Car #124

On August 15, 1950 the BC Provincial Force was dissolved after 92 years of service. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police took over their duties.

The first Canada- wide rail strike began on August 22. It ended by government order on August 30, 1950.

Eccles-Rand Limited built Vancouver's first atomic bomb shelter and on August 29, they inspected it at an undisclosed yard in Shaughnessy.

September 1. The CPR went on strike and this affected many residents in Port Coquitlam since many of them worked on the marshalling yards there.

Also on September 1, 1950, the first regional shopping centre in Canada opened. Park Royal Shopping Centre originally opened on the north side of Marine Drive in West Vancouver and later expanded to the south side of the Marine Drive.

September 17 saw the last run of Vancouver open air streetcars. These observation cars were built by BC Electric in 1909 at their New Westminster shops. The end of the open-air streetcars also meant the end of tour guide Teddy Lyons.

Lyons was born in Portage La Praire and was a "spieler" aboard car #124 from 1911 to 1950 - 39 years. He was a character, pointing out interesting sites and cracking jokes. (Pointing up at seagull: “There’s the richest bird in Vancouver—he just made a deposit on a brand-new Cadillac”) Someone calculated that Teddy had travelled 930,000 kilometres during his career.

Here's a photo I found of Teddy on one of his streetcar tours. I got it from the Vancouver Public Library archives

September 21, 1950. John Oliver, the city's engineer, said he feared that if the provincial and dominion governments didn't contribute funds to the building of the Granville Street bridge, the project would cost $3 million more than the original projected cost of $8 million. (Actually, in 1939, it was estimated the bridge would cost $4 million to build.) Neither government contributed and when the bridge was completed in 1954, the total cost was $16 million.

Vancouver's Sunset Memorial Centre at 404 East 51st Avenue on September 29. It was officially opened through a telephone call from Bing Crosby. Crosby enjoyed this area, often visiting to relax and fish however, on this date, he was filming a movie. He did manage to view the centre when he visited the following year. 

Although local people protested, a BC Electric Tram made its last trip between New Westminster and Chilliwack on September 30, 1950. In a settlement, BC Electric contributed to establishing bus transportation. Businesses complained the mail was now slower. 

Thanks to  The History of Metropolitan Vancouver website for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill

Naked Doukhobors and Peace

During 1920, plans were made to erect a Cenotaph on the old courthouse site at Cambie and Hastings Streets. This is what we now call Victory Square. The BC Electric employees won the eight-hour work day. Although this was becoming standard, it would be several years before the mill workers gained the same privilege.

1921 was another interesting year in Vancouver. The civic election tried out proportional representation voting but soon discarded it because it was too complicated. The Vancouver General Hospital treated 13,000 cases during this year and its budget rose to $1 million.

Printers in Vancouver went on strike in 1921 for a 44-hour work week. And won. They were the first Vancouver workmen to obtain that right.  On December 1, 1921, three Doukhobors stripped their clothing in the CPR Station.

The Peace Arch at Blaine was completed and dedicated at Blaine. This project was vigorously supported by Vancouver women's associations.

The Peace Arch is a monument that stands between Surrey, British Columbia Canada and Blaine, Washington USA. It was built by Sam Hill and dedicated in September of 1921. Standing 67 feet tall, 20.5 metres, the arch commemorates the Treaty of Ghent in 1814.

The Arch stands on the exact United States - Canada boundary between Interstate 5 and Highway 99 in the grass median between the north and southbound lanes.

On the crown of the Peace Arch is the Canadian Flag and the American Flag. The frieze below has two inscriptions.

For the Americans: "Children of a common mother". For the Canadians: "Brethren dwelling together in unity".

Inside the arch are two iron gates. On the east side, it reads: "1814 Open One Hundred Years 1914". On the west side: "May these gates never be closed".

On the Northern side of the arch is the Peace Arch Provincial Park and on the Southern side is the Peace Arch State Park. These are international parks, which means that visitors do not need a visa or passport to visit the parks as long as they stay within the park boundaries.

This arch was built and erected to symbolize the unity and peace between these great countries.

Philip Timms took this photo of the Peace Arch in the 1920's or 30's. Photo compliments of the Vancouver Public Library

Thanks to the book, Vancouver, From Milltown to Metropolis by Alan Morley for some of the above information and to Wikipedia for information on the Peace Arch. 

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill

Buses and a University

In 1919, the provincial government agreed to press construction of the University of British Columbia - UBC - on Point Grey. The university was still operating at out of the 'shacks' on the grounds of the General Hospital. Leonard S. Klinck, the university's new president, mobilized friends to keep the pressure up before the university finally opened in its permanent location in late 1925.

Culturally, Vancouver was not doing well. The public library and the City Museum were in wretched buildings. There was no art gallery and no proper auditorium. World War I had halted construction of the new YMCA building on Georgia Street. The steel skeleton stood for years before being sold and completed as the Ritz Hotel. The "Y" remained in the rickety old building at Dunsmuir and Cambie Streets.

One positive note for culture did occur in 1919 when Henry Green organized the city's Symphony Orchestra.

Industry, however, was doing well. And changing. Shipbuilding was dwindling away, with four vessels still under construction. By 1925, there were 500 established industrial operations with 14,000 employees to take the place of shipbuilding.

Most of these were small plants with a total comprised investment of $95 million and an annual output of $85 million. Power was supplied B.C. Electric from its Buntzen plant and by the Western Power Co. of Canada Ltd from their three generating units at Stave Falls. Western Power had begun in 1912 and competed with B.C. Electric until 1920.

Western's distribution facilities were insufficient and B.C. Electric shared the water rights with Western on the Stave River. In 1920, Western was sold to BCE - a logical move.

Power played a much larger part in the homes of Vancouver in the 20's. The city was changing, first to gas and then to electricity for cooking and electric appliances were making great strides in home use. BCE also supplied power to industrial and public transit.

A new franchise was negotiated in 1922, providing for the innovation of motor bus service. The pioneer buses were put into operation on Grandview Highway in 1923. 

By 1925, Vancouver was using 700 million cubic feet of gas a year. The old cluster-globe and arc lights on the streets were replaced by the first of the modern 1,500 to 2,500 candle-power single lamps on ornamental standards. 1925 was also the year that B.C. Electric, through a subsidiary, had bus lines to Haney, Ioco, White Rock and Seattle.

Thanks to the book Vancouver, From Milltown to Metropolis by Alan Morley for the above information.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill