Historic Vancouver Photos

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by Pinion

It's from 1948 according to the archive page. Lions Gate is there.

I was going to say it was there but I couldn't make out the towers which I though would be more prominent.

[SFUVancouver]

It's before 1954, that's for sure. The current (3rd) Granville Street Bridge has not yet been built. It's after 1936 (?) since the Marine Building is built. The current (also 3rd) Hotel Vancouver is built, so is City Hall and the Lion's Gate Bridge, so the photo's from after the great depression.

[spm2013]

Langara Golf Course (1926) and you can still see the old CPR golf course where the Van Dusen Gardens is located now.

Here's another shot from the series with the Lions Gate bridge/causeway.

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/o...ooking-north-2

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by spm2013

Here's another shot from the series with the Lions Gate bridge/causeway.

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/o...ooking-north-2

EDIT: People already beat me.

Mystery solved. The archives tell us that the photograph was taken on June 5, 1948.

[officedweller]

Lots of postcards here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/45379817@N08/page1/

1961 (Bridge completed 1960)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/45379817@N08/

1964 (Tolls removed 1963)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/45379817@N08/


https://www.flickr.com/photos/45379817@N08/

Kits Beach 1954

https://www.flickr.com/photos/45379817@N08/

[hollywoodnorth]

1948 Aerial view of Vancouver showing the Original Georgia Viaduct, Cambie Bridge, a visiting Goodyear blimp and the Gasometer!!

http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/a...odyear-blimp-2

[Zassk]

Originally Posted by hollywoodnorth

1948 Aerial view of Vancouver showing the Original Georgia Viaduct, Cambie Bridge, a visiting Goodyear blimp and the Gasometer!!

Also provides a great view of the original alignment of the Dunsmuir Tunnel.

[WarrenC12]

Great picture!

Anybody know the story of the building/house and property to the south of Victory Square?

[Zassk]

Originally Posted by SFUVancouver

Saw this on Reddit and thought it warranted posting here as well. It's absolutely massive but the quality is superb.

This is a great view of the old No. 5 Road bridge (almost 50 years old by the time this was taken), which was at the foot of Fraser Street and the main connection to Richmond. Knight Street appears to be a quiet residential street that peters out before 54th Avenue. I guess it was not built out until the Knight St bridge was built 2 decades later.

We can further pin down the photo's date because Mitchell Island was still two islands; the channel between them was filled in in 1951.

Isn't it surprising to see that there was no industry at all south of Marine Drive in those days. It appears to all be agricultural. So much for the "industrial land reserve" - this land would all be ALR based on this photo.

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by WarrenC12

Great picture!

Anybody know the story of the building/house and property to the south of Victory Square?

Pretty sure it's the Central school building which was replaced by the Vocational School (VCC) in the mid-40s



Credit: http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/c...rom-303-pender

[Prometheus]

Vancouverites of the past really enjoyed sitting on park benches. There is not a single unoccupied seat on any of the benches in Victory Square Park.

Nice landscaping too.

[officedweller]

I'll bet one of those trees is the one that fell over a couple weeks ago.
Notice how they trimmed them like the French do? (can't recall the namme of the technique)

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by officedweller

I'll bet one of those trees is the one that fell over a couple weeks ago.
Notice how they trimmed them like the French do? (can't recall the namme of the technique)

Yeah the branches match the basic shape of the current trees I think..

And from the Orphaned Buildings thread you can see the Delmar Hotel in the background

[jsbertram]

Originally Posted by Zassk

Also provides a great view of the original alignment of the Dunsmuir Tunnel.

The tunnel alignment hasn't changed, other than Skytrain cutting into the east end of the original tunnel to continue eastwards under Dunsmuir towards Stadium station.

The rest of the original CPR tunnel that curved southwards to the south portal is apparently still intact under the old Greyhound bus station, and under Beatty St. The portion that was revealed when the new condo at Georgia & Beatty was built was taken out to make room for the condo foundations and parking. Apparently there is an inspection door in the condo parkade so there is still easy access to the remaining tunnel.

Its my understanding that the south portal (under the Georgia viaduct) is still there, but only a bit of attached tunnel remains there (since it is outside of the condo property line).

I expect that when the new Art Gallery gets built on the the old Greyhound site, the portion of the old tunnel within that property limits will be removed too, leaving only the piece under Beatty to be forgotten and re-discovered by a future generation as 'the tunnel to no-where'

[Pinion]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Vancouverites of the past really enjoyed sitting on park benches. There is not a single unoccupied seat on any of the benches in Victory Square Park.

There wasn't much else to do if you weren't talking to someone. Now you're assumed to mentally ill if you try to talk, especially in that area.

[officedweller]

In the aerial shot, anyone know what the building across Beatty St. from the Sun Tower is?
It may be a government building or school by the looks of the pathways leading to the front entrance.

The pic suggests having a nice triangular parkette (with a good view of the Sun Tower) if they demolish that parkade that's there now.

[spm2013]

Originally Posted by officedweller

In the aerial shot, anyone know what the building across Beatty St. from the Sun Tower is?
It may be a government building or school by the looks of the pathways leading to the front entrance.

The pic suggests having a nice triangular parkette (with a good view of the Sun Tower) if they demolish that parkade that's there now.

Seems to be the old Rotary Clinic for Diseases of the Chest (100 W Pender). It used to be the city hospital, before they tore it down.

Photo here: http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/r...west-pender-st

You can also see the old CPR Roundhouse in the photo.

[officedweller]

Thanks. Never heard of that building before.

[Jebby]

1911 Sectional panoramic view showing houses and buildings in the 1200, 1300 and 1400 blocks of Comox Street, the Broughton Apartments, St. John's Presbyterian Church, Nelson Street, the Horse Show building, the Denman Arena under construction and the Mayfair, Beacionsfield and Nelson Court Apartments.


[Panoramic view of the West End from the Royal Alexandra Apartments at Bute and Comox] - City of Vancouver Archives - retouched by jmv, on Flickr

[Dylan Leblanc]

Not a photo, but a rendering. An early design for the Hotel Europe - https://www.flickr.com/photos/westco...49102/sizes/m/