a grainy black & white photo of two disheveled and bloody men after the Zoot Suit Riots. Overlayed in large text

Vancouver’s Zoot Suit Riots

19 Jun 2024

Quick Summary In July of 1944, tensions erupted between an East End youth gang known as “zoot suiters” and merchant seamen in Vancouver across several nights of violent street brawls centered on Granville Street The...

Was Gassy Jack’s Statue Toppled By His Courageous Wife?

09 Apr 2024

Quick Summary Gassy Jack Deighton’s statue was toppled in 2022 amid outrage over his marriage to Kwa7xiliya (Madeline), a twelve-year-old Squamish girl and niece of his late first wife Kwa7xiliya’s story reveals she was cheated...

The Man Who Named Vancouver’s Streets… and Barely Escaped With His Life

04 Mar 2024

Quick Summary: Many of Vancouver’s streets were named in the late 1800s by surveyor Lachlan Alexander Hamilton, an employee of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Hamilton named several streets after colleagues, such as Abbott and Cambie,...

Unearthing Vancouver’s Chilling History in Gastown

04 Oct 2023

Quick Summary: Discover Vancouver’s most historic neighbourhood during Halloween, revealing a darker, atmospheric side where cobblestone streets and historic alleys evoke echoes of Vancouver’s 19th-century past. The neighbourhood’s Victorian-era charm hides stories of saloons, scandals,...

Truth & Reconciliation Day: Spotlight on Luke Marston

29 Sep 2023

The Truth and Reconciliation Day, on September 30th, is celebrated as a day for Canadians to acknowledge the harm caused by the residential schools and to honour the Indigenous survivors of these schools. As a...

Squatting Early Vancouver Part 2: Cut Throat Johnny’s

01 Jun 2022

Quick Summary: JR “Cut-throat Johnny” Linton, a grisled but ambitious squatter, built a floating cabin community at the foot of Abbott Street after the 1886 Great Fire, renting low-cost rooms to working-class men. Authorities increasingly...

Vancouver History Blog

VANCOUVER HISTORY BLOG