Mountain View Cemetery
Mountain View Cemetery Jewish section in 1910
Mountain View Cemetery is the only cemetery in the City of Vancouver and one of the oldest in the region. Opened in 1887, the cemetery covers the land between 31st and 43rd Avenues. With its beautiful vistas and now central location, its easy to see why it’s the final resting place of almost 150,000 people, many notable citizens and historic residents, each with an interesting story.
The Mountain View Cemetery had humble beginnings. Harold E. Ridley, interviewed by the city archivist in 1934, recalled it as having been “through the trees; there was corduroy road along the edge of the Tea Swamp, we climbed the hill, and on top of it was the cemetery, just a hole in the forest, about an acre, still in the rough, some stumps, no grass, no gravestones”.
Today it is a changed place with its natural and built landscapes, the grounds provide stunning views of the mountain and the city with accents of mature heritage trees. Home to wildlife, award winning architecture and artistic markers, the grounds have become places of interest as pedestrians discover its quiet paths. With many historical burial sites grouped together by religion (e.g. Jewish), nationality (e.g. Chinese or Japanese), or organizational affiliation (e.g. Freemasons and Oddfellows), as well as pauper and war veterans, the cemetery offers much to explore and discover.
3 comments
September 23, 2012 at 9:06 pm
My father was a caretaker of Mountain View Cemetery – we The Johnston family – Father Sam Johnston, mother Margaret, daughters Margaret, Shirley Diane and son Sam jr. We went from young children to adults living in the Cemetery – the old building was to be demolished and Mom and Dad had to move – the City of Vancouver had a hard time getting people to take over as caretakers so eventually my Dad and Mom were asked to move back and become the caretakers again – Mom died in the accomodations of a heart attack and Dad unfortunately died there a few years later also from a heart attack – even to this day – when I connect with somebody from the Fraser street area – the comment is usually – oh you’re one of the Johnston girls who grew up in the cemetery. The three girls live in Chillliwack and one day, we plan on making it a day to visit “our home” – PS I married one of the “grave diggers” – Divorced 13 years later but I then married the son of the Superintendent of the City Dump –
May 23, 2013 at 5:46 am
I have shared the back border of my property with Mountain View Cemetery since 1976. We bought the house on St. George St. just 5 houses in from the former Caretaker’s cottage at 43rd and St. George. The Cemetrry provides the most perfect neighbors and the staff employed as grounds keepers are long term employees and pleasant to know.
Several years ago around Christmas I looked out from my back porch and saw almost immediately behind my house, a fire truck in the Cemetery. Later when I walked through the cemetery, I saw that there is a section dedicated to firemen.
If you look at the commemorative stones you can see that before the days of protective gear, fireman had short lives. I have a friend retired from West Van fire department and a cancer survivor. He told me that his Chief, back in the day, thought only sissies wore gear.
May 8, 2015 at 7:49 pm
i’m moving into the house on the corner of 41st and St George. Is this the caretakers house you mention? I understand that 41st was originally 43rd. thanks