Vancouver History Blog - Forbidden Vancouver

Cordova Street looking west at Cambie Street, ca. 1900. Online Archive of California, UCR/California Museum of Photography #1996.0009.X4834.

Past & Present: Cordova Street, 1900/2017

24 Jul 2017

Cordova Street looking west at Cambie, ca. 1900 and 2017. The building on the left, on Cambie Street, in the 2017 pic was built in 1913 at the tail end of a major building boom....

Secret Vancouver Beach Histories title image, English Bay, ca. 1925. McCord Museum #MP-0000.158.144.

4 Secret Vancouver Beach Histories

04 Jul 2017

[by Lani Russwurm] It looks like summer weather is going to linger for a while, so we thought we’d supply you with some beach reading. The following are little known histories of four Vancouver beaches. Two...

Dominion Day celebration in New Westminster, 1878. Photo by French, City of Vancouver Archives #677-452.

Dominion Day on Burrard Inlet

01 Jul 2017

150 years ago, Gassy Jack was just thinking about opening a saloon at Burrard Inlet (which he did later in 1867). British Columbia had only united with Vancouver Island into one colony the year before...

Douglas Firs in the West End, with the first Hotel Vancouver in the distance. Photo by William McFarlane Notman, McCord Museum #VIEW 1803.

Past & Present: the West End, 1888/2017

15 Jun 2017

Looking towards downtown Vancouver from Thurlow and Barclay Streets in the West End. The old photo was taken by William McFarlane Notman of the Montreal-based Notman & Son studio. Notman’s father, William, opened his studio...

5 Secret Stories from Stanley Park

06 Jun 2017

[by Lani Russwurm] Stanley Park has lots to attract the millions of visitors it sees each year, from the ever-popular totem poles, to the many monuments, forest trails, and of course, the seawall. What attracts...

Fergusson Block, 200 Carrall Street, 1887. Photo by JA Brock, City of Vancouver Archives #Bu P80.

Past & Present: Ferguson Block, 1887/2017

26 May 2017

This is the second Ferguson Block built on 200 Carrall Street in Gastown’s Maple Tree Square. The first, wood version was obliterated in the Great Fire of 1886. This one was completed the following year, making it...

Title image, showing the interior of Urquart's liquor store between 1903 and 1907. City of Vancouver Archives #46-7

A Boozy History of Prohibition in Vancouver

27 Apr 2017

[by Lani Russwurm] Alcohol prohibition arrived in BC in 1917 and lasted just four years. Between the bootlegging, the corruption, and the scandals, it’s fair to say prohibition created more problems than it solved. It...

Angus Fraser's house on Carrall between Cordova Street and Trounce Alley, 1877. City of Vancouver Archives #Bu P28

Past & Present: Carrall Street, 1877/2017

20 Apr 2017

Angus Fraser and his brother Simon (not that Simon Fraser) ran logging operations that cleared much of what’s now Vancouver. Angus built this house in the 1870s (either 1873 or 1877 depending on the source) on Carrall...

Forbidden Vancouver on the Radio

29 Mar 2017

Forbidden Vancouver regularly joins Roundhouse Radio for Throwback Thursdays, 98.3 on your radio dial. Follow the links below to hear about our walking tours and find out about some of the stories that inspired them....

Police parade on the 700 block of Main Street, eastside, 1918. Photo by Stuart Thomson, City of Vancouver Archives #99-1269

Past & Present: 700 block of Main Street 1914/2017

24 Mar 2017

Only one of the buildings in the 1914 photo is likely to survive much longer, the London Hotel on the southeast corner of Main and East Georgia streets. The building farthest to the left was...