Firing Totem Poles

An interesting display at Stanley Park is that of the totem poles. Here is a lasting tribute to the people of the First Nations who first settled this area.

This gateway, and two others, were made by Susan Point of the Musqueam nation. This is important because the totem poles that you will see in a moment are not representative of the Coast Salish. They didn't make totem poles. Their carving talents were shown in such things as house posts and arches.

If you were so fortunate as to be invited into one of their lodges, an acrchway such as this might have greeted you.

This is called a Beaver Crest Pole and it was carved in 1987 by NISGA'A artist, Robert Tait along with his son Isaac, brother Robert and nephew Ron Telek.

It depicts a Tait family legend of how the eagle clan adopted the beaver as their crest and how the eagle and raven met and shared the sky. For the whole story you can go to the park and read the plaque in front.

The single pole you see here is the Oscar Maltipi Pole carved in 1968.  A Kwakwaka'wakw artist Oscar Maltipi trained at the Royal B.C. Museum under artist and teacher Henry Hunt.

This is entitled the Chief Wakas Pole. Traditionally in Kwakwaka'wakw ceremonies talking sticks, or carved staffs, were held by the people making speeches on behalf of the chief. This pole represents the talking stick used in an  Owikeno story relating to, guess who, Chief Wakas. The original pole was in front of Chief Wakas' house in Alert Bay in the 1890s. This one was carved by Nimpkish artist Doug Cramner in 1987.

Totem poles were like a coat of arms for the First Nations of British Columbia. They are unique to the North West coast of BC and lower Alaska. These carvings from red cedar were not worshipped nor were they regarded as idols. Rather each one tells a story - real or mythical.

This is a replica of a Thunderbird house post that had been carved by Kwakwaka'wakw artist Charles James in the early 1900s.This one was created by Tony Hunt in 1987 to replace the original which is in the Vancouver museum.

Haida artist Bill Reid with assistant Werner True carved this repllica of Chief Skedans Mortuary Pole in 1964. Don Yeomans had to recarve the moon face in 1998. It depicts his heriditary crests as well as events in his life. The board at the top covered a cavity that contained the chief's remains on the original pole.

The original pole was raised in the Haida Village of Skidegate about 1870 to honour the Raven Chief of Skedans.

The totem poles section of the park is an awe inspiring site and one well worth the effort to find.

Stanley Park and the area has been home to many different nationalities. In the 1860s Coal Harbour was settled by many Hawaiian families. They had a small community known as Kanaka Ranch, a name taken from their Polynesian heritage. The community was sustained by them growing fruits and vegetables and fishing and hunting. They produced charcoal and sold it to the Hastings Mill where the men workd and the children went to school.

At one point above the seawall is a plaque.

This slab was set here in 1863 or 1865, I can't read it clearly. It was set by the Royal Engineers and used as a survey point by the Royal Navy Survey Ship H.M.S. Egeria.

Not far from that is the Nine O'Clock Gun.

This is a naval type twelve pound muzzle loader and was cast at Woolwich England in 1816. (The Woolwich Factory is now known as the Royal Arsenal.) The crests of King George III and the Earl of Mulgrave, Master General of Ordance, are engraved on the barrel. It was brought to Vancouver about 1894.

This gun is one of sixteen that was given to the 'provinces of Canada by the British Government in 1856 (11 years before Confederation). Three of those guns made it to the West Coast.

Two guns were outside the legislative buildings in Victoria but those were melted down in 1940 as part of the War effort. This one resided for a while in Nanaimo to quell discord between nervous miners and the native population. From what I've read it was more of a visual - and auditory - deterrent rather than a weapon. Next it went to Esquimalt where unrest brewed due to the conflict between Britain and the United States over an international border line.

Once that hullabaloo was over with the gun was placed at Stanley Park and first fired on October 5, 1898. The story goes that at one time a dynamite explosion was set off nightly at nine pm to aid in navigation. There are apparently a couple of different versions of why but all I will tell you is that every night at nine o'clock the gun fires. It is heard at Granville and Hastings at five seconds after; in Marpole 35 seconds after; in New Westminster a full minute after and even in Mission at more than three minutes after the hour. I will have to try to listen for it.

A few more observations of my time yesterday at Stanley Park. I hope you enjoyed it and I wish all of you a great weekend.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Coal Harbour, Stanley Park,Royal Arsenal,Totem Poles,Vancouver Rowing Club,history,

Parr and Fee

Today I want to tell you about two architects in Vancouver's history and you may remember seeing their names numerous times in previous blog entries.

John Edmeston Parr was born in 1856 in London England and came to Vancouver in 1896. Son of Samuel Parr, a London architect, John Parr first opened a solo practice but a year later he partnered with Samuel Maclure for two years before joining forces with Thomas Arthur Fee.

Thomas Arthur Fee was born in Drummond County, Quebec in 1860. He learned how to be an architect by studying under Minneapolis architect Harry Wild Jones. Fee contracted polio as a child and spent the rest of his life wearing leg braces.

Together Parr and Fee are responsible for many of Vancouver's heritage buildings. The three photos I have shown you so far are from the Glen Brae House which was built in 1910 for lumber magnate William Lamont Tait. It has a ballroom on the third floor with a floor underlaid with seaweed.

Vancouver has listed this as a heritage building and it is now a hospice for children - Canuck Place.

Here's another house designed by Parr and Fee, this one on West 12 Avenue and built in 1909. By the looks of it has now been divided into rooms or units to rent.

Doesn't the domed tower look familiar? It was a trademark of theirs apparently.

Presently this is called the Moda Hotel but when it opened in 1908 it was called the Dufferin Hotel after a former Governor General of Canada, Lord Dufferin.

Back then the hotel's main clientele was Canadian Pacific Rail workers and travelers. I would like to mention that according to Wikipedia the hotel was built in 1910 but the Moda Hotel website states it opened in 1908. So that is the date I will stick with here.

This massive building on Dunsmuir was constructed in 1908 and opened as the Dunsmuir Hotel. During World War II it served as barracks and later it was home to the Salvation Army.

When the Salvation Army moved in 2003 this building became the Dunsmuir International Village Student Housing - a home for international students coming here to learn English.

1911 saw the Hotel Barron make its appearance on Granville Street in Vancouver. Now it is the Comfort Inn.

This building dates back to the start of the Parr and Fee partnership - it was built in 1899. Originally this was the McDowell, Atkins & Watson Company Building but now, as you can see, it is the Cambie Hostel.

This is just a sample of the structures that Parr and Fee designed. In 1912 the partnership dissolved with Parr forming a new company with John Mackenzie and John Charles Day - Parr, Mackenzie & Day - which operated until 1918.

Fee left architecture to pursue other interests. He vocally opposed Canada's involvement in World War I and gained more notoriety for promoting the idea of British Columbia joining the United States.

John Edmeston Parr passed away in 1923 and Thomas Arthur Fee followed in 1929. But they left their mark on this city and helped to shape it.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Thomas Arthur Fee, John Edmeston Fee,Cambie Hostel,Moda Hotel,Canuck Place,history,

Honoring the Dead

First of all a happy All Saints Day. Did you know that tomorrow is All Souls Day?  These are very solemn days in some sects of the Roman Catholic Church. Honoring dead saints and relatives requires a degree of seriousness as well as tradition.

Last night is more my type of holiday. Halloween. This holiday is celebrated in Ireland, Scotland, Canada and the United States primarily. It is thought to be based on the Celtic festival of Samhain - a Gaelic harvest festival - though some have traced it back to Roman times namely the Roman feast of Pomona who was the goddess of fruit and seeds. Or the roots may be traced to Parentalia a Roman festival of the dead.

The ancient Celts believed that on Samhain the line between the land of the living and that of the dead became thin thus allowing spirits to cross into the land of the living. That wouldn't be so bad if all the spirits were good but the evil ones cross over as well.

Those good spirits, like those of deceased relatives, were honored and invited in to the homes but costumes and masks had to be worn to scare away the evil entitities. The purpose was that the costumes and masks would make the wearer seem like an evil spirit and thus avoid harm.

In Scotland young men impersonated the spirits by dressing all in white with veiled, blackened or masked faces.

The word Halloween and many of the traditions we see today were derived from the Old English era. The first use of the word Halloween has been traced back to the 16th century and represents a variant of the Scottish  All-Hallows-Even.

The photos I am using are from those stored on my computer. I don't have information on the buildings so I am just putting them on here for you to see.

Bet this house was scary last night. The stories and such you could make up about it. If someone thought to decorate it and have sounds emanating from the grounds that would certainly add to the frightening atmosphere of Halloween.

Off the topic of spooky things, don't you find the windows of this building interesting?

This fountain is in Yaletown at a park.



I liked the burst of color here.

This building I am showing you is on Cordova Street. I don't know anything about it but it must be old. Look at these doors.

I am just under five foot two inches and I would have to duck to get in. That indicates that this is an old building.

Look at the stairs! And the front. This appears to be a building with a courtyard or something similiar in the center. I can't enter it, there is a gate that is very secure.

This is another building I haven't been able to find out much information on. But considering the style of it, the location - near Gastown and Strathcona - and the feel I get from it I would say it has been there a while.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, All Saints Day, All Souls Day,Halloween,Yaletown,Cordova,history,

Transit Transitions

Today let's discuss something that many city dwellers take for granted and may not even really consider. Except to curse at if we miss one or if one gets in our way as we are travelling. We assume that they will always be there when needed but rarely stop to think about it. I'm talking about the transit system.

The first transit system was known as Vancouver Electric Railway and Light Company incorporated in 1886. In 1889 the company was reincorporated as Vancouver Street Railways Company. Unfortunately four years later the company went into receivership and was acquired by CRy&LCo.

Consolidated Railway and Light Company was incorporated in 1894. They acquired Westminster & Vancouver Interurban in 1895. The Westminster & Vancouver was part of the province's electric interurban systems. Consolidated changed their name in CRyCo.

British Columbia Electric Railway Company lasted longer than its predeccosers. It ran from 1897 to 1962.

On March 19, 1923 BC Electric Railway Company president, George Kidd inaugurated the first motorbus line on Grandview Highway H The new route connected Broadway and Commercial with the Grandview area at 22 and Rupert. Two 23-passenger buses were bought from the White Motor Company and the bodies were built locally by G.W. Ribchester. These vehicles were hand cranked and had solid tires. The initial run was successful enough that more buses were ordered.

In 1955 Vancouver celebrated sixty-five years with electric streetcar service. Vancouverites have always aimed high and expected great things. In fact we had electric streetcar service two years before Toronto or Montreal did.

This sign at a bus stop lets the passengers know how long they have to wait for the next bus.

Greater Vancouver Transit System ran from 1983 to 1999 before being taken over by the present company Translink, The Regional Tansportation Network. Translink  is in charge of the Skytrain, Seabus, Albion Ferry, major roads and bridges, West Coast Express and the AirCare emission testing program for cars.

Quite a lot of ground they cover. There are other subsidiary companies operating under the umbrella. Like the Skytrain is operated by the British Columbia Rapid Transit Company.

When I first moved back here from Calgary I found the Skytrain to be a pleasant change. The CTrain in Calgary runs on street level and has to make certain concessions for traffic. Here the commuter train is mostly above ground level.

Interesting fact. Up until mid 1933 the CPR's trains ran along the street level through downtown Vancouver and caused all sorts of problems. On July 16 a tunnel was opened. This elongated 's' curve underground pathway is 4,579 feet long and serviced the CPR for nearly fifty years. Now it is used by the Skytrain. The tunnel is about 18 to 24 metres below ground although at some places the tunnel comes a lot closer - six metres below the pavement.

The Skytrain is also not operated by a driver but rather is an automated system. During the last days of the previous century we were hearing all sorts of doomday stories about how computers and such were going to go haywire at the stroke of midnight. I had visions of the Skytrain travelling the Skybridge over to Surry and suddenly veering off the rails and plunging into the icy waters of the Fraser River. Fortunately that never happened. Nor did any of the other dire predictions.

Here you can see the wires for the trolley buses as well as a walkway between the Broadway Skytrain Station and the Commercial Drive Skytrain Station.

Skytrain stations seem to everywhere.

Some statistics for Translink I've found are:
832 buses through the Coast Mountain Bus Company
38 buses through the West Vancouver Municipal Transportation Department
244 trolleybuses
150 Skytrain cars
2 SeaBus ferries (2000)
Ridership in 2009 was 187,912,227.
(I don't know how current some of that info is. One data source was listed as 1999 but it gives an idea of the size of the transit system in Vancouver)

From bus stops to Skytrain Stations to Skybus terminals - transit is alive and well in Vancouver. And the system here spoils us because many places in other parts of North America don't have it so well. We may get annoyed if we have to wait for a bus or train or whatever but most routes run on a pretty good schedule. And when we think about how it must have been in the years past - at least now we don't have to turn a hand crank to get the bus going - we are very fortunate.

So maybe take a moment, whereever you may be, and give a nod to transit. Without them there would be more vehicles on the road, more accidents, more traffic congestion and more pollution. If you are fortunate enough to live in an area with transit then enjoy it.

I hope you find the beauty around you.

TAGS:Vancouver, Karen Magill, Translink, Skytrain,Seabus,transit,walk,history,