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...

Trip Advisor 2017 Certificate of Excellence

2017 Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence

02 Aug 2017

Forbidden Vancouver won the Certificate of Excellence from TripAdvisor this year for “consistently achieving outstanding traveller reviews on TripAdvisor.” We don’t like to blow our own horn too much around here, but we won’t stop...

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

Here’s an old street we explore in The Lost Souls of Gastown Tour. Cordova Street looking west at Cambie, ca. 1900 and 2017. The building on the left, on Cambie Street, in the 2017 pic...

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. (Find out all about it on The Lost Souls of Gastown Tour.) British...

1st Annual Forbidden and Mysterious Summer Social

30 Jun 2017

It’s not all work here at Forbidden Vancouver, but we do like to keep competitive. On Monday evening we joined our sister company, Vancouver Mysteries, for a friendly game of croquet at Pandora Park. Good times were...

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

On The Dark Secrets of Stanley Park Tour, we explore how, why – and by whom – the West End was first settled. This pair of photos looks towards downtown Vancouver from Thurlow and Barclay...

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

The Lost Souls of Gastown Tour finishes at Gastown’s Maple Tree Square. This is the second Ferguson Block built there, at 200 Carrall Street. The first version, made of wood, was obliterated in the Great...

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...

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...

A History of Deviant Alleys in Vancouver

08 Mar 2017

[by Lani Russwurm] The Lost Souls of Gastown Tour meanders through the oldest alleys of Gastown. Today we think of alleys as almost exclusively dedicated to garbage pick-up, deliveries, and parking cars. But Vancouver had...

The World Building (now the Sun Tower), wholesale district, and railyards, 1915. Photo by Richard Broadbridge, BC Archives #B-00406

Past & Present: Looking north towards the Sun Tower, 1915/2017

23 Feb 2017

The Sun Tower has a fascinating story, which we delve into on The Forbidden Vancouver Tour. The first photo was taken from the recently opened Georgia Viaduct. It was replaced in 1972 with the...

A Devastating History of Stanley Park

24 Jan 2017

[by Lani Russwurm] The Dark Secrets of Stanley Park Tour is a journey through a wild forest – and an equally wild history! Stanley Park was supposed to be an untamed rainforest. Almost 1,000 acres...

Fongoun's Tailor shop at 100 East Hastings Street showing damage from the 1907 anti-Asian riots.

Past & Present: 100 East Hastings Street 1907/2017

23 Jan 2017

The Forbidden Vancouver Tour delves into one of the darkest moments in Vancouver’s history. The old photo shows some of the damage done by the Asiatic Exclusion League riot that rampaged through Chinatown and...

10 Vancouver Craft Beers You Should Try

12 Jan 2017

Vancouver has had a fine tradition of locally brewed beers going back to the 1880s. But by the late 20th century, local beer pickings had become slim and sadly predictable. For various reasons, all that...

The Canadian Bank of Commerce building at Hastings and Granville streets in Vancouver in 1921.

Past & Present: Hastings and Granville Streets, 1921/2016

16 Dec 2016

Discover the Golden Years on The Forbidden Vancouver Tour. Starting in 1908, Vancouver went through a period of extremely rapid growth. New buildings began popping up everywhere – including this one. Built as the Canadian...

A History of Sex Work in Early Vancouver

10 Dec 2016

[by Lani Russwurm] We visit the site of some of Vancouver’s oldest brothels on The Forbidden Vancouver Tour. When Florence Mackenzie came to Vancouver in 1894 to set up a brothel, sex work in the...

Vancouver History Blog

VANCOUVER HISTORY BLOG