Murals and Victoria

I have a few more photos to show you from Victoria in yesteryear. This is Admirals Road circa 1928. I bet it looks a lot different today.

Here is another one. Malahat Drive. I don't have a year for this one.

This is the train at Mattick's Farm. The farm is still in operation today, on Cordova Bay Road. It is a shopping destination with mini golf, tea garden and a market, among other things.

This is the Princess Mary Restaurant.

This establishment opened on May 5, 1904 and at that time it was the Sailors and Soldiers Home, serving as a home for servicemen on leave; a location for the first Esquimalt's Council meetings and the local Methodist's congregation. The Royal Naval Institute sold its share in 1935 and the Tudor House Neighbourhood Pub was born. The building is approximately 5000 square feet and seats 175 patrons. It is built in a large 'L' shape.

Now I want to go back to the mural on Campbell and Hastings. Remember it?

I never finished everything on there.

407 and 417 Heatley received water service in 1893.

These homes were built before the street levelling, as was 1898 Heatley on the corner where there were rooms on the Hastings Street side that were buried.

In 1886 Heatley Avenue was the eastern city limit as the city became incorporated. It was named after Edward Davis Heatley who, with George Campbell, owned Hastings Sawmill.

Cordova Street was originally named Oppeinheimer Street - after our second mayor.

Before this area was settled Campbell Avenue at high tide was a passage for First Nation's canoes through to the Burrard Inlet. The road led to the fish docks on the waterfront until they were closed in the 1980s. The avenue was named after George Campbell from the Hastings Sawmill.

This is the St. Elmo Hotel. It was built in 1912 and originally owned and run by Ethel Jackson.

The hotel is constructed of brick and covered by stucco and siding.

Business that have operated from the ground floor of this building in its nearly one hundred year history include the Royal Bank, BC Engineers, a restaurant and a grocery.

I still have more to show you from that mural but I am running out of room again. I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Admirals Road, Vancouver,Victoria,Mural, Mattick's Farm,History,Hastings Sawmill

Mural Memories III

More from the mural! First we are going to look at the Vancouver Japanese Language School and Japanese Hall.

The original building that was at this site was built in 1906. This building was built in 1928 and designed by architects Sharp and Thompson.

The building was force to close during World War II but reopened in 1952. It is the only property returned to its rightful owners, the Japanese.

This house is at 242 Princess. When the streets were levelled and sidewalks paved at the turn of the last century many homes ended up below street level - as you will see in a moment - the rear portion of this building is an example of this while the front piece was added later.

I don't have a lot of information on this house but I am giving you a good look at it anyway.

The next house I am going to showcase is one you may recognize. Last year I wrote about Vancouver's first coroner and how he lived, and practiced his craft, in this home. I also mentioned how during the Spanish Flu Epidemic he had so many dead bodies to deal with that he piled them in the alley and covered them with a tarp until he could get to them. That story got a reaction.

But on to the house.

This house was built before the street levelling and, as you can see, certain adjustments were made. There are many homes in Strathcona that are on street level at one angle yet have this deep yard.


I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, street levelling, Vancouver,242 Princess,Pender and Heatley,History,Canada,Japanese Language School

Walking with History

Saturday I went on a history walk with our guide James Johnstone. The walk was through the Strathcona area and this man is a wealth of information.

This house was built in 1889 and its address was then was 668 Hastings. Now it is 401 Heatley but the streets didn't change. No, instead the house was moved back and two other buildings have been added to fill the space between the house and the street.

The building that says Heatley block was built in the 1930s and faces Hastings Street. The other one is in between the 1889 house and Heatley block and has an address on Heatley.

I was once told by a psychic that there is a psychic crack along East Pender which is one street over. And I may have an inkling on one of the reasons for that.

This house belonged to one of the first undertakers in Vancouver. It is located on the corner of East Pender and Heatley.

During the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic people were dying so fast that the undertaker couldn't keep up with processing the bodies. So he would stack them in this nearby alley and cover them with a tarp.

Perhaps the spirits of those bodies are still roaming the area. Who knows?

The Strathcona area grew up around the Hastings Sawmill, one of the main employers at the time. Today many residents associate the area with the Asians and maybe a few Italians. However these district has seen a great influx of arriving immigrants. One quote I read from a person who had gone to the Strathcona school said that there were 95 nationalites there are the time. Quite a lot!

This is the top of what was once a Jewish Synagogue. It was built in 1911 but in 1945 a new synagogue was built in another area of town and this place was sold. Now it is condos.

This delightful plant shows that the Italians were here at one time. It is fennel used to freshen breath. Also an ingredient in diuretic tea. And a favorite among Italians.

Look at this wall. It looks like cobblestones doesn't it?

Johnstone regaled us with stories of past residents. From Nora Hendrix, Jimi Hendrix's grandmother who once lived here:

to stories of bootleggers like the kindly Italian lady who lived here.

And I bet some of you people reading this thought that we Canadians were such law abiding souls! To tell the truth there were a few bootleggers in the Strathcona district that ended up serving jail time. Stories like that just add a bit of spice to the place.

It has also been the home to Michael Buble's maternal grandmother, K.D. Lang, author/poet Daphne Marlett who still lives there and so many others.

This is one I found really interesting and it was at the end of the tour. For six months the elder Hendrixs lived here but more notable was that it was a residence of Nellie Kip Quong.

Now you may ask why that is so important and it is because who this woman was. She was a Caucasian woman who married a Vancouver Chinese jeweller. In 1900. And for those people who complain about the difficulties of an interracial relationship today must realize how difficult it would have been 110 years ago.

But Nellie didn't let that deter her. She learned five Chinese dialects so that she could converse within her adopted community. She became a midwife and aided many immigrant Chinese. She also took on the role of adoption broker and foster mother.

Nellie Yip Quong was an advocate for her community, fighting to improve standards of health and life. She was affectionately known as Granny Yip and this house is where she lived during her later years. One day I will have to get a photo of where she and her husband lived for 17 years.

There is so much information on this area. I will be making many more blog entries about it and using bits and pieces that Johnstone told me. As well I will be going back to get photos of the places I missed.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, James Johnstone, Hastings,Heatley,Jimi Hendrix,Walk,Nellie Kip Quong,East Pender