in 1885 and quickly became one of the city’s most loved citizens. As our first official lifeguard and Beach Avenue resident, he saved dozens of lives.
This story is excerpted from: Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History.
Joe Fortes:
In 1904 Joe Fortes was living in a sweet little cottage at the foot of Gilford, right by where the Sylvia Hotel is today.
It was common in the 1970s to get in an elevator with an operator at buildings such as Woodwards and the Bay. Where did they go?
“Going up, she said,” is the opening line in the 1970’s pop song Heaven on the 7th Floor about a tryst between a female elevator operator and a male passenger.
Gordon Price called it “the most important thing that never happened” to Vancouver, and certainly if Project 200 and the rest of the freeway plans had gone ahead, Vancouver would be virtually unrecognizable today.
This story is from Vancouver Exposed: Searching for the City’s Hidden History
The plan was to construct a $340 million freeway system that would connect Vancouver to the Trans-Canada Highway and to Highway 99.
It’s the first week of January, 2017 and if you own a house you’ve received your BC Assessment notice. If you’re like us you’re not popping open the champagne quite yet because your house has smashed through the ceiling of the home owner grant and you’re on the hook for a lot more taxes, all without putting out one lick of paint.
For my last post of the year, I’ve chosen the top 10 Facebook group pages. This list is highly subjective and based on a loose criteria—they have to deal with some aspect of the history of Greater Vancouver or Victoria, and you have to be able to see the posts without having to join (I’m intrigued by East Vancouver Selfies and Lululemon Barter Wars, but fear either rejection or disappointment).
Fans of Michael Kluckner’s history books—Vanishing Vancouver, Vancouver the Way it Was, and several others of his beautifully illustrated history books, might find his latest release a big departure. 2050, A Post-apocalyptic Murder Mystery is a graphic novel, a fictional account of a Vancouver that has been ravished by disease, climate change and a benevolent dictator who keeps the population poor to reduce their carbon footprint and ultimately save the planet.
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 the history of transit police goes back far longer than 2005 when a recommendation by the BC Association of Chiefs of Police led to the creation of the Transit Police.
I’ve having the immense pleasure of wading through the actual copies of dozens of newspapers from the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s for a book that I’m currently writing. Every now and then I stumble across something really special.
In 1934, the Vancouver Sun bragged that it was “the only evening newspaper owned, controlled and operated by Vancouver Men,” and on page 2 of the Sunday October 6th edition was this short sidebar that ran with the headline “Lovely Vancouver Homes.” Below, in what was clearly an early advertorial disguised as editorial, were the photos of five newish homes that had recently sold.
