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 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...

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...

Vancouver History Blog

VANCOUVER HISTORY BLOG