Vancouver History Blog - Forbidden Vancouver

The Lions Gate Bridge – and the Lions Who Guard It

15 May 2019

The Lions Gate Bridge [by Glenn Tkach] The Lions Gate Bridge arches proudly over the First Narrows. It is visible from the Stanley Park seawall, and a major feature of The Dark Secrets of Stanley...

Emily Pauline Johnson: Meet a Woman of Two Worlds

20 Mar 2019

Emily Pauline Johnson was born in 1861 to a Mohawk Chief and an English woman. She would go on to become one of North America’s most celebrated poets and performers, and would finish her career...

Recruiting Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours storytellers – join our team

19 Mar 2019

Want to become a Forbidden Vancouver Walking Tours Storyteller? We are recruiting new storytellers for the Forbidden Vancouver Tour Were you put on this earth to entertain people? Do you love Vancouver and its...

Vancouver women's hockey team - The Amazons

Vancouver Women’s Hockey Team Makes History: Meet The Amazons

14 Mar 2019

A Vancouver women’s hockey team made history in 1921. On The Forbidden Vancouver Tour, you’ll discover how women in Canada fought for recognition. And their fight to play in the political arena paralleled their struggle...

Lurancy Harris is one of Vancouver's First Policewomen

Vancouver’s First Policewomen – Meet Lurancy Harris

06 Mar 2019

Bigamy, murder and (gasp!) female impropriety – we discuss it all on The Forbidden Vancouver Tour. And it was all in a day’s work for Vancouver’s first policewomen: Minnie Millar and the woman pictured above, Lurancy...

The Really Gay History Contest

25 Jul 2018

Enter our contest and you could win the ultimate PRIDE day out! The prize package includes; Two adult tickets to our brand-new Really Gay History Tour ($64 retail value) Two adult tickets to the Vancouver...

The Marine Building

18 May 2018

[By Lani Russwurm] The Marine Building at 355 Burrard Street is widely considered the best piece of architecture in the city and among the finest examples of Art Deco architecture anywhere. It’s also the star...

Vancouver’s Royal Theatre bombing, 1933

16 May 2018

[By Lani Russwurm] The Forbidden Vancouver Tour explores the neighbourhood in and around old Hastings Street, which was once the centre of town. An early morning explosion on 20 March 1933 rocked the 100 block...

Title image showing Luther Powell saluting outside Klan Headquarters in Shaughnessy Heights in November 1925. Photo by Stuart Thompson, City of Vancouver Archives #99-1499.

The History of the Ku Klux Klan in Vancouver

05 Mar 2018

[by Lani Russwurm] The Ku Klux Klan in Vancouver? On The Forbidden Vancouver Tour, we delve into the shocking racism of Vancouver’s past. This city was fertile ground for several racist organizations. The Ku Klux...

The Death of Janet Smith

10 Oct 2017

[by Lani Russwurm] The death of Scottish nurse Janet Smith in a Shaughnessy mansion in 1924 is Vancouver’s most notorious cold case — a tale of unsolved murder, high society, racism, drug-fuelled parties, torture, and even...