My Little Italy

Today I am going to show you more photos from Italian Days on the Drive. I am also going to tell you a little about this area of town.

Prior to the 1930s, Italian immigrants settled mainly in the Strathcona district of Vancouver. However, on the 40s and 50s, mainly of these newcomers moved to the northern area of Commercial Drive. The Italians who moved here opened businesses and restaurants and are credited with revitalizing the area.

Little Italy, as this part of town was known, became a real ethnic Italian enclave. By the 1960s, more Italian businesses were springing up in the Hastings and Nanaimo area although Commercial Drive remained the cultural core. Ethnic Italians were influential in this area from the 1940s to the mid 1970s.

A number of things changed during the 70s though. Many different cultures began to move into the Grandview-Woodland area. In addition, a schism in the Italian community led to the decline of Italian influence and concentration in the Little Italy.

I lived in this area, not far from where I am now, for part of 1984 and '85. There seemed to be more Italians in the area at that time then there are now. That doesn't mean that the Italian influence is gone because far from it. Not only does the Italian days still attract a lot of people but there are businesses on the Drive that have an Italian influence. From coffee shops to Italian bakeries - the influence of these earlier inhabitants is still strong. Sometimes, though not as often as before, I will still see little old Italian ladies doing their shopping at one of the numerous vegetable and fruit stores on the Drive.

So if you are in Vancouver, don't forget to visit Commercial Drive. It is a vibrant area full of restaurants where you can eat food from every corner of the world. It is an exciting mixture of nationalities and cultures. Hopefully, one of the many festivals held here will be on at that time and you can really see the personality of the area.

I want to thank Wikipedia for the above information.

 I hope you find the beauty around you.

MM

Can you guess what the MM stands for? Yup. This is the last of the photos related to the mural - Mural Memories. I hope you enjoy it.

Carnegie Centre. It has had some work done on it this year and is looking pretty good for being 109 years old. American philanthropist Andrew Carnegie donated money for Vancouver to build a library with certain conditions applied. It was also the last building of any civic importance - besides law enforcement buildings - to be built in the downtown eastside.

This was the first fire hall and the last  fire hall to have horse drawn wagons. It was built in 1905.

The York Rooms at 259 Powell Street is on the mural. All it says though is that this building, and the one next to it which I am going to show you, were built around 1908.

When this building was built in 1912 it was called the Toronto Apartments. Now, as you can see, it is called The Astoria Hotel and has one of the city's oldest boxing rings in the basement. I've mentioned this before and I intend on getting down there to take photos.

Remember when I wrote on the Ferrera Court? Built in 1912 by Agostino Gabrele Ferrara who was a well known restuaranteur. Jack Benny's wife once lived in this building.

The Hotel Patricia was built between 1912-1914 as a medical center. Later it became a hotel and welcomed such legendary musicians as Duke Ellington and Ferdinand 'Jelly Roll' Morton.

 300 Alexander was originally the Victoria & Vancouver Stevedoring Co. This building sits on one of the first addresses in Vancouver to receive water service in 1888.

Wow! I got a lot of entries out of that wall painting and I didn't get to everything. Some buildings are no longer there and some I couldn't get to.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

Karen Magill, Andrew Carnegie, Vancouver,York Rooms,Strathcona,Powell Street,History,Astoria Hotel

Community in Bloom

While I was walking along East Georgia in Strathcona I happened upon the mosaic for a community in bloom. So I decided to collect some photos I've taken of blooms I have taken so far this year and put a lot into one post.

Strathcona is an area of Vancouver that has been much maligned. It is the oldest residential area and grew from the workers in the nearby Hastings Mill. It has been an area of diverse cultures over the years, from Chinese to Russians to African Canadians. It is the only neighbourhood where English is not the most commonly spoken language. 61% report Chinese as being their mother tongue while English is registered at 24%.

The once working class of this area was looked down on for being poor and recently the neighbourhood has had to deal with an influx of drugs and prostitution. But this is a community of fighters. During the 1950s Strathcona was earmarked for demolition. The plan was to develop rows upon rows of identical apartment buildings and townhouses for social housing. Gone would be the historic homes that help give this city its uniqueness.

Some fifteen blocks of the neighbourhood was bulldozed before residents of the area managed to put a stop to it. Unfortunately Hogan's Alley - the only area with a high concentration of blacks - was gone. Mary Chan, who I have written about before, got other residents together to form the Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants Association (SPOTA).

From SPOTA emerged some important municipal figures such as Mayor Mike Harcourt and the TEAM - later COPE - party.

Today Strathcona is filled with history. The late 19th and early 20th century architecture is a rarity in Vancouver and the area is going through a gentrification process. The homes are being designated heritage are being restored to their former beauty. This is attracting a wealthier set of home owners.

That being said there are a lot of homes in the area that need everything from a little TLC to a major overhaul. But it is an interesting area to walk through and one that make feel good. However the main reason I have a lot of pictures of this area is that it is close and I walk through it to get to most places I walk.

 

If we walk a short distance to Alexander Street in Gastown we may see the Alexander Residence also known as the Ferry Rooms or The Dugout.

Architect William F. Gardiner designed this plain four storey hotel  which was built in 1911-1912. It has residential units above and commercial shops below. Sound familiar? Many of the buildings in this area that I have featured seem to have been originally designed like this.

In the winter many of the residents of these residential hotels were men from the logging camps. Out of work for the cold months they would lounge around the streets and hang out in the local bars. A restaurant and bar that was located in this building in 1913 would have catered to this clientele.

At first glance the architecture looks plain and unassuming, not unlike many similar buildings in the area. However on closer inspection we can see the English influences with the recessed storefront with an external basement stair and decorative metal railings. There is an asymmetrical entry off of Alexander with doors leading into the shops and another door leading upstairs - this is typical of the small hotels of this time period.

Originally constructed by Adkison and Dill, this building was renovated in 1992-93.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Alexander Residences, Strathcona,Mike Harcourt,Mary Lee Chan,History,William Gardiner,Adkinson and Dill