Stepping back to 1862, a District Lot - number 185 - was bought for $550.75
by a John Morton, potter, plus two mates - Samuel Brighouse and William
Hailstone. The lot comprised of what is now the entire West End - 540 acres.
Morton was the first to have some insight unto the area's great future,
but his speculation was in the form of a hope that they could farm, mine
and make bricks on the land. Their investment in this remote piece of rainforest
was considered a frivolous one by many, earning them the nickname, "Three
Greenhorns". Brickmaking in this area did indeed fail however, as it
was too far from industrial New Westminster, where many of their buyers
resided. Instead, they turned their attention to selling the land as lots,
claiming "New Liverpool" would soon be a major city. Once again
they had little success.
Eventually, in 1886, they were persuaded to donate 1/3 of the property
to Canadian Pacific Rail (CPR) as an incentive for them to build their railway
through to Coal Harbour, hoping that this may bring people to the area to
buy the lots. By the time CPR had made it to Gastown however, the "Three
Greenhorns" had parted ways, feeling that they had been cheated.
In 1887, the lots finally did begin to sell, with prices ranging from
$350 to 1000, as people realised the potential of the area. With CPR building
rail lines, a hotel was going up, roads were being laid through the area
plus the establishment of Stanley Park, lots began to move quickly. By 1888,
the area was gaining respectability and had swiftly become an attractive
investment to wealthy and elite buyers with fine views across Burrard Inlet
and a reasonable distance from the smelly warehouses of Gastown.
For a brief couple of decades the West End catered to the rich. Carriages
carted well-dressed women around town in the day and well-groomed horses,
carriages or motor cars brought the gentlemen home from their offices and
stores along Granville and in Gastown. Tram lines were built along Robson,
Denman and Davie and shops were established along the lines. With the Klondike
gold rush at the turn of the century, tens of thousands of people were enticed
to Vancouver and the West End really began to fill up.
TRIVIA!
The name 'West End' in 1887 emerged from the
Vancouver School Board's decision to build a school in the area (Lot 185).
The term 'West End' was coined from their newly named facility, the 'West
End School'.
Amazing mansions continued to go up. Most famous, still standing and
"probably the most lavish private home ever constructed in B.C."
was 'Gabriola', on the corner of Davie and Nicola. Gabriola was built in
1900 for Benjamin Tingley Rogers, a sugar refiner from New York City. Rogers
came to Vancouver at age 24, and in 1892 opened the 'B.C Sugar Refinery,'
quickly becoming one of Vancouver's most important businessmen, known by
all as the 'Sugar King'.
The mansion for the Rogers family was designed by Samuel Maclure, a well
known residential architect at the time and was built from stone brought
from Gabriola Island - hence its original name. The mansion was sold in
1918 after Benjamin died and his widow moved into Shannon, a new mansion
in Shaughnessy, the now fashionable area for the rich. Gabriola was then
converted into apartments with over 50 suites, eventually turning into a
series of restaurants, as it stands today.
Soon the middle class had discovered the area, and the West End ceased
to be exclusive. The wealthy moved to Shaughnessy and the mansions were
turned into rooming houses, albeit elegant ones. As the depression hit,
these rooming houses became further divided and the once well-to-do West
End was no more.
Post WW2 immigration revived the West End, not to mention the lifting
of a 1927 bylaw which previously banned buildings over 6 storeys. In 1957,
this opened up the saturated area to highrise developers hoping to cash-in
on the exciting urban lifestyle that the West End had to offer. Once again,
people and businesses poured in, enticed by stunning North Shore views,
English Bay beach, Stanley Park and the influx of shops close at hand. For
the next 15 years, many early century houses were replaced by 20 - 30 storey
apartment buildings.
By 1973, the council decided to down-size the area in order to slow down
population growth, cut down on noise and traffic, and to restore the West
End to more of a 'neighbourhood.' Canada's most densely populated area slowed
to 45,000 and has since maintained that population. Residential streets
were blocked to squeeze traffic out of the area and back to the main routes.
At these junctions, mini-parks were built and throughout the area a respect
for the preservation of the area's heritage buildings became a priority.
Building began to go low-rise again and a sense of neighbourhood pride has
emerged.
A jumbled mix of many eras, the West End is still Vancouver's playground,
home to its most popular beach (English Bay), its most popular shopping
street (Robson) and its strong gay community.
English Bay Beach
The beach has always been popular, especially after sand was added in
1898 and people began to build themselves cottages where they would spend
their summers. It's hard to imagine that in order to reach the beach in
the 1890's, one had to follow trails through the bushes and then, when
you arrived, the beach was divided in two by a large rock, men on one side
and women on the other! In the early 1900's, a wooden bathhouse was built
(people no longer had to change behind the bushes) and a walking pier with
a glassed-in dancehall called "The Prom" were added. The current
concrete bathhouse was constructed in 1931 while, seven years later, the
pier and dancehall were both torn down.
TRIVIA!
English Bay beach, which was termed 'Ayyulshun'
by the Indians meaning 'soft under feet,' was established in 1893 with
a few beach shacks built there. The name 'English Bay' commemorates the
meeting of the British Captain Vancouver and Spanish captains Valdes and
Galiano, in 1792. This is the event that also resulted in Spanish Banks'
name.
A significant figure in the history of this beach is 'old black Joe,' Joe Fortes,
a Barbados-born man that made English Bay his home in the 1890's and made
a considerable impact on the lives of those who knew him. We have dedicated
a section to Joe where you can find out a bit more about this local hero.
The origin of West End street names
Denman Street:
named after Admiral Denman, the hero of the bloodiest naval scene ever
fought on the coast of B.C. A rebellious Vancouver Island tribe suffered
a bombardment of 9 villages and 64 canoes lost.
Davie Street:
Vancouver's Premier of B.C. in 1887.
Robson Street:
named after Honourable John Robson, Provincial Secretary in 1883
and Premier of B.C. from 1889-92.
Morton Street: the West End's
original founder, John Morton
Many of the area's streets are named after naval officers: Bidwell (Bedwell
was the actual officer's name), Broughton, Denman, Haro and Pendrell. All
were named by Lachlan Hamilton, assistant land commissioner of the CPR
when Vancouver was born. He was responsible for envisioning the importance
that Vancouver would have in the future and thus laid out the streets as
we see them today, even though they were laid out far beyond the spatial
needs for the time.
Vancouver 'Millionaires' win The Stanley Cup
- on Denman Street!
Denman Arena was a huge brick building built by Frank Patrick and brother
Lesterin in 1911 at 1805 West Georgia at the corner of Denman. At the time,
it was the largest indoor ice rink in the world. In order to make their
new league competitive, the brothers stole players from the National Hockey
Association and created the Vancouver Millionaires - hockey flourished
in this good playing environment. The 1914-15 season saw the Millionaires
become Western champions. The Ottawa Senators were Eastern champs and they
played at Denman arena for the Stanley Cup. The Millionaires won with ease
and had their names engraved onto the cup! In 1936, the Denman arena was
sadly destroyed by fire.
Reminiscences by long-term resident Gregory Melle
(Do you have any history or personal memories to share? Please contact us!)
I am aged 53 [as of 2005], born in St. Paul's Hospital and a graduate of King George on Denman. My father went to Lord Roberts in the 1920's.
In 1968 and 1969 I delivered the afternoon Vancouver Sun. My route was three blocks from Denman to the park along Beach and Morton. I had more than a hundred newspapers. There were still a few houses west of Denman and one of my elderly customers lived in the same house that he grew up in. I would often take a break in the middle to eat popcorn and watch the ships.
I would like to mention Alexandra Park and the old Crystal pool. The pool was only removed a year or two before the new Aquatic Centre was built. I don't remember the old pier but I do know that it was still there in the forties. The remains of the pilings are still clearly visible at low tide (see photo below). Also in the forties, there were still a number of houses on the water side of Beach between English Bay and Sunset Beach. If you use your imagination you can see the flat areas indicating the houses and the rows of trees between them.
Most people are not aware of the old bath house that was north of the current concession stand. It was a twin of the south one and was removed in the sixties. When I was a kid one of the best reasons to visit English Bay was to buy an ice cream cone at the take-out only English Bay Cafe -- the current cafe occupies the same building. They had the best ice cream in town.
There was major sewage pipe put along the beach about 1971. That was when they added about 80% of the sand that is there today. At that time the buried the first floor of the bathhouse. Until that time the water would come to within a few feet of the bathhouse at high tide. I read somewhere that the original Vancouver Aquarium was in one of the bathhouses.
The photo is probably from spring of 1971. It clearly shows the location of the pier, the last apartment building on the ocean side of Beach Avenue and the newly planted sod from when they added all the sand that I mentioned.
-Gregory Melle See my personal site notsorry.com or my Vancouver photo album notsorry.com/vancouver.aps.
