Vancouver History Blog - Forbidden Vancouver

Squatting Early Vancouver Part 2: Cut Throat Johnny’s

01 Jun 2022

[By Lani Russwurm] This is the second post in our Squatting Early Vancouver Series. Don’t miss out on part 1 about the Tar Flat neighourhood. When the Canadian Pacific Railway arrived in Vancouver in the...

Mugshot of Tar Flat resident William Rutt, aka, Billy the Rat, 11 January 1902. He was sentenced for stealing blankets from an Indigenous woman. City of Vancouver Archives #480-456.

Squatting Early Vancouver Part 1: Tar Flat

30 Mar 2022

[By Lani Russwurm] Like many cities grappling with skyrocketing housing prices, makeshift squatter communities have become a hot button political issue in Vancouver in recent years. But throughout the city’s history, these enclaves and...

Georgia Medical and Detnal Building, ca. 1950 - City of Vancouver Archives: AM1517-S1-: 2008-022.040

Vancouver’s First Art Deco Skyscraper Crumbles Down

20 Jan 2022

[by Glenn Tkach] Does Vancouver’s first Art Deco skyscraper look familiar? You might mistake this building for the iconic Marine Building on the corner of Hastings and Burrard Streets. But this one was here first....

Granville Street, 1959: City of Vancouver Archives - AM1531-: CVA 672-1

Theatre Row, All Aglow

16 Dec 2021

[by Glenn Tkach] Look at the neon! Vancouver once had as many as 19,000 neon signs. Would you believe that was more than Las Vegas? But by the 1970s, we in Vancouver were starting to...

Labour Day Parade, 1898 COV Archives: AM54-S4-: Str P243

The Hastings Mill – Visit the Site of Vancouver’s First Settlement

18 Nov 2021

[by Glenn Tkach] The Hastings Mill was the site of the earliest settlement in what would eventually become Vancouver. Originally, the mill had a different name. Captain Edward Stamp named it after himself when he...

Theatre Under the Stars at Makin Bowl, 1954. Postcard via @Rob on Flickr.

An Illustrated History of Malkin Bowl

14 Oct 2021

Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park is Vancouver’s premiere outdoor performance venue. Today it’s mainly used for Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) musical theatre productions and the Concerts in the Park series produced by Live Nation....