History

City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 371-836. 1920 Polar Bear Swim These groups of brave swimmers are shivering at the water’s edge at English Bay on the first day of 1939, preparing to participate in the annual Polar Bear Swim.

City of Vancouver Archives Pan N54. W.J. Moore photo. 1916 Lost Lagoon Stanley Park’s Lost Lagoon was separated in 1916 from the sea by a causeway, turning it into an artificial lake.

City of Vancouver Archives, Duke of C and Y P7. 1900 Hudson’s Bay Company Another Vancouver landmark born in 1900.

The Chuck Davis History of Metropolitan Vancouver. 1927 Orpheum Theatre The Orpheum Theatre opened its doors to the public only eight months after breaking ground.

Vancouver Public Library, Special Collections, VPL 10141. Leonard Frank photo.

City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 99-1742. Photo Stuart Thomson. 1924 Lansdowne Park The horses galloping towards this finish line were photographed in July 1928 in Lansdowne Park, which was originally built in Richmond in 1924.

Vancouver Public Library, Special Collections, VPL 54588. 1968 Museum of Vancouver The Centennial Museum and H.R. MacMillan Planetarium were officially opened on October 26, 1968. Mayor Tom Campbell was there; so was H.R. MacMillan himself.

Vancouver Public Library, Special Collections, VPL 6701. Philip Timms photo. 1903 Woodward's Building Woodward’s branches out.

Some believe we are living near the end of the Third Wave of Urban Reform in Canada. What comes next. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DuK6TKOV64 Sam Sullivan is publishing 3 minute video blogs on British Columbia history and issues.

Dominion Photo Co. photo, Vancouver Public Library VPL 24322. 1870 Gastown In 1870, the year this photograph of Water Street was taken, the informal little hamlet of Gastown was surveyed and officially anointed the Township of Granville.