History of South Vancouver
Houses in South Vancouver
The City of Vancouver began in the 1870’s as Granville Townsite and in 1886 it incorporated with its current name. The area included much of East Vancouver but ended along 16th Avenue. South Vancouver, an independent municipality created in 1892, was built up in response to boomtown Vancouver’s population explosion and huge demand for more affordable housing. As such, it attracted the blue collar working class to its neighbourhood. It originally included the area from Point Grey to Boundary Road, until Point Grey broke off at Cambie Street in 1908.
Dense old growth forests, populated with bear, deer, and salmon streams gave way to a building spree in 1909-1912 centered around the North Arm Road (Fraser Street) and the new street railway system. A street car track on Bodwell Road (33rd Ave.) and on Ferris Road (49th Ave.) helped to fuel much of the development in the South Hill area. The first municipal hall was built in 1898 at Wilson Road (41st Ave). Close by was the police station, and firehall. In 1909, the area’s first permanent school building, South Hill Public School was built on the east side of Fraser Street.
In 1929, both South Vancouver and Point Grey amalgamated with Vancouver and instantly expanded the population to 240,000, making Vancouver the third largest city in Canada.
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Related links:
http://www.southhillcommunity.ca/
http://www.southhillcommunity.ca/insidestories/
5 comments
December 27, 2014 at 9:45 pm
My mother and her family lived on Fifty-Sixth Ave. East from about 1914 to 1925 when my mother was 17 years of age. I am trying to find what elementary school she might have attended. She would be about 5 or 6 at the beginning of that time. She names John Oliver HS, as the High school that she attended. At first she lived with her parents, her father’s name, Samuel Hellings, is listed in Henderson’s Greater Vancouver City Directory at 395 Fifty-Sixth Avenue East, South Vancouver, for the years 1914 and 1915. She lived with her grandparents at 405 56th Avenue, East, South Vancouver from 1919 when her mother died. Her father had bought property at Strawberry Hill, the Delta Municipality in 1913. Mother lived at each of these places at various times over the period leading up to her maternal grandmother’s death in 1925.
I have photos taken on the steps of two houses, possibly her grandparents, and one of their neighbours, Mr and Mrs Reid at what seems to be # 543
I would be interested to
December 28, 2014 at 11:25 am
The closest school currently listed to that address on 56th Avenue currently would be Moberly Elementary school. But according to the VSB notes, it was rebuilt in 1941 (http://www.vsb.bc.ca/sites/default/files/publication-files/Age%20of%20VSB%20Buildings%20Elementary.pdf). However, the original building was built in 1912 in its current location of Ross St and 59th Avenue. The school was named for Walter Moberly, an engineer and surveyor.
A bit further north, the first South Hill school opened in 1905 at 43rd and Fraser in a vacant store. Fraser Street was a major shopping area for the residents of South Vancouver so even at that time the school was surrounded by stores. In 1910, the current structure was built and in 1914 was named Sir Alexander Mackenzie School. In 1930, when the current Mackenzie school was built at 39th Avenue and Prince Albert, the students transferred there and John Oliver High School [1912] took over the building. Between 1930 and 1961, the school was used by various high schools to accommodate excess numbers. In 1961, it reverted to an elementary school and was renamed Mackenzie Annex.
Current location of Sir Sandford Fleming Elementary is the third next closest location on 1401 East 49th Avenue. Construction began in 1911, and opened in 1913 as South Vancouver High School. When John Oliver Secondary School opened in 1921, South Vancouver High was renamed General Gordon School and was converted to an elementary school and 300 students enrolled in Gordon. General Gordon was considered an annex of Makenzie when it reopened in February 1921. By 1916 the school had twelve divisions and spring of 1928 plans were approved to add a six room wing to the west end of the school. When South Vancouver was preparing to join another district municipality, there already was another school named General Gordon. It was renamed Sir Sandford Elementary School.
Thanks for your interesting question! Historians John Atkin http://www.johnatkin.com/ or this author Ken Mcleod might be able to answer your questions more indepth too. http://firstchoicebooks.ca/history-of-highschool/
June 4, 2016 at 2:55 pm
Dear Margaret,
About 56th Ave East…
The Avenues were renumbered in the early 20th century.
In 1912 Goad’s Fire Insurance Map, you can see that the 1912 56th Avenue is what we now call 54th Avenue.
The renumbering must have happened before 1929, because the map shown on this page is from that year, and has the new numbering.
In case the address you gave was already in the new numbering, it must have been this house:
https://www.google.ca/maps/@49.2192281,-123.0979557,3a,41.4y,3.61h,88.43t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1swnZK2g7oluUVdK-iTFyslA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1
Which got torn down not long ago, and replaced. Too bad, as it seemed like a great house.
June 4, 2016 at 6:07 pm
Oh, and I forgot to mention: in 1912, the division between East and West avenues was not at Ontario, as it is currently, but at Main st. (which used to be ‘Westminster Ave.’ and before that ‘False Creek Rd.’
So if your address is old-style, you need to move two blocks north and two blocks east to what is currently 395 E 56th Ave.
I wonder how the people coped with such a confusing street renaming back in the days. What happened to the mail? A lot must have gotten lost.
December 28, 2014 at 11:36 am
i forgot to mention that prior to Moberly, there was Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School at 449 East 62nd Avenue.
The school was named for Pierre Elliott Trudeau, the twentieth Prime Minister of Canada. The original school, the North Arm School, was founded in 1885. In 1912, when the first Walter Moberly Elementary School was constructed at Ross Street and East 59th Avenue, the original two-room school became the Walter Moberly Annex, serving K-4. It is also possible that she may have attended there. I think you might be able to inquire at the Vancouver School Board for any of these schools to ask if there are records for her attendance. Good luck!