This is the Simon Fraser School Annex on East 6th. Built in 1929, it currently houses a church and community center.
Remember last week when I showed you photos of the Western Front Lodge and told you a bit about its history. I have more to tell you now. Brewery Creek flowed east to the spot where the lodge is now.The creek formed a small lake at Scotia Street by
the building of a dam. From this lake, a fume was built to carry water to power the Vancouver Brewery's waterwheel at 7th and Scotia. Where is that lake today you might ask? Well, the organization of the Knights of Pithius built their lodge over the site of where that lake once was in 1922.
The Knights of Pithius were a secret society of 6,000 lodges and 800,000 members. Established during the American Civil War by Justus Rathbone, the society aimed to promote friendship, charity and benevolence. Lodge number 11 operated in Mount Pleasant for eighty years, from 1892 to 1972.
As you may have gathered, we are still in Mount Pleasant! Initially Mount Pleasant was known as 'False Creek' first and then later the 'Hill'.
A.T. Julius Voight was the first non-native settler to establish himself in the neighbourhood in 1867. In 1888, Charles Maddams purchased land on what is now China Creek Park. (The park is named after the creek that ran through the property, which Maddams named after his Chinese neighbours.) Maddams built the first substantial farm in the area and when he died; his farm was the last in the neighbourhood as well.
On the topic of schools, the False Creek School, later known as the Mount Pleasant School, was opened in 1888. It stood in the area where Kingsgate Mall now is located.
The Knights of Pithius were a secret society of 6,000 lodges and 800,000 members. Established during the American Civil War by Justus Rathbone, the society aimed to promote friendship, charity and benevolence. Lodge number 11 operated in Mount Pleasant for eighty years, from 1892 to 1972.
A.T. Julius Voight was the first non-native settler to establish himself in the neighbourhood in 1867. In 1888, Charles Maddams purchased land on what is now China Creek Park. (The park is named after the creek that ran through the property, which Maddams named after his Chinese neighbours.) Maddams built the first substantial farm in the area and when he died; his farm was the last in the neighbourhood as well.
On the topic of schools, the False Creek School, later known as the Mount Pleasant School, was opened in 1888. It stood in the area where Kingsgate Mall now is located.
The first white child recorded to have been born in Mount Pleasant is George Grauer. His parents lived in a cabin on the banks of Brewery Creek - what is now 10th and Main. In 1910, the Grauer family moved to 364 W 10th and that home is now the preserved Grauer residence.
Are you a punk rock fan? This next tidbit might interest you. A recent fire destroyed the last of three of the 1895 Grauer homes. In the 1990s, D.O.A. used this house as a rehearsal space and they shot a music video outside the building on Watson Street. The video debuted on Much Music in 1989.
The intersection at Main, 7th and Kingsway - where I have taken photos of the clock - served as the old Mount Pleasant village and some of the buildings retain their original western awnings. Later this area became a streetcar stop. By 1901, Victorian homes filled the blocks around this unique intersection, making this an important business hub. There were few homes built outside of the Mount Pleasant district pre-1901 (the end of the Victorian era) and therefore Mount Pleasant had Vancouver's largest collection of Victorian homes.
I hope you find the beauty around you.
Really interesting, Karen, thank you. I don't know how you gather all these facts but it's great that you're recording them. Keep up the good work!
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