Vancouver Books

A lot of books have been written about Vancouver and its environs. This file, started in March 2007, is intended to describe many of them. Our thanks and gratitude to Karen Cannon of the Friends of the Vancouver Public Library for her terrific (and ongoing) work on this project.

In 1999 the Vancouver Public Library produced a poster titled Vancouver in Print: 100 Books from a Century Past. These books—intended to give a broad view of the many kinds of books published about the city—are indicated below with the legend: VIP. It was this list of titles that began this feature.

Many hundreds of other books will be added to this page as time goes on. Inquiries about any of them can be made at any branch of the Vancouver Public Library.

Not all these titles are available at VPL. Some are in the UBC Library system, and some at Vancouver City Archives.

And for a superb and thorough listing of all books about British Columbia and by British Columbians, we recommend a visit to: www.abcbookworld.com.

An asterisk * indicates the book was a winner of the City of Vancouver Book Award.

Select a decade:

1880 - 1889

1886

City of Vancouver voters’ list, 1886.
“List of persons entitled to vote at Municipal Elections for 1886.” Since only property owners could vote, a description of land owned is next to the name of the voter. VIP

British Columbia. An act to incorporate the City of Vancouver.
The town of Granville and vicinity are incorporated as the City of Vancouver.
(Statutes. 1886. Chapter 32)

Smith, Henry Badeley. Plan of the city of Vancouver, western terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway/compiled from registered plans and latest surveys by H.B. Smith, civil engineer, 1886.
Adopted as the official map of the city of Vancouver by the mayor and council, June 1886.

1887

Picken, M. City of Vancouver, terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway: British Columbia handbook.
Information on the progress of Vancouver as an important commercial center: an economic review with a table showing market prices of goods (e.g.12 loaves of bread for $1.00). Includes a small classified directory and advertisements by local businesses.

1888

Draper, Thomas. Vancouver city directory, 1888.
“Containing a Complete Business and General Directory of the City of Vancouver”. This was the first work of its kind undertaken in Vancouver. VIP

Mohun, E. The sewerage system of Vancouver, B.C.
Plans and specifications of sewers for the most densely populated area; with a defense for using a system made of wood.
(Canadian Society of Civil Engineers. Transactions. Session 1888. Paper no. 20)

1889

Oppenheimer, David. Vancouver city, its progress and industries: with practical hints for capitalists and intending settlers.
Written by Mayor Oppenheimer and City Council to answer the many “enquiries from all parts of the Dominion and Great Britain” expressing interest in opportunities in Vancouver.

Smith, H.B. Vancouver water works.
Illustrated technical report on the building of Vancouver’s water distribution system.

1890 - 1899

1890

Kerr, J.B. Biographical dictionary of well-known British Columbians: with a historical sketch.
Although this volume covers all of B.C., many sketches are of people who lived in Vancouver and New Westminster.

New Westminster and Burrard Inlet Telephone Company, Limited: general instructions, tariff of charges, terms of conditions of lease instruments, exchange lists.
An early telephone book. Rent for one residential phone was $4.00 per month.

1891

Vancouver Daily World. Vancouver city: its wonderful history and future prospects, admirable location, an unrivalled and magnificent harbour, natural position, unexcelled transportation facilities and unrivalled industrial advantages, an historical and statistical review of the Pacific terminus of the C.P.R.
Souvenir ed.

The Vancouver daily world illustrated souvenir publication: the financial, professional, manufacturing, commercial, railroad and shipping interest of Vancouver, B.C.
Both this publication and the above-listed were published to sing the praises of and encourage investment in Vancouver.

1892

Roberts, Morley. The mate of the Vancouver.
This romance is the first novel to describe scenes of Vancouver and Burrard Inlet. Our hero, Thomas Ticehurst sails from England aboard the ship “Vancouver” to the West Coast of North America.

1893

Vancouver Fire Underwriters Association. Specific ratings of the City of Vancouver, B.C.: with rules governing ratings within the city limits.
Descriptions of and the ratings used to determine the premiums for fire insurance for buildings in the city. Includes ratings by street names.

1894

McCain, Charles W. History of the S.S. Beaver: being a graphic and vivid sketch of this noted pioneer steamer and her romantic cruise for over half a century on the placid island dotted waters of the North Pacific.
The first steamboat on the north Pacific coast, the S.S. Beaver ran aground off Prospect Point on July 26, 1888 and remained stranded until it broke apart on June 26, 1892.

1895

Lefevre, Lily Alice. The Lions’ Gate: and other verses.
In addition to being a poet, Lily Lefevre was a philanthropist and hostess in Vancouver.
1903 edition published with photos of Vancouver. Republished in 1936 in celebration of Vancouver’s Jubilee.

1896

Autumn Carnival-Regatta. Vancouver, British Columbia autumn carnival-regatta 1896.
Official souvenir programme of the carnival which began on August 31, 1896. The week was filled with boating, athletic, horse racing and music events.

1897

The Vancouver routes to the Yukon: Vancouver city the best point of departure for the Yukon.
“To the land of gold: don’t forget that Vancouver, B.C., the terminus of the Canadian Pacific Railway, is the base of supplies…”

1898

Province (Newspaper). Vancouver, the queen city of the wonderful west: souvenir edition of The Daily Province…Illustrations of the mining, shipping, salmon fishing, lumber, agriculture, manufacturing and other industries of British Columbia.
Illustrated with numerous photographs of Vancouver. Also included are sketches of various local businesses, ranging from brief descriptions to full-page ones.

1899

Gowen, Herbert H. Pioneer church work in British Columbia: being a memoir of the episcopate of Acton Windeyer Sillitoe, First Bishop of New Westminster.
Acton Sillitoe served as Anglican Bishop of the diocese of New Westminster from his arrival in 1879 until his death in 1894. The diocese covered southern B.C. and the memoir details many travels by the Bishop and his wife.

1900 - 1909

Untitled Document

1900

Kipling, Rudyard. From sea to sea: letters of travel.
Kipling first visited Vancouver in 1892 and returned in 1907, when he was enthusiastically received. In this 2 volume set, there are references to Vancouver.

Vancouver of today architecturally.
Photographs of major buildings and residences. Published by a group of local architects, the book has brief listings of each building’s architects, contractors, subcontractors and suppliers. Includes a few buildings in New Westminster.

Vancouver: the sunset city of the dominion.
A small photo-album of “One of the most beautiful cities in America, prosperous and progressive, the Gateway to the Orient; the magnificence of its situation on Burrard Inlet fully illustrates the beauty and charm and luxuriance of Stanley Park, a pleasure ground for natural beauty unrivalled the world over.” (Title page) VIP

1901

Edwards Brothers. Glimpses of Vancouver, B.C.
“The views in this book are reproduced from photographs by Edwards Bros., scenic photographers, Vancouver.” VIP

Henshaw, Julia. Why not sweetheart?
A romantic/comedy thriller set in Vancouver and the B.C. interior. Julia Henshaw was also an editor for the Province, and later an editorial columnist for the Vancouver Sun.

Vancouver, B.C. (City) Souvenir of our royal visitors: programme, Vancouver, B.C. September 30th, 1901.
A delightful programme illustrated with scenes of Vancouver and portraits of Their Royal Highnesses, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and York.

Vancouver Police Relief Association. Souvenir of the Police Department, Vancouver, B.C.
A record of the police department’s growth from inception to present day, with changes in its official head and some of the important cases. Illustrated with photos and advertisements of numerous sponsors.

1902

When Vancouver was sweet sixteen in 1882.
A little folder which has a panorama of the Vancouver harbour along with eight collages of photographs of Vancouver.

1903

Grant, Roland D. Vancouver, the mecca of the tourist: the commercial and scenic centre of British Columbia.
An early tourist booklet published by the Vancouver Tourist Association. Many variations were published. See also: Vancouver Tourist Association.

Granville School. The Granville School: a boarding and day school for girls.
A booklet describing the Granville School, established in 1896, on Haro Street. Illustrated with exterior and interior photographs.

Johnson, E. Pauline (Tekahionwake). Canadian born.
Pauline Johnson’s second published collection of poetry.

Lumsden, James. Through Canada in harvest time: a study of life and labour in the golden west.
Travels through the Canadian west with a small party of journalists, during the harvest of 1902. Chapter XVIII is “Vancouver City & its Industries”. Statistics included.

Vancouver Tourist Association. Vancouver, British Columbia: the sunset doorway of the Dominion.
“Includes a description of Vancouver recreational and park facilities, commercial potential and early history.” Illustrated with photos and maps. Various editions.1904

Vancouver, B.C. City Engineering Department. “Official” building inspector’s hand book of the City of Vancouver, British Columbia: containing revised building by-laws.
Consists of text and ads interleaved.

1904

Carnegie Library. The official catalogue of the books contained in the Carnegie Public Library, Vancouver, B.C. VIP

1905

British Columbia Mills, Timber and Trading Company. Catalogue of patented ready-made houses.
Along with the drawings and photographs of houses available, the catalogue “also contains souvenir views showing the company’s saw mills, factories, logging camps etc. in active operation”.

Vancouver Firemen’s Benefit Association. Souvenir of the Vancouver Fire Department.
Includes portraits and brief biographies of fire department personnel, photos of Vancouver fire halls and equipment, as well as photographs of Vancouver and vicinity.
Published in 1901, 1905, 1911.

Vancouver Power Company. Short history of the Vancouver Power Company, Limited: and a description of the work accomplished.
“Describes the power needs of Vancouver and adjoining municipalities and the ways in which they are served by the company’s hydroelectric projects.” Illustrated with maps and plans.

Views of British Columbia.
A published photograph album of various areas of the province with many from the Vancouver and New Westminster area.

1906

Bindloss, Harold. Alton of Somasco: a romance of the great northwest.
Harold Bindloss traveled to Western Canada as a young man and set some of his novels in the area. An early novel, this is one of his first to partially take place in Vancouver.

Fewster, Philip. The maritime city of Vancouver, B.C. in regard to its present and future position in the Empire, and in respect to the public and private utilities desirable in this province.
Philip Fewster was so concerned for senior citizens that he self-published this booklet pleading for housing and other services for the aged.

Norcross, J. Edward. The British Columbia review: being a series of articles, descriptive of the Pacific Province, its magnificent resources and its present and probable development.
“Partial contents: Imperial Vancouver: western gate of King Edward’s vast domain.”
Features many advertisers who were based in the greater Vancouver area.

Verne, Jules. Le volcan d’or. (Volcano of Gold)
The first volume of this novel about gold in the Klondike is partially set in Vancouver, even though Verne never came to the city. It was later published in English as The Claim on Forty Mile Creek.

1907

Lyons, Herbert H. 6th regiment: the Duke of Connaught’s Own Rifles.
Souvenir edition of the history of the British Columbia Regiment with photographs of the buildings and of the officers, including those in Vancouver and New Westminster.

Meany, Edmond S. Vancouver’s discovery of Puget Sound: portraits and biographies of the men honored in the naming of geographic features of northwestern America.
Using Captain George Vancouver’s journals and other documents, the book describes how Vancouver came to name the various geographic points in the Pacific Northwest.

Nixon, Carl S. Vancouver street and street car guide.
“ "…containing a complete alphabetical list of all streets, official names, locations and numbering system, arranged so that a person can find any desired number with the least possible delay, either by walking, driving, or street car…”

1908

Bindloss, Harold. A damaged reputation.
Another Harold Bindloss romantic adventure novel which partially takes place in Vancouver.

B.C. Coast Cities’ Business Directory Co. The B.C. Coast Cities’ Directory Co. 1908.
“Comprising an alphabetically arranged list of business firms, companies and professional men, with office and telephone addresses, of the cities of Vancouver, Victoria, New Westminster, Nanaimo, North Vancouver and Ladysmith, together with a classified business directory of the cities of Vancouver and Victoria.”

Bursill, J. Francis. Guide and handbook to the Museum, Vancouver, B.C.
First edition. A hastily assembled guide to the Museum "to call attention to, and stimulate, the movement for acquiring the Old Court House as a permanent Art Gallery and Museum" which had been housed in the Carnegie Library since 1905.

Canada. Department of Labour. Report by W.L. Mackenzie King, C.M.G. Deputy Minister of Labour, Commissioner, appointed to investigate into the losses sustained by the Chinese population of Vancouver, B.C. on the occasion of the riots in that city in September 1907.
The Appendix of the report lists names of claimants and amounts allowed for resultant losses. In the report, Mackenzie King notes that manufacturers of opium made claims for losses and he advises the government to investigate the local opium trade. (Sessional Paper 74f, 7-8 Edward VII)

Canada. Ministry of Labour. Report by W.L. Mackenzie King, C.M.G. Deputy Minister of Labour, Commissioner, appointed to investigate into the losses sustained by the Japanese population of Vancouver, B.C. on the occasion of the riots in that city in September, 1907.
As with the report on losses by the Chinese population, the Appendix has a list of claimants and the amounts allowed for resultant damages. (Sessional Paper 74g, 7-8 Edward VII)

Dominion Illustrating Company. Greater Vancouver illustrated: Canada’s most progressive twentieth century metropolis.
“ A glance at her history. A review of her commerce. A description of her business enterprises, with illustrations of her public and commercial buildings, her beautiful residences, hotels, residence and business streets, parks and points of interest in and about the city". A great book.”

1909

The A.Y.P. Book of Vancouver, B.C.
Issued by the Daily World for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition held in Seattle, WA. in 1909; with commercial and investment information for Vancouver. Includes advertisements for Vancouver firms.

Kelly Douglas and Company. Kelly Douglas & Co. Ltd. Wholesale grocers, Vancouver, B.C.: 1909 catalogue.
A history of the company and its principals as well as a catalogue of items for sale. Illustrated with photographs of the warehouse, offices and executive staff.

Vancouver Gas Company. Modern household cookery book: with numerous recipes.
“ …a small handbook for cooking by gas – containing correct and concisely worded rules arranged in such a manner as to be interesting and instructive to school girl and bride, bachelor and matron.”

Vancouver Information Bureau. The British Pacific Gateway: British Columbia, the treasure house of Canada and Vancouver, its greatest seaport.
“Vancouver: a brief outline of its past, present and probable future”. Statistical tables show the progress of the city since its incorporation.

Walbran, John T. British Columbia coast names, 1592-1906: their origin and history.
An early B.C.gazetteer with the origin of names of geographical features, including those in and around the Greater Vancouver area.

Winch, R.V. The Winch Building: an entirely modern class "A" office building, the first of its kind erected in British Columbia.
Built at the corner of Hastings and Howe streets. Plans and technical information illustrate this booklet which details the steel cage construction of the building.

1910 - 1919

1910

Bindloss, Harold. Thurston of Orchard Valley.
More adventure fiction with some action taking place in Vancouver.

British Columbia Electric Railway Company. A short account of the plant and operations of the British Columbia Electric Railway Co. Ltd. and the Vancouver Power Company and the Vancouver Island Power Co.
Illustrated with photographs, plans and a map.

Educational institutions of Vancouver: their progress from incorporation up to the present time.
Issued with the authority, co-operation and endorsement of the Board of School Trustees of the City of Vancouver.

Mildmay, Aubrey N. St. John. Sea-room: a Vancouver empire song.
A poem illustrated with photographs. “Second edition revised from the original edition, published by the Vancouver ‘Evening Province’”.

Smith, Arthur James. Siwash Rock: a legend.
How the young warrior Quatlatka and his lover Miwasa run away together, are pursued by her father, and die on Siwash Rock.

Vancouver Exhibition Association. Official catalogue and programme of Vancouver’s First Exhibition, Vancouver, B.C., August 15th to 20th, 1910.

Held at Hastings Park, the Exhibition was designed to display agricultural, horticultural, industrial, arts and crafts interests in Vancouver. In 1946, it was renamed Pacific National Exhibition.

1911

British Columbia Political Equality League. Vancouver Branch. Points in the laws of British Columbia regarding the legal status of women.
Enfranchisement issues at the provincial and municipal levels along with a report of the first women’s suffrage convention held in Vancouver on May 5, 1911.

Commercial Printing & Publishing Company. Vancouver progress. Greater Vancouver Edition.
A tabloid primarily devoted to the residential and industrial area of South Vancouver.

Harris, F.T. Official historical review Vancouver Council, no.284 United Commercial Travellers.
Along with the history, is a guide to and for local traveling salesmen with advertising, information and photographs of the commercial and industrial buildings in Vancouver.

Holden, William T. Holden Building, Vancouver, B.C. 1911.
Plans and prospectus of the new 10 story steel frame building at 16 Hastings Street, East.

Johnson, E. Pauline (Tekahionwake). Legends of Vancouver.
These legends were told to Pauline Johnson over time, by her friend Chief Joe Capilano of Vancouver. They were first published in the “Vancouver Daily Province.” VIP

Modern architecture, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1911.
Photographs and advertisements of and for Vancouver buildings and forms.

Newspaper Cartoonists Association of British Columbia. British Columbians as we see ’em, 1910 and 1911.
Over 200 caricatures and cartoons of politicians and businessmen, many of whom were Vancouverites.

Vancouver Information and Tourist Association. Vancouver in tabloid.
Compiled to celebrate the 25th year of Vancouver’s incorporation. Like previous issues offered recreational, residential, harbour, and transportation information.

Who’s who in western Canada. Volume 1, 1911
“…designed by the publishers to provide a record of the men and women who, in one capacity or another, are contributing to the building up of Western Canada.”

1912

Boam, Henry J. British Columbia: its history, people, commerce, industries and resources.
This sizable volume was published “to provide an accurate guide to the character and resources of the important territory with which it details.” An invaluable resource for short descriptions of prominent businesses throughout the province, especially for Vancouver and environs.

British Columbia Electric Railway Company. Tips for tourists: interurban trips over B.C. Electric Railway system, in vicinity of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Guide to traveling on the interurban with a map showing the rail lines, parks, sporting areas, bathing beaches and significant buildings.

Chas. E. Goad Co. Goad’s atlas of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia and surrounding municipalities in 4 volumes.
A large-scale atlas for fire insurance plans identifying types of public and private buildings which would show the distribution and character of risks. Insurance plan of Vancouver series; surveyed July 1912; volume 4 was never published.

Johnson, E. Pauline (Tekahionwake). Flint and Feather.
Collected verse.

Loyal Order of Moose. Lodge no. 288 (Vancouver, B.C.) Moose in burnt cork, annual minstrel.
The Vancouver Lodge no. 288 had its first meeting in February, 1912. This programme for the first minstrel (held later in 1912) lists the names of all local members.

Palmer, H.S. Our men of affairs.
Wonderful caricatures of Vancouver businessmen. The author regarded all men and estates as equally eligible for satirical attention.

Ricketts, Taschereau & Co. Ricketts,Taschereau & Co.’s atlas of City of Vancouver, and cities of North Vancouver and New Westminster and the adjoining municipalities including South Vancouver, North Vancouver, Point Grey, Burnaby, Hastings Townsite, Richmond, Coquitlam.

Ross and Howard Iron Works. Vancouver home industries.
Photographs and brief descriptions of various local businesses and industries.

Social vice in Vancouver.
Issued by the Moral and Social Reform Council of British Columbia; members of which were appointed representatives of the churches of the province. A call against social vices in its commercialized form, especially that of prostitution.

Vancouver Tourist Association. Vancouver, British Columbia: “the Liverpool of the Pacific”, facts and figures.
Information for prospective investors from around the world; with an emphasis, even then, on real estate.

1913

Brandow, Geo. A. The Real home-keeper: A perpetual honeymoon for the Vancouver bride.
Household and beauty hints, recipes and business directory are in this early local home economics book.

British Columbia Mountaineering Club. The Northern Cordilleran.
Reports on exploration of the Garibaldi region, Vancouver or Burrard range and Coast range. Includes a history of the Vancouver-based club.

Burwell, H.M. The Vancouver water supply.
Description and cost analysis of Vancouver’s water supply from Capilano and Seymour Creeks. Includes tables.

Hotel Vancouver.
Booklet describing the building of the new Hotel Vancouver with notes and photos of other Canadian Pacific Railway hotels.

Methodist Church of Canada. Board of Temperance and Moral Reform. Vancouver, British Columbia: the report of a brief investigation of social conditions in the city which indicate the need of an intensive social survey, the lines of which are herein suggested.
The Methodist Church and Presbyterian Church combined to propose that local government do a survey covering housing, crime, public health and social service issues.

Vancouver and Districts Joint Sewerage and Drainage Board. Vancouver and Districts Joint Sewerage and Drainage Board: report on the Burrard Peninsula Joint Sewerage Scheme.
Proposals for sewage treatment and disposal for Burrard Inlet, False Creek, English Bay, Fraser River and Burnaby Lake.

Ward, Lionel. Impressions from the Printshop of Ward, Ellwood & Pound, Limited. 318 Homer St., Vancouver…
Published for prospective customers, this brochure explained the printing services and techniques of the shop, using views of Vancouver as examples.

1914

Butler, A.P. Ye pageant of Vancouver: a pictorial record of ye summer festival.
Photographs of parade floats and other participants in the festival. (See also Vancouver Summer Festival Association. 1914)

Hamilton, J.H. Vancouver’s contribution to the Empire: a souvenir of the first overseas contingent who volunteered for foreign service from the regiments of Vancouver and District.
Names of individual soldiers are listed by regiment.

Vancouver social register and club directory.
“We do not assume to pass upon the social status of the residents of Vancouver, but merely to publish the names of families and persons who are or have been active in the social life of the city.” VIP

Vancouver Summer Festival Association. Book of the pageant of Vancouver: June 1914.
Souvenir book for the first summer festival held from June 11-14, 1914.

1915

Art, Historical and Scientific Association of Vancouver. The Museum.
A very much expanded version of the catalogue originally published in 1908.

Canadian Pacific Railway Company. News Service. Vancouver, B.C., the terminal city.
Photographs of early Vancouver produced in the style of a photo-album, with tipped-in plates. VIP

Capt. Vancouver invites you to the Pacific Coast: and presents a reliable guide to his own city and surrounding beauty spots.
Published by the Commissioner of Industries, this guide includes North Vancouver, New Westminster and Bowen Island.

Robinson, Noel. Blazing the trail through the Rockies: the story of Walter Moberly and his share in the making of Vancouver.
Civil engineer, Walter Moberly, helped to lay out New Westminster, explored Burrard Inlet, and was involved in building the Dewdney Trail.

1916

Davison, J. Reginald Visit Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: base for short trips by land and sea: seaport for Alaska and the Yukon
Guide for one and two hour trips, half-day trips, half-day excursions, day trips and short sea trips out of Vancouver. Illustrated.

Galloway, C.F.J. The call of the west: letters from British Columbia
In the chapter titled: “The Terminal City”, Galloway proposes to “try and give you some sort of impression of what kind of a place it is to live in” (i.e., Vancouver).

Sinclair, Bertrand Big timber: a story of the Northwest
The author observed logging operations at Harrison Lake before writing this novel of the forest industry, parts of which take place in Vancouver. Released as a movie in 1917.

Thomas, Elizabeth Stray leaves
Poems, anthems and an agreement between the author and the 23rd Infantry Brigade, Canadian Militia, Vancouver to create the “Willing Workers’ Aid” to raise funds for the relief of local sick and wounded soldiers returning from Europe.

1917

British Columbia Commercial Travellers Association Souvenir programme for the British Columbia Commercial Traveller’s war dance
The dance was held in aid of Red Cross Material Fund, returned soldiers, Canadian Patriotic Fund, Royal Navy Service Fund. Various essays and articles on local manufacturing, fisheries, shipping, mineral resources, transportation and tourism.

Canadian Army, Overseas Battalion, C.E.F. 231st Souvenir, 231st Overseas Battalion C.E.F.: 3rd Battalion, 72nd Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
Small book of regimental history covering World War I sprinkled with poems, humourous anecdotes and quips from soldiers.

Rentoul, J. Laurence At Vancouver’s well: and other poems of south and north
Vancouver, the city, was an inspiration for some poems, as well as George Vancouver, whose history is included as it relates to the poems.

1918

Vancouver: eighteen superb views of the terminal city, printed in real photogravure. VIP

Bell, Archie Sunset Canada, British Columbia and beyond: an account of its settlement, its progress from the early days to the present…an analysis of what it offers in opportunity to the home seeker, the agriculturalist, the business man, the sportsman and the traveler
Book relates primarily to British Columbia, with chapters on Vancouver, New Westminster and surrounding areas.

British Columbia. Commission on the Economic Conditions and Operations of the British Columbia Electric Railway Company and Subsidiary Companies. Report of Commissioner
Commissioner Adam Shortt investigated the question of public transportation in Vancouver and surrounding areas to decide the possibility of street car service being maintained in competition with jitneys.

Burwash, Edward Moore Jackson The geology of Vancouver and vicinity
Covers the area north of Burrard Inlet to the southern portion of the Coast Range and south of the Inlet to the United States border. Originally the author’s Ph.D. dissertation.

Hood, Robert Allison The chivalry of Keith Leicester: a romance of British Columbia
Rancher, Keith Leicester (while in Vancouver), speaks up for the heroine, Marjorie, who is mistaken for a thief. While together in the city, they explore points in Stanley Park.

Joint Committee of the Boards of Trade of South Vancouver, Richmond and Point Grey
The North Arm of the Fraser: its industries, its possibilities, a plea for its further development
Request by the Committee, with letters of support from various companies, for the dredging of the North Arm of the Fraser River.

MacDonald, Wilson Song of the prairie land and other poems
Canadian poet MacDonald also wrote under the name of Frederick MacLean. Many of the poems in this volume were written about and in Vancouver.

Manufacturers’ Association of British Columbia The industries of British Columbia
First issued in 1915 by the Association, the directory had a classified section, general articles on various industries and short descriptions of businesses, many of which were headquartered in Vancouver.

Penne, Felix The Gold stripe: a tribute to the British Columbia men, who have been killed, crippled and wounded in the Great War
Net profits from the three issues published went to the Amputation Club of British Columbia, Vancouver. Each issue is full of essays, tributes, poems, songs and stories.

Tweedale, Aitken Ship building and shipbuilders of British Columbia, with allied industries
Intended to be an annual overview of the local shipbuilding industry, no further issues have been located since this first one. Includes references to many Vancouver firms.

University of British Columbia. Student’s Council Students’ song book of the University of British Columbia
Published “not as a permanent collection or as a model of good taste, but as a war-time effort to make their comrades sing”.

1919

Canada. Department of Marine and Fisheries Report on Vancouver Harbour, B.C. to the Hon. C.C. Ballantyne, Minister of Marine and Fisheries
Forty page report covering various aspects of the harbour facilities and bridges in Burrard Inlet, False Creek, North Vancouver, Port Moody and other locales.

Seventy-three specially selected views of Vancouver: the gateway of the Lions
“A holiday centre and industrial area, one of the most attractive cities in the continent.”
A large album with views of downtown, residential and industrial areas.

Vancouver Citizen’s League Report of the activities of the Vancouver Citizen’s League: including a brief history of conditions and events connected with the June strikes in western Canada
The League was formed on June 11, 1919 to support the city government during the general strike. Their mandate was to maintain law and order; operate essential services; prevent suffering, inconvenience and loss to the general public. It disbanded at the end of the strike.

Vancouver Firemen’s Benefit Association Fire prevention and first aid manual
“Especially prepared with the hope of decreasing the appalling waste occasioned by fire.”

1920 - 1929

1920

Brittain, Horace L. Report to the City of Vancouver on methods of municipal taxation
Written for and published by the Citizen’s Research Institute of Canada with recommendations that resemble those of today.

Canada. Army. 29th Battalion (Vancouver), C.E.F. A pictorial record and original muster roll 29th Battalion Vancouver, Canada
Illustrated with fold-out portraits of the various Companies. Also includes a nominal role of affairs, non-commissioned officers and men.

Lewis, Alfred Henry South Vancouver past and present: an historical sketch of the municipality from the earliest days and its incorporation to the present, 1920. Together with short biographical sketches of some of its leading business and public men
Features Main and Fraser Streets and Victoria Drive.

McEvoy, Bernard History of the 72nd Canadian Infantry Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada
Detailed history of the Battalion from its beginnings up to and including experiences in Europe during World War I. Distinctions, decorations and nominal roll of officers included.

Sinclair, Bertrand W Poor man’s rock
A commercial fisherman, Sinclair drew upon his experience in this romance novel in which Jack MacRae struggles against large fish packing plants in the Vancouver area.
Likely Sinclair’s best known novel.

Twenty-five years service, 1895-1920: commemorating the twenty fifth anniversary of the founding of the W.H. Malkin Company Ltd., wholesale grocers and importers of tea blenders and coffee roasters
W.H. Malkin began business in 1895 as Osmund, Skrine & Co. at 117 Water Street, changed to W.H. Malkin & Co. and then incorporated as a limited company.

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
One of many “View” books published by Sun Publishing Co. A souvenir book where “…the views on the following pages illustrate but a few of the wonderful surroundings of this city, and all can be seen in comfort by means of automobile, street car or ferry without undue exertion.

1921

Glynn-Ward, H. The writing on the wall: in three parts, past, present and future.
This novel reflects the anti-oriental feelings running high in British Columbia and illustrates the fear and prejudice facing immigrants in Vancouver. (1974 printing has an introduction by Patricia E. Roy) VIP

Ladies of the St. Mary’s Church. The Kerrisdale cook book.
A small cook book assembled by the Ladies of the St. Mary’s Church in Kerrisdale.

Vancouver, B.C. Police Department. City of Vancouver, B.C. Police Department: nineteen hundred and twenty-one.
Authorized by the Board of Police Commissioners, this report sets out to leave a fitting and lasting record of police work and to review the factors that were important to the building of the force.

1922

British Columbia Electric Railway Company. British Columbia Electric Railway Company Limited and subsidiary companies: electric light and power service, electric railway service, gas service.
Lovely album with views and information on the power plants serving Vancouver and district, New Westminster and Victoria. With map.

Cleveland, E.A. Report to the Honourable T.D. Pattullo, Minister of Lands, on the question of joint control of water supply to the cities and municipalities on Burrard Inlet.
Advocated creation of a Metropolitan Water Board where Vancouver, North Vancouver, Burnaby, South Vancouver, Point Grey and West Vancouver would control the taps. Includes graphs, tables and statistical data.

Murphy, Emily F. The black candle.
Ms. Murphy’s book on drug abuse reflected the sentiment of the time that immigrants were responsible and referred to opium dens in Vancouver as an example. She advocated changes to laws regarding drugs and narcotics some of which were enacted and remain today.

Sillitoe, Violet E. Early days in British Columbia.
Written by the wife of the first Bishop of New Westminster (see 1899), the Bishop and Mrs. Sillitoe arrived in Vancouver in 1880 and dedicated their lives to helping people in the southwest of B.C.

Sinclair, Bertrand. The hidden places.
Another Sinclair novel which takes place in Vancouver. Disfigured Robin Hollister, back from the war, meets a blind woman, Doris Cleveland.

1923

C.D.Howe & Co. Report of C.D. Howe & Co. of Port Arthur, Ontario on facilities for grain shipments and elevator sites on the Fraser River and Burrard Inlet, British Columbia.
Arguments for and against the Fraser River as the logical location for the Canadian National Railway grain terminals.

Goodfellow, John C. The totem poles in Stanley Park
A small guide to Coast Indian totem poles in the park and to the Art, Historical and Scientific Association of Vancouver which made it possible for the poles to be erected. VIP

Menzies, Archibald. Menzies’ journal of Vancouver’s voyage: April to October, 1792.
Published with botanical and ethnological notes by C.F. Newcombe and a biographical note by J. Forsyth.

South Vancouver, B.C. (Municipality). Price list: properties for sale.
More than 150 pages of properties that had reverted to the municipality at the 1915, 1919 and 1920 tax sale. Price quoted included all taxes and charges to the end of 1922.

Union Steamship Company of British Columbia. “Our coastal trips.”
Along with a short history of the company are brief descriptions of trips from Vancouver to various points up the B.C. coast.

Wolverton, A.N. The stock exchange and blue sky legislation: a simple, logical and effective solution of a difficult problem.
In addition to Mr. Wolverton’s solution to blue sky law, there is a history of the Vancouver Stock Exchange.

1923-24

Vancouver city guide, 1923-1924: complete street directory with all intersecting streets, street car routes, etc. and miscellaneous information. VIP

1924

Beeman, Herbert. For our bureau: being the bureau ballads contributed to volumes one and two of “Via Vancouver”, the journal of the Foreign Trade Bureau of the Vancouver Board of Trade.
A collection of poems sent out weekly with the Journal. Each card was designed to summarize the speaker and topic of the previous week’s meeting, and to notify members of the next one.

Campbell-Johnston, Ronald C. The story of the totem.
“A short history relating to the Indian totems, now standing within Stanley Park…as mostly told by the Indians themselves” “ …to persuade others to sympathetically glimpse alike unto the inner, perhaps noble soul of the native Indian.”

City of Vancouver’s official souvenir commemorating the visit of the British fleet and Tyee Potlatch.
Program of celebrations which took place from June 25 – July 5, 1924. The Gyro Club which put on the potlatch used the funds obtained towards outfitting playgrounds in the city.

Holbrook, Hols. The loggers annual: strictly a high-ball proposition.
“ …this modest and somewhat haywire effort is concocted with but one idea in view, and that is – to laugh.” “Now, let’s pass out The Bunk.”

Pogue, Pollough. Captivating Vancouver: Canada’s Pacific port.
“ …an attempt has been made, by words and illustrations, to represent some of the pictorial interest of the city’s colorful docks and shipping and streets…”.

Simson, Balkwill & Co., Ltd. General catalogue, Simson, Balkwill & Co. Limited, hardware, ship chandlery, mill, mine and logging supplies, metals, pipe, valves and fittings, etc. etc.
Over 900 pages of items; each one is illustrated with line drawings. Indexed.

Sinclair, Bertrand W. The inverted pyramid.
Taking his theme from the failure of the Dominion Trust Co., Sinclair weaves a story about the Norquay family men- their finances, loves, power, and adventures.

Watson, Robert. Gordon of the lost lagoon: a romance of the Pacific coast.
For nearly twenty years, Robert Watson worked as an accountant at the Hudson’s Bay Company – ten of those years in Vancouver and wrote novels on the side.

1925

Greater Vancouver Publicity Bureau. Beauty spots, Vancouver, Canada, the lion-guarded city.
“To commemorate the visit of the late Warren G. Harding, former President of the United States, to Vancouver, July 1923, the International Kiwanis Clubs have erected in Stanley Park a memorial”. The first visit to Canada by an American President in office.

Richmond Presbyterian Church. Committee of Session. An historical sketch of Richmond Presbyterian Church in Marpole, B.C., 1861-1925.
A history of “one of the oldest congregations on the mainland of British Columbia.”; now the Marpole United Church.

The Second Narrows Bridge: spanning Burrard Inlet – Port of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Booklet which commemorated the official opening of the bridge on Saturday, November 7, 1925. Photographs and illustrations included.

Swan, Andrew Don. Vancouver Harbour, B.C. (Canada)
Technical report on various aspects of building Vancouver Harbour from 1912 onwards: general conditions, recommendations for future development including widening, dredging, wharfage and grain elevators.
(Institution of Civil Engineers. Selected engineering papers no. 27, 1925)

Vancouver Harbour Commissioners. Port of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Description of facilities, imports, exports, tonnage and value. List of ocean steamship lines are included.

Vancouver, B.C. Board of Park Commissioners. Handbook of parks, playgrounds, and bathing beaches.
Salient features of the park system in Vancouver, including statistics and a map. VIP

Ward, N. Lascelles. Oriental missions in British Columbia.
Reflections on the Chinese, Japanese and Sikh populations and their cultures; published by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, an Anglican missionary organization. VIP

White, Stewart Edward. Skookum Chuck: a novel.
Roger Marshall, an American, who becomes indifferent towards life, meets X. Anaxagoras who will charge him nothing if he can cure Roger’s apathy. Starting out in Vancouver, Roger encounters many adventures up the Coast and becomes cured.

Year book of Vancouver, British Columbia: an illustrated presentation: forty years progress.
Pioneer edition. Published by the Civic Federation of Vancouver, this yearbook is “a repository of miscellaneous information relating to Vancouver for Vancouverites and Strangers within our gates”. Includes statistics.

1926

Black, Jack. You can’t win.
Autobiography of a professional thief who for more than twenty years went back and forth between the United States and Canada, including Vancouver. After many escapades and stints in jail, he went straight, wrote this book and became a librarian.

British Columbia. Bureau of Provincial Information. Highways, motor camps and stopping places in British Columbia.
Guide to camping and recreational facilities in the Lower Mainland. Describes each campsite’s location, equipment, capacity and charges.

British Columbia Advertisers. The call of the coast: British Columbia, Canada.
“Compiled with the idea of giving in a readable and interesting manner, information about some of the chief places on our wonderful coast line.” Areas included are Vancouver, North and West Vancouver, Cloverdale, White Rock and Crescent Beach.

MacInnes, Tom. Chinook days.
Tales from around British Columbia, including some from Vancouver. One thousand copies were printed for the opening of Grouse Mountain Highway and Scenic Resort, September, 1926.

Numerical Telephone Locator Syndicate. Numerical Telephone Locator.
A reverse telephone directory covering Vancouver, North and West Vancouver, and New Westminster. Only names are provided, no addresses.

Romance of Vancouver: being a review of the development of Canada’s western gateway from the first coming of the whiteman.
A broad history and industrial review compiled by Post number 2, Native Sons of British Columbia. Illustrated.

Vancouver Sun. Research and Merchandising Division. British Columbia 1926: Survey of business conditions in Greater Vancouver and British Columbia, together with comparative data on Canada’s trading areas.

Verrill, Rae. Poems of Vancouver.
Rae Verrill was a poet and newspaper woman of North Vancouver. This small book of poems has vignettes of Vancouver and West Vancouver, Chinese gamblers and deep-sea ships.

White, Stewart Edward. Secret harbour.
This sequel to Skookum Chuck (1925), starts out in Vancouver with our hero Roger Marshall again meeting with X. Anaxagoras and embarking on another series of adventures.

1927

Canada. Department of Public Works. Report on plans submitted for approval to Public Works of Canada for proposed bridge over First Narrows, Vancouver Harbour, B.C.. 3 vols.
Plans with maps, illustrations and transcripts of evidence given at Vancouver hearings in 1926 for what was to become Lions’ Gate Bridge.

Evans, Hubert. The new front line.
Hubert Evans’ first novel about a veteran who trades the front line of war for the new frontline of homesteading in British Columbia.

Harland Bartholomew and Associates. Railway and harbour report: Vancouver, B.C.
Two separate reports on railroad transportation and the Vancouver harbour make up this technical discussion with recommendations for future growth in the municipality.

MacInnes, Tom. Oriental occupation of British Columbia.
Based on a collection of articles published in Vancouver papers reflecting a majority viewpoint, at the time, of anti-Oriental sentiment and why Oriental occupation should not continue.

Morton, Guy. The black robe.
The first mystery novel to be set in Vancouver (albeit partially). Published in England as King of the World.

Nelson, Denys. Place names of the delta of the Fraser, British Columbia. 2 vols.
Information on place names from the strait of Georgia to Yale; bounded on the north by the Coast Mountains and south to the international border.

Russell, Margaret Wharf. Greater Vancouver social and club register.
“ …the aim has been to list persons who are taking an active part in welfare work, educational advancement, or are well known in connection with religious, social, club and fraternal activities.”

Stephen, A.M. The land of singing waters.
Stephen, social activist, came to live in Vancouver in 1924. This second collection of poems established his literary reputation in Canada.

Vancouver, B.C. City Council. Industrial Survey Committee. Industrial survey, 1927.
Maps included.

Vancouver, British Columbia: the Pacific gateway of Canada: 24 specifically selected views reproduced in real photogravure.
Lovely album with a brief description of Vancouver published by Coast Publishing Co.

Vancouver Exhibition Association. Official Exhibition review: Jubilee number, sixty years of confederation, 1867-1927. VIP

1928

Cotterill, George F. The climax of a world quest: the story of Puget Sound: the modern Mediterranean of the Pacific.
Supplement to Edmond S. Meany’s 1907 publication: Vancouver’s discovery of Puget Sound.

Council of Scottish Societies of British Columbia. The Scots directory: a pocket guide and directory of the Scottish organizations in Greater Vancouver.
First annual edition. Contains advertisements for local businesses.

Jones & Son Tent & Awning Co. Ltd. General Catalogue no. 41.
Illustrated catalogue of tents, camping gear, outdoor clothing and awnings by the company that was established in Vancouver in 1887.

Vancouver Burns Fellowship. Vancouver’s tribute to Burns.
Published to commemorate the unveiling of a statue to Scotland’s immortal bard in Stanley Park.

Vancouver all – Canadian labour annual.
This first Labour Day annual was an official publication of Vancouver Labour Council and was published in the interests of the National and Independent Unions of Vancouver and District.

Woodsworth, J.S. On the waterfront: with the workers on the docks at Vancouver – some observations and experiences.
Intimate glimpses into the lives of longshoremen by a former minister and student of social problems who attempted to earn a living as a dock worker.

1929

Bollong, J.W.A. Vancouver traffic survey.
Prepared for Vancouver Council at the request of the Automobile Club of B.C. Maps, graphs, plans included.

British Columbia. Commission on Milk Supply to Vancouver. Report of the Milk Inquiry Commission, 1928: presented to the Legislature 22nd, 1929.
An inquiry into milk production, distribution, prices and sale in the Lower Fraser Valley as it pertains to the milk-supply to Vancouver and surrounding municipalities.

British Columbia Telephone Company. Commercial survey, Vancouver, B.C., 1929 – 1950: information compiled as of June 30, 1929.
Survey of physical, commercial and social conditions to determine present and future needs and probable requirements for telephone service up to 1950. Includes tables.

Godwin, George. The eternal forest.
Pioneer life in the Fraser Valley is touched by Vancouver -style brashness in this novel by George Godwin who homesteaded in Whonnock from around 1914 to 1916.

Hood, Robert Allison. By shore and trail in Stanley Park.
“Legends and reminiscences of Vancouver’s beauty spot and region of romance, with historical and natural history details.” With photographs and poems. VIP

McRaye, Walter. Town hall tonight.
Stories and reminiscences by Walter McRaye, lecturer and entertainer, who often teamed up with Pauline Johnson to present lectures and evenings.

Stephen, A. M. The gleaming archway.
Written by “the greatest humanitarian of all Vancouver writers”, this novel takes place in the rugged areas of British Columbia and in Vancouver which is referred to as the “Mystical City” and the “City Beautiful”. VIP

Vancouver, B.C. Board of Police Commissioners. Vancouver city police: instruction book.
A manual for the city police officers; with job descriptions for various ranks of officers.

Vancouver, B.C. Commission on Civic Salaries. Report of the Commission on Civic Salaries of the city of Vancouver and Classification and standardization of positions and salaries, 1929.
Complete survey of all employees of the city.

Vancouver port annual: British Columbia ports and western Canada foreign trade directory.
The first edition published by Harbour and Shipping magazine which continues to this day.

1930 - 1939

1930

Espinosa y Tello, Jose. A Spanish voyage to Vancouver and the north-west coast of America: being the narrative of the voyage made in the year 1792 by the schooners Sutil and Mexicana to explore the Strait of Fuca.
Translated from the Spanish edition of 1802 by G.F. Barwick.

Godwin, George. Vancouver, a life, 1757-1798.
Biography of Captain George Vancouver with “material gathered from many hitherto neglected sources.” Appendix with notes included.

Pyke, Magnus. Go west, young man, go west.
Novel of Englishman, Angus Hake who arrives in Vancouver after studying farming at McGill, fails at being a farm labourer, becomes a bank clerk and gets swindled.

Scudamore, T.V. A short history of the 7th Battalion C.E.F.
Short narrative of the 7th Battalion’s career during the Great War in a condensed form so that those who served may have some record. A complete list of casualties sustained during 1914-1918 is at the end of the book.

The Vancouver bride, 1930-31 edition.
“A Wedding Present to Brides of Greater Vancouver from the Advertisers and the Publisher”. Full of household hints and recipes for the beginning housewife. VIP

Vancouver Town Planning Commission. A plan for the city of Vancouver British Columbia including Point Grey and South Vancouver and a general plan of the region, 1929
Vancouver’s town plan with extensive illustrations and detailed maps of major streets, transit, transportation, public recreation, civic art and zoning proposals. VIP

Watson, Robert. A boy of the great north west: the rousing experiences of a young Canadian among cowboys, hunters, trappers, fur traders, fishermen and Indians.
The story of Robert Watson, born in Vancouver in 1914, who lived in and explored B.C. as a youth.

1931

Canadian Labor Defense League. The Frame-Up of Allan Campbell: the Story of the unemployed of Vancouver and their fight against the police terror.
Pamphlet issued to serve as a lesson to revolutionary workers on how they can defend themselves in capitalist courts. Allan Campbell was charged with sedition, found guilty in Assizes and deported to Scotland.

Foster, Mrs. W. Garland. The Mohawk princess: being some account of the life of Tekahionwake (E. Pauline Johnson)
Interesting life history of Pauline Johnson and interpretation of her poetry and prose. Extensive bibliography of the poet’s works included.

Roddan, Andrew. God in the jungles: the story of the man without a home.
The purpose of this book is to create a sympathetic understanding of homeless men. A precursor to Roddan’s Canada’s Untouchables (see 1932)

Stephen, A.M. Brown earth & bunch grass.
Book of poems by social activist A.M. Stephen includes his long poem “Vancouver”.

Vancouver General Hospital. Facts you should know about the Vancouver General Hospital: established, 1887.
An illustrated pamphlet “to give citizens some idea of the manner in which the hospital cares for its patients and to seek the sympathetic support of right thinking citizens in coping with its various problems”.

Vancouver’s new art gallery: 1145 Georgia Street West, some information about the new Art Gallery Association and the objects to be accomplished.
Information booklet describing the new gallery which commenced building in April, 1931.

Vancouver, British Columbia, the Pacific gateway: a series of sixteen prominent points of interest reproduced by color photography.
“ …offered as a Vancouver effort to present in artistic record an emblem typical of our beautiful City and of its progress from Totem Poles and Virgin Forest to a fast expanding City…” VIP

1932

British Columbia Power and Gas Company. The Carrall street gas plant.
An illustrated booklet showing the operations of the new Carrall Street gas plant.

Cumming, R.A. Birds of the Vancouver district, British Columbia.
List of 243 species of birds sighted over a period of 22 years, from 1909-1931. No illustrations. (Reprinted from the Murrelet, January, 1932)

Fripp, Edward Fitz-Gerald. The outcasts of Canada, why settlements fail: a true record of “bull” and bale-wire.
An Englishman’s fictional account of farming in the Okanagan and working as a salesman in Vancouver.

Hamilton, James H. Western shores: narratives of the Pacific coast, by Capt. Kettle.
Capt. Kettle is the pseudonym of James Hamilton who also founded the B.C. magazine “Harbour & Shipping” which is still being published. Wonderful stories of local marine history.

Monro, A.S. The medical history of British Columbia.
A history of the men who were often the sole members of the medical profession in the province; from 1778 to 1931. (Reprinted from The Canadian Medical Association Journal, 1931-1932)

Ryan, Clarence A. Rotary Club survey of tuberculosis in Vancouver: a survey of tuberculosis work in Greater Vancouver.
Sponsored by the Rotary Club of Vancouver, the author surveyed the various institutions involved in the diagnosis and treatment of patients and made recommendations to improve activities.

Roddan, Andrew. Canada’s untouchables: the story of the man without a home.
The author pleads for a more sympathetic attitude and understanding of the many thousands of unemployed, unwanted men drifting across Canada during the Depression. VIP

1932-33

Matthews, J. S. Early Vancouver: narratives of pioneers of Vancouver, B.C., collected during 1931-1932.
“A collection of historical data, maps, and plans made with the assistance of pioneers of Vancouver between March and December, 1931”. 2 vols. By 1959, the set comprised seven volumes. VIP

1933

Evans, Allen Roy. Bitter-sweet.
Book of poems, written by Evans who was a journalist in Vancouver. Evans took human interest stories and re-told those stories in the form of poetry.

Pacific Science Congress (5th: 1933: Vancouver and Victoria). Vancouver city and environs.
Guide to the natural history of Greater Vancouver featuring the geology, physical geography, climate, botany and entomology of the area. (Excursions guide book; 2)

Scudamore, T.V. Lighter episodes in the life of a prisoner of war.
Major Scudamore was an officer with the British Columbia Regiment. A humourous look at being a prisoner of war during World War I; line drawings by Capt. Neil Duncan.

Smith, Jesse Garden. Crosscuts: a story of the Pacific Northwest; a picturesque file of life, moving in and out of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Novel dedicated to the loggers of the Pacific Northwest. Kathleen Evans goes to a logging camp to be reunited with her unfaithful husband.

Source material for the history of Vancouver.
Compiled by the Canadian Club of Vancouver under the supervision of Walter N. Sage.
Includes excerpts from primarily British Columbia sources, all related to the early history of Vancouver. 6 vols.

Winch, Harold E. The politics of a derelict.
Harold Winch’s maiden speech as it was delivered in the British Columbia legislature. His reference to being a “derelict” comes from Prime Minister Bennett who regarded the unemployed as “derelicts”. Winch had been unemployed for three years prior to being elected as an MLA.

1934

Duncan, Nora M. Rainbow reveries.
Miscellaneous poems by Nora Duncan who lived for awhile in Vancouver while married to Wallace Craig Duncan, a manager for The Canadian Bank of Commerce.

Employment Service Plan. Committee on Extension. Putting people gainfully to work.
A small report on successful efforts by the business and industrial community, professional and service clubs in creating work for those citizens in need during 1933 and 1934.

Foster, Victor W. Vancouver through the eyes of a hobo.
A written account of observations made by a wandering hobo. The paperback was published so as to provide income for about sixty unemployed men.

Mainwaring, W.C. Survey of the tuberculosis situation in Vancouver.
This survey, with recommendations, was conducted by members of various Vancouver institutions (including the City) to study immediate requirements to prevent the further spread of the disease.

1935

Canadian Japanese Association. Committee for the Survey of Second Generation Japanese in British Columbia. Report of the survey of the second generation Japanese in British Columbia.
Mostly statistical report of a house-to-house survey during the summer of 1935 of the economic, social and political conditions of Japanese-Canadians in Greater Vancouver.

Chaldecott, Francis Millar. Jericho and golf in the early days in Vancouver, 1892-1905.
Chaldecott, a settler in Point Grey, wrote this booklet with short histories of the Jericho area, golf in Vancouver in the early days and the Jericho Country Club.

Chinese directory: B.C. mainland edition.
First published in 1935 by the Chinese Publicity Bureau, the directory listed individuals and businesses in the Chinese community and continued publishing for many years.

Francis, Edmund D. Why?: the diary of a camp striker: a year in a young British Columbian’s life in Canada’s relief compounds.
Excerpts from the diary of a young man belonging to Canada’s lost legion of youth

Kerr, Paul McDowell. Relief Department enquiry.
Report, with recommendations, by Paul Kerr who was commissioned to investigate charges of conspiracy, intimidation and malpractice in the method of administering relief in the City of Vancouver.

MacLennan, Catherine M. Rambling round Stanley Park.
“ …this little brochure will come as a brief but interesting compilation of facts in connection with the forest they love.” Some sites are described in verse. VIP

McGeer, Gerald Gratten. The conquest of poverty or money, humanity and Christianity.
Monetary reform ideas written by the flamboyant Mayor of Vancouver, who also became a Member of the Legislative Assembly, Member of Parliament and Senator.

Martin, John L. The Canadian Cossacks: a review of facts concerning the R.C.M.P.
Self-published, this pamphlet looks at the financial aspects of strike-breaking activities of the R.C.M.P in Vancouver and Winnipeg, 1918-1921.

Nelson, Lilian M. Vancouver’s early days and the development of her social services.
Chronological listings, with brief descriptions, of the creation of social services, such as churches, hospitals, social agencies up to 1919.

Smith, Allan J. Report of Allan J. Smith…on investigation of transportation system and degree of service rendered by the British Columbia Electric Railway Company, Limited, to the city of Vancouver, British Columbia.
This report was done with the express purpose of guiding the City of Vancouver in the renewal of the transportation agreement with the B.C. Electric Railway Company.

Vancouver: the golden city of the west.
An album published for the occasion of Vancouver’s fiftieth anniversary (1936). Photographs are by Leonard Frank.

1936

Archivists’ Club, Templeton Junior High School. Vancouver: a short history
Students formed The Archivists’ Club and spent two years delving into the City’s past. Of interest is a chapter on public institutions and private corporations. VIP

Barrett-Lennard, Walter J. Report on the reorganization of civic administration of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia.
Includes the financial history for the previous 25 years and recommendations for the improvement of civic administration.

Blinkhorn, Billy. Dad’s Cookie Jubilee song book.
Sponsored by the Dad’s Cookie Company (yes, the oatmeal ones!), the book contains lyrics for songs, Vancouver trivia and the Golden Jubilee schedule.

City of Vancouver golden jubilee, 1886-1936; [and] Minutes of council, August 20, 1936
“Presented by his Worship Mayor G.G. McGeer…to the right honourable the Lord Mayor of London Sir Percy Vincent… [and others] on the occasion of the visit to the city of Vancouver.” VIP

Keefer, George H. Autobiography of George H. Keefer: memoirs of a British Columbia pioneer: reminiscences of Port Moody, Vancouver and elsewhere.
Railway construction contractor for 50 years; helped to clear the CPR right-of-way between Port Moody to English Bay. May have accidentally started the Great Fire in June, 1886.

Macdonald, William Alexander. Report received from the Hon. W.A. Macdonald, K.C., in connection with his investigation into all the allegations contained in the report of Wilfred A. Tucker, dated November 5th, 1936.
Mr. Macdonald’s report tried to address issues in the Tucker report which found problems within the City of Vancouver police force. Macdonald found the police to be honest and reasonably efficient.

Nelson, Denys. A bird’s eye view of the Indians of the lower Fraser Valley and Burrard Inlet in the early days.
An outline of groups within the larger Salishan linguistic group: Cowichan Group, Squawmish [sic] Group and Songish Group which settled in False Creek, English Bay and Burrard Inlet.

Sinclair, Bertrand W. Down the dark alley.
A romantic thriller which sees our Vancouver-based hero engaged in the tricky business of rum running in order to get the capital to fund an invention, but runs into trouble with the United States Coast Guard. VIP

Stone, Clement. Vancouver vistas.
A tiny book of poems about Vancouver and points of interest: Spanish Banks, Water Street, Stanley Park, Deadman’s Island, Union Street. Personally printed by the author.

Vancouver, B.C. Board of Park Commissioners. Official souvenir Stanley Park, Vancouver.
Sepia-toned photographs illustrate this book celebrating Stanley Park’s 50th anniversary; includes a list of Board of Park Commissioners from 1888-1936.

Vancouver Exhibition Association: souvenir booklet 1935-1936.
Describes the efforts of the Association to develop industry in Vancouver; to show the displays at the Exhibition show grounds and promote the new British Empire building.

Vancouver’s Golden Jubilee, 1886-1936: official pictorial souvenir programme.
Pictorial survey illustrating Vancouver’s history, scenic grandeur, education, religion, Stanley Park, recreation, homes, gardens and industries. Official programme of events from July 1 – August 26th included.

Walsh, William Henry. A study of the Vancouver General Hospital.
Report outlining the glaring defects in the old building and details of the shortage of acute care beds along with many other problems; recommendations for a new acute hospital and better housing for nursing students are listed in the solutions.

Yip, Quene. Vancouver Chinatown: specially prepared for the Vancouver Golden Jubilee, 1886-1936.
Booklet written to give tourists a bird’s-eye view of Vancouver Chinatown and the Chinese Carnival Village which was erected at Pender and Carrall Streets to celebrate the Jubilee.

1937

Beard, Harry R. Story of Canfisco.
Illustrated story of the Canadian Fishing Company which began in 1905 at the foot of Gore Avenue and became one the largest fish distribution companies in North America.

Herrick, Elisabeth Webb. Native novelties or What to look for besides scenery.
Guide to the Pacific Northwest, including Vancouver and Victoria. Included in the book are brief descriptions of local shops, e.g. Purdy’s, Spencer’s Department Store and a guide to “Canadians” and their differences from Americans.

Howay, F.W. Early shipping in Burrard Inlet, 1863-1870.
Economic development of the port and its steady and gradual growth during the early years. (Offprint of an article in British Columbia Historical Quarterly, January 1937)

Kerrisdale telephone directory.
Issued by the Point Grey News-Gazette Ltd., this directory had people and businesses in one alphabetical listing; with a small classified section at the back. Many advertisements.

Lamb, W. Kaye. The pioneer days of the Trans-Pacific service, 1887-1891.
Early history of the first steamships to run from Port Moody and Vancouver to the Orient as a continuation of the transcontinental railway. (Offprint of an article in The British Columbia Historical Quarterly, July 1937)

A Souvenir of Vancouver, British Columbia.
“Compiled with the single purpose of portraying the splendour of Vancouver’s landscape, seascape and mountain scenery as well as civic development…achieved during the 50 years since its incorporation…” Many photos by Leonard Frank.

Raley, G.H. Our totem poles: a souvenir of Vancouver.
An inexpensive guidebook to the totem poles written for locals and tourists alike. Historical information offered with the photographs.

Vancouver Sun. A souvenir of a visit to the Vancouver Sun.
This booklet describes the operations and production of the Vancouver Sun. Illustrated.

1938

Bartley, George. An outline history of Typographical Union No. 226, Vancouver, B.C., 1887-1938.
Chronological history, with one page devoted to each year, of this early union of printers in Vancouver.

British Columbia Mainland Cricket League. Cricket: fifty years of the game in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 1889 to 1938.
The first game of cricket played in Vancouver was in 1886. The first pitch was built on what is now known as Brockton Point.

Crosfield, Esther Margaret. Adventure ho!
Fictionalized account of adventures in discovering Vancouver by three young people, including the author who later returned to settle in the city.

National Safety Council, Inc. Improving street traffic, Vancouver, B.C.: report of the Vancouver Traffic Survey directed for the City of Vancouver, B.C. by National Safety Council, 1936-1938.
The Council conducted the survey between 1936-1937. The report includes supporting discussions, conclusions and recommendations for a traffic plan. With graphs and tables.

“Net” profits.
Compiled by the Natural Resources Bureau (Vancouver) and published by the B.C. Fisheries Protective Association, this pamphlet is dedicated to the various parties involved in the rehabilitation of the sockeye salmon fishery of the Fraser River.

Presentation of the cairn commemorating the Great Fraser Midden by the Historic Sites and Monument Board of Canada through his honour Judge F.W. Howay, L.L.D., F.R.S.C. etc. to the city of Vancouver and Board of Park Commissioners at Marpole Gardens, Vancouver, B.C. on 7th May, 1938.
Dedication of an important historical site with photographs of the cairn and artifacts included.

Rotary Club of Vancouver. 25th anniversary Rotary Club of Vancouver Canada 1913-1938.
During the first 25 years, the Rotary Club championed the Rotary Clinic for chest diseases. (See Rotary Club survey of tuberculosis. 1932)

Strong, G.F. Early history of the Family Welfare Bureau.
The very early beginnings of this Bureau which provided private family welfare services and a social service exchange.

University of British Columbia. Japanese Students’ Club. Shiseikai zasshi (Japanese Students’ Club Handbook)
A social and academic guide for Japanese students of which there were approximately fifty which belonged to the club; includes a directory. In English and Japanese.

Young, Charles H. The Japanese Canadians.
A two part study/survey: I. Japanese settlement in British Columbia, II. Oriental (i.e. Japanese and Chinese) standards of living. Many Vancouver references.

1939

Allen, Marjorie. Christ Church Cathedral, 1889-1939: a short history. With some notable dates in 1888.

Baird, Irene. Waste heritage.
This novel has been praised as “the classic novel of the Depression in Canada”. Two young men take part in a protest trek from Aschelon (which represents Vancouver) to Garth (which represents Victoria). VIP

Caulfeild, Francis W. A Short history of Caulfeild Village. In 1899, Francis Caulfeild purchased a large acreage in what was then Skunk Cove on the north shore of Burrard Inlet. Caulfeild’s intent was to build a well-planned village with winding lanes which followed natural contours. Now known as Caulfeild Village. (Note: the spelling ‘Caulfeild’ is correct.)

Japanese directory, June, 1939. Directory of Japanese people and businesses in British Columbia. Published in Japanese and English.

Lions Gate Bridge, Vancouver, Canada.
A souvenir brochure of the bridge with photographs, technical illustrations and statistical data. VIP

St. Paul’s Church, Vancouver, British Columbia: golden jubilee, 1889-1939. A history of the church with a list of parishioners who had been and still were with the church for over 15 years, beginning in 1890.

1930

Godwin, George. Vancouver, a life, 1757-1798.
Biography of Captain George Vancouver with “material gathered from many hitherto neglected sources.” Appendix with notes included.

1931

Stephen, A.M. Brown earth & bunch grass.
Book of poems by social activist A.M. Stephen includes his long poem “Vancouver”.

1932

British Columbia Power and Gas Company. The Carrall street gas plant.
An illustrated booklet showing the operations of the new Carrall Street gas plant.

1932-33

1933

Evans, Allen Roy. Bitter-sweet.
Book of poems, written by Evans who was a journalist in Vancouver. Evans took human interest stories and re-told those stories in the form of poetry.

1934

Duncan, Nora M. Rainbow reveries.
Miscellaneous poems by Nora Duncan who lived for awhile in Vancouver while married to Wallace Craig Duncan, a manager for The Canadian Bank of Commerce.

1935

Vancouver: the golden city of the west.
An album published for the occasion of Vancouver’s fiftieth anniversary (1936). Photographs are by Leonard Frank.

1936

1937

Raley, G.H. Our totem poles: a souvenir of Vancouver.
An inexpensive guidebook to the totem poles written for locals and tourists alike. Historical information offered with the photographs.

Vancouver Sun. A souvenir of a visit to the Vancouver Sun.
This booklet describes the operations and production of the Vancouver Sun. Illustrated.

1938

Crosfield, Esther Margaret. Adventure ho!
Fictionalized account of adventures in discovering Vancouver by three young people, including the author who later returned to settle in the city.

Strong, G.F. Early history of the Family Welfare Bureau.
The very early beginnings of this Bureau which provided private family welfare services and a social service exchange.

1939

Allen, Marjorie. Christ Church Cathedral, 1889-1939: a short history. With some notable dates in 1888.

Japanese directory, June, 1939. Directory of Japanese people and businesses in British Columbia. Published in Japanese and English.

Lions Gate Bridge, Vancouver, Canada.
A souvenir brochure of the bridge with photographs, technical illustrations and statistical data. VIP

1940 - 1949

1940

B.C. Credit Union manual.
Published by the B.C. Credit Union Association as a study guide in the basics of starting a credit union and going further.

The Japanese contribution to Canada: a summary of the role played by the Japanese in the development of Canadian commonwealth.
Study published by the Canadian Japanese Association looks at immigration by the Japanese, historical survey of Japanese in basic industries and Canadianization of immigrants.

Lamb, W. Kaye. Empress to the Orient.
History of the “Empress” ocean liners: Empress of China, Empress of India and Empress of Japan which were owned and operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company . (Reprint from The British Columbia Historical Quarterly, January and April, 1940)

McCleery, Fitzgerald. Diary [of] Fitzgerald McCleery, earliest settler (North Arm, Fraser River): Vancouver, 1862-1866.
“Who together with his brother Samuel, were the first European settlers upon the site of Vancouver”.

Morley, Alan. Romance of Vancouver.
Two scrapbooks of clippings of Morley’s columns “Romance of Vancouver: the Story of Early Pioneers” which were published in the Vancouver Sun, April 8 to September 7, 1940. (See also 1961)

Pacific Coast Fire Insurance Company. Our fifty years, 1890-1940: the romantic story of Vancouver from pioneer days, and a brief history of our company during the last half century.
The company was formed in April, 1890 by four Vancouver businessmen.

Templeton, R.J. The future is ours…not Hitler’s.
Commissioned by Vancouver Breweries, Limited, who used part of their advertising appropriations for patriotic purposes, R.J. Templeton wrote a series of 52 articles which were published in the Vancouver press from 1940 – 1942. Reprinted in three parts.

Waites, Kenneth A. The first fifty years: Vancouver high schools, 1890-1940.
Written to commemorate fifty years of high school education in Vancouver. Starting with thirty-one students, the system grew to include fifteen high schools, fourteen thousand pupils and five hundred teachers by 1940. VIP

1941

Appleton, Marion Brymner. Who’s who in Northwest art: a biographical directory of persons in the Pacific Northwest working in the media of painting, sculpture, graphic arts, illustration, design, and the handicrafts.
Although published in Seattle, this directory included artists and crafts persons who lived in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia.

Boothe, Jack. Accent on Axis: a collection of 50 cartoons from the Vancouver Daily Province.
A collection of political cartoons on the war in Europe that appeared on the editorial page of the newspaper.

B.C. District Telegraph & Delivery Company. Fifty years of service, 1891-1941: a brief history of our company with reproductions of early Vancouver, from original sources, a brochure.
In June, 1891 the company was granted a fifty year franchise to operate a telegraph system within the limits of the district of Vancouver. Illustrated.

Fifty years of progress in pharmacy, 1891-1941: golden jubilee souvenir.
Published on the anniversary of the founding of the Pharmaceutical Association of British Columbia. Includes histories of pharmacies and pharmacists in Vancouver.

McKelvie, B.A. Legends of Stanley Park.
Legends from the native inhabitants of Stanley Park who told stories about Kalana – the first man; Si’atmulth – the Rainmaker and T’elch – the Unselfish.

Moore, W.J. [ Album…including panoramas by W.J. Moore, of wartime building of Liberty Ships at Westcoast Shipbuilders Ltd.]
This album of some fifty photographs documents the building of the ships at the site on False Creek. No commentary. (City of Vancouver Archives Collection: CVA 195/1)

Sweeny, Campbell. Diary of Campbell Sweeny, 1887-1909.
Diary of events dating from Sweeny’s arrival and his becoming the first manager of the first Bank of Montreal in Vancouver.

Vancouver Council of Social Agencies. A Directory of health and social welfare agencies in Vancouver, B.C.
The Council’s first directory of 175 agencies operating in and about Vancouver. Information given: name, location, date established, director, objectives, activities.

1942

Haig-Brown, Roderick L. Timber.
One of two adult novels written by Haig-Brown. Partially set in Vancouver, this is a story of two loggers who are friends and become involved in the union movement.
(Also published under the title: The tall trees fall: a novel of Pacific coast loggers.)

St. Giles United Church of Canada: a brief history of the first fifty years.
Issued on the anniversary of its Golden jubilee anniversary, 1892-1942, St. Giles was formerly Mount Pleasant Presbyterian Church.

Swanson, Robert E. Rhymes of a western logger: a book of verse concerning the trials and tribulations, lives and ways of the loggers living and working in the Great Northwest of America.
Known as the “Bard of the Woods”, Swanson was a steam engineer who also wrote poems about logging life. The illustrated volume includes a dictionary of logging terms.

1943

Disabled Veterans Association Inc. “The veterans’ betrayal”: in the belief that our “new” veterans and all Canadian citizens “shall know the truth”, also a particularly vital report to the citizens of Vancouver, B.C.
Written to “…turn the spotlight of truth on these desperate conditions which demand remedial action by all Canadians” under which veterans of both wars are living.

McGill, Helen Gregory. The story of Vancouver social service.
Helen McGill who presided over juvenile court was the first woman judge in British Columbia. Histories of various agencies are presented in order of the agencies’ starting dates.

MacInnis, Grace. Oriental Canadians: outcasts or citizens?
Written by both Grace and Angus McInnis to address the issue of Orientals and their treatment within Canada.

Nicol, Eric. “Says we”: a collection of columns from the Vancouver News Herald.
These columns were written by Eric Nicol , under the pseudonym Jabez, and Jack Scott whose columns were written as letters from Ottawa to a friend.

Rothery, Agnes. The ports of British Columbia.
“The story of Canada’s great Pacific seaport cities, Vancouver and Victoria”.

1944

Canada. Dominion Bureau of Statistics. Vancouver housing atlas.
Based on 1941 Census data, the atlas has tables of housing statistics for Greater Vancouver and maps within city limits.

Canadian Red Cross Society. Vancouver Branch. A handbook of Red Cross.
An information guide for speakers of the Women’s War Work Committee to tell what activities were being done by the local chapter.

“Counting the years unto the year of jubilee” Leviticus xxv:x: commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of St. Paul’s Hospital, 1894-1944, Vancouver, British Columbia.
Published by the Sisters of Charity of Providence. Illustrated with black & white photographs.

1945

Canada. Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Reports and other papers relating to the two voyages of the R.C.M Police Schooner “St. Roch”: through the North West Passage from (1) Vancouver, B.C. to Sydney, N.S. (1940-42) (2) Dartmouth, N.S., to Vancouver, B.C. (1944)
Selected navigation reports, logs and patrol reports from the two voyages which were under the command of Staff/Sargeant H.A. Larsen.

Community Chest and Welfare Council of Greater Vancouver. Survey report of group work and recreation of Greater Vancouver, 1945.
A survey of youth and their unmet needs and the agencies already serving youth was done to serve as a guide to those planning for and executing recreational programs.

David Spencer Limited. Spencer’s information: recording various developments and activities undertaken by the members of the big family store.
An historical sketch of the company with an outline of its commercial activities and the activities of “Spencer’s War Aid Volunteers”. Illustrated. Included is a fold-out of the full-page newspaper advertisements Spencer’s took out to aid the war effort.

Ingledow, T. Hydro-electric power and hydro-electric power development in the Lower Mainland coastal area of British Columbia.
A brief review of factors and costs involved in water power development and future possibilities especially for the Lower Mainland. Tables included.

Navy League Seamen’s Club. The story of the Navy Seamen’s Club, Vancouver, B.C. Canada: during the war years December 1942-December 1945.
The Club opened their doors for recreation to more than 360,000 men of the Merchant Marine while they were in the Port of Vancouver during this three year period.

Norman, Howard. What about Japanese Canadians?
Published by the Vancouver Consultative Council for Cooperation in Wartime Problems of Canadian Citizenship to discuss the internment of Japanese-Canadians and argue against discriminatory legislation. The Council was broadly represented by religious, philanthropic, cultural and political groups.

Pacific Mills Limited. A Graphic history of Pacific Mills Limited: manufacturers of pulp and paper products.
An illustrated history and guide to the Ocean Falls plant and Vancouver converting plant of the company whose executive offices were in Vancouver.

Russell, J.M. Dawson School, 1888-1945, Vancouver, B.C.
Dawson School which started out as the West school was located at the corner of Burrard and Barclay Streets. It was the second public school in Vancouver.

St. John’s (Shaughnessy) canteen.
The Men’s Service Club of St. John’s (Shaughnessy) Church operated the canteen for veterans of the Armed Forces who were patients in Shaughnessy Hospital and Hycroft.

Welfare Council of Greater Vancouver. Committee on the Care of the Aged. Special Sub-Committee. Study of the situation of the aged in Vancouver.
Report of a survey of mostly single women, between the ages of 65 and 75 who were living in one or two small areas of the city. Report also includes names and addresses of institutions which gave services to senior citizens.

1946

The Arts and our town.
In the summer of 1945, the Junior League of Vancouver sponsored a survey of cultural interests and activities. The report lists brief descriptions of organizations, facilities and programs of art and cultural groups. Includes indexes and tables.

Burrard Dry Dock Company. Progress: an illustrative presentation by Burrard Dry Dock Company Limited of their war and peacetime shipbuilding facilities in Canada’s largest Pacific port, Vancouver, British Columbia, 1894-1946.
Mostly photographs of the facilities and of the many types of ships being built over the more than fifty years at the Burrard Dry Dock.

Canada. Dominion Bureau of Statistics. Vancouver housing atlas.
Based on 1941 Census data, the atlas has tables of housing statistics for Greater Vancouver and maps within city limits.

Hacking, Norman R. Steamboating on the Fraser in the ‘sixties.
History of the steamboat rivalry on two competing routes to the gold mines that existed on the Fraser River during the 1860’s. (Reprint from British Columbia Historical Quarterly January, 1946).

Harkrider, John. The Jubilee Show: Vancouver, the story of a city…a prospectus in outline of the dramatization of the city, past, present and future.
The Vancouver Citizens Diamond Jubilee Committee planned to put on a cavalcade to celebrate the sixtieth anniversary of Vancouver in July, 1946. This book contains the script and production plans for the show.

Scott, Jack. “Our town”: from columns appearing in the Vancouver Sun.
A collection of Scott’s humourous columns illustrated with cartoons by Pierre Berton.

Vancouver Housing Association. Housing Vancouver: a survey of the housing position in Vancouver.
This non-profit association, an agency of the Welfare Council of Greater Vancouver, was formed in 1937 to promote better and more affordable housing conditions.

Vancouver Poetry Society, 1916-1946: a book of days.
Along with a selection of short poems representing the best work produced by members are a history of the society and biographies of members.

Vancouver’s Diamond Jubilee, June 30-July14, 1946: official souvenir booklet.
Issued by the Vancouver Citizen’s Diamond Jubilee Committee to record in picture and prose the “panorama of the sixty years that witnessed the transition of a tiny forest settlement into a thriving metropolis”.

1947

Carmichael, W.M. These sixty years, 1887-1947: being the story of First Baptist Church, Vancouver, B.C.: Diamond Jubilee celebration.
The first building was at 432 Main Street (then Westminster Avenue). Lacking proper church records, the author had to interview early pioneers and use their personal papers to write this history.

Green, George. History of Burnaby and vicinity.
In 1859, the Royal Engineers began working on the building of the North Road under the leadership of Robert Burnaby for whom the city is named. Illustrated.

James A. Hamilton and Associates. A study of the Vancouver General Hospital, Vancouver, B.C.: confidential report.
Part of a larger study done for the province, this survey studied both the needs of the community and the physical plant of the hospital.

Khalsa Diwan Society. Report on dominion, provincial and municipal franchise of the Hindus in British Columbia.
Part 2 has correspondence and information on the municipal franchise for East Indians in Vancouver.

Lowry, Malcolm. Under the volcano.
The final draft of Lowry’s most famous work was finished in his shack on Dollarton Beach in North Vancouver on Christmas Eve, 1944.

McRaye, Walter. Pauline Johnson and her friends.
Tributes to Pauline Johnson by her friends who promised to “tell them something of the real me, of my father’s people, of my hopes, my dreams, my aspirations.”

Nicol, Eric. Sense and nonsense.
Eric Nicol’s first book published under his own name instead of his pseudonym “Jabez” is a collection of humourous articles previously printed in local newspapers.

Till, Harold. Vancouver’s traffic history, 1889-1946.
An original chronological account of the development of the transit system in Vancouver by Harold Till who was B.C. Electric Company’s traffic superintendent.

Wilson, Ethel. Hetty Dorval.
First novel by this writer who lived in Vancouver and for whom British Columbia’s top fiction prize is named: Ethel Wilson Prize for Fiction.

1948

Beautiful Vancouver: souvenir album based on Vancouver Sun photographic contest.
Chiefly photographs of scenic Vancouver.

LaViolette, Forrest E. The Canadian Japanese and World War II: a sociological and psychological account.
A sociologist’s book on what happened in Canada to some 24,000 person of Japanese descent during World War II. Many events that took place in Vancouver are discussed.

Loughnan, David. My visit to Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada.
Seventy pictures and descriptive captions all written and designed by the author.

Pacific National Exhibition. Your PNE: a story of service to the people of western Canada.
A brochure that explains the governance of the PNE; the duties of the president, board of directors, committee members and a description of their activities and planning.

Wings over Vancouver: the annual of the city of Vancouver air port.
Produced by Vancouver International Airport “to provide authoritative information in an easily read form” of the airport and of tourism information for the area.

Woodward, E. Trap-net fishing in British Columbia.
Written for Canadian Fishing Co., this small book defends the use of trap-nets and calls for the creation of a non-partisan salmon commission to be created for the betterment of the salmon industry.

1949

Batter up: a baseball hand book presented by the Youth Leadership Committee of the Vancouver Junior Chamber of Commerce.
An introduction to baseball fundamentals for anyone aged 10 to 17who is trying to play the games expertly and for the fans so that they may enjoy the game they are watching.

Bjarnason, Emil. The B.C. Electric and you: the case for public ownership.
Even in 1949, complaints were being lodged against the privately-run transit company for poor service and high fares. In Vancouver, tickets were 10 for $1.00 in comparison to Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa where tickets were 16 for $1.00.

Cavers, Anne S. Our school of nursing, 1899 to 1949.
Produced to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of the School of Nursing, Vancouver General Hospital. Includes a chronological table of events from 1877 to 1949.

Mooney, Hugh R. Clipped wings.
Mr. Mooney lived in Vancouver for many years prior to enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1939. He wrote this volume of poems and essays while a prisoner of war in Germany.

Partington, H.R. The history of badminton in British Columbia.
Includes a history of badminton clubs in Vancouver.

Vancouver Housing Association. Housing for our older citizens.
This small report presents both social and factual information on the urgent need of housing for the aged and to suggest ways of handling it. A list of existing old age homes available in 1949 is included.

1940

B.C. Credit Union manual.
Published by the B.C. Credit Union Association as a study guide in the basics of starting a credit union and going further.

1941

Sweeny, Campbell. Diary of Campbell Sweeny, 1887-1909.
Diary of events dating from Sweeny’s arrival and his becoming the first manager of the first Bank of Montreal in Vancouver.

1942

1943

MacInnis, Grace. Oriental Canadians: outcasts or citizens?
Written by both Grace and Angus McInnis to address the issue of Orientals and their treatment within Canada.

Rothery, Agnes. The ports of British Columbia.
“The story of Canada’s great Pacific seaport cities, Vancouver and Victoria”.

1944

Canada. Dominion Bureau of Statistics. Vancouver housing atlas.
Based on 1941 Census data, the atlas has tables of housing statistics for Greater Vancouver and maps within city limits.

1945

1946

Canada. Dominion Bureau of Statistics. Vancouver housing atlas.
Based on 1941 Census data, the atlas has tables of housing statistics for Greater Vancouver and maps within city limits.

Scott, Jack. “Our town”: from columns appearing in the Vancouver Sun.
A collection of Scott’s humourous columns illustrated with cartoons by Pierre Berton.

1947

Lowry, Malcolm. Under the volcano.
The final draft of Lowry’s most famous work was finished in his shack on Dollarton Beach in North Vancouver on Christmas Eve, 1944.

Wilson, Ethel. Hetty Dorval.
First novel by this writer who lived in Vancouver and for whom British Columbia’s top fiction prize is named: Ethel Wilson Prize for Fiction.

1948

Beautiful Vancouver: souvenir album based on Vancouver Sun photographic contest.
Chiefly photographs of scenic Vancouver.

Loughnan, David. My visit to Stanley Park, Vancouver, Canada.
Seventy pictures and descriptive captions all written and designed by the author.

1949

Partington, H.R. The history of badminton in British Columbia.
Includes a history of badminton clubs in Vancouver.

1950 - 1959

1950

Canada. Royal Commission to Investigate Complaints of Canadian Citizens of Japanese Origin Who Resided in British Columbia in 1941. Royal Commission to Investigate Complaints of Canadian Citizens of Japanese Origin Who Resided in British Columbia in 1941, That Their Real and Personal Property Had Been Disposed of by the Custodian of Enemy Property at Prices Less Than the Fair Market Value. Report.
The investigation, headed by Henry Bird, which began on December 3, 1947 and ended March 3rd, 1950, saw 1434 claims filed.

Citizens’ Fact-Finding Committee (West Vancouver, B.C.) A brief on the proposed extension of the Pacific Great Eastern Railway from Squamish to Vancouver.
Prepared at the request of the District of West Vancouver Council to discuss the effects of the railway extension on West Vancouver and to propose an alternate route.

Harker, Douglas E. The story of the British Columbia Regiment, 1939 – 1945.
With no claims to accuracy, this is the war diary of the Regiment from August 26th, 1939 to January, 1946. A list of casualties is included.

Hutchison, Bruce. The Fraser.
Portrait of the Fraser River which has had a profound effect on the communities that exist along the shores, especially those of the Lower Mainland. (One of the Rivers of America series)

Loughnan, David. A photographic and descriptive history of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
As in his small book on Stanley Park (1948), Loughnan provides 70 of his own photographs and descriptive captions in this history.

Marsh, Leonard C. Rebuilding a neighbourhood: report on a demonstration slum clearance and urban rehabilitation project in a key central area in Vancouver.
Strathcona was chosen as the demonstration area since it was one of Vancouver’s oldest residential areas, well located in relation to industrial and commercial areas, with good features, good people and good possibilities of reclamation.

The story of Dairyland / as told in words and pictures by Jack Scott… [Et al].
Twelve well-known local writers tell “the human story of trials and difficulties, of improvement and progress” of the Dairyland Division of the Fraser Valley Milk Producers’ Association.

Templeton, William. Memorandum on Vancouver International Airport with recommendations for future development.
In 1929, the City of Vancouver purchased 482 acres on Sea Island for the purposes of developing an airport and seaplane harbour. Templeton, newly retired manager of the Airport, urges surrounding communities to take part in the planning of airport facilities.

1951

Angus, Anne Margaret. Children’s Aid Society of Vancouver, B.C.: 1901-1951.
“There are moments that are colourful and even dramatic in the events of our first fifty years, and some of the colour may show through the sober web of our narrative.”

McEwen, Tom. He wrote for us: the story of Bill Bennett, pioneer Canadian socialist journalist.
“Ol’ Bill” came to Vancouver in 1907 and lived there until his death in 1949. Following World War I, he joined the Communist Party and remained committed to their cause to his end.

A market study of the Greater Vancouver area and retail trading zone: conducted as a series of nine studies during the period May 1950-June 1951 for Mr. W. Rea, Radio Station CKNW, New Westminster, B.C.
In spite of the lengthy title, this study gives the results of a telephone survey of Vancouver residents as to radio station popularity and listening habits.

Mowat, Alma Gale. History of the Community Chest and Council of Greater Vancouver.
Prepared at the request of the Board of Directors, this chronological history dates from the first meetings in 1922, to the establishment of the Council of Social Agencies in 1930, and up to the twenty-first anniversary in 1951.

Vancouver Art Gallery. Souvenir catalogue of exhibitions opening the new Vancouver Art Gallery, 1951.
An overview of the galleries in the new building and listings of art exhibited from the permanent collection and also those pieces for sale.

1952

Amazing British Columbia: 101 facts of life for business moving to B.C.
Published by the Great Vancouver Metropolitan Industrial Development Commission to supply factual information of interest to executives around the world and to acquaint them of the tremendous advantages offered in the Lower Mainland.

Birney, Earle. Trial of a city: and other verse.
Birney was professor of literature at U.B.C. from 1948 to 1965. His third book of poetry includes the verse-play Trial of a City: A Public Hearing into the Proposed Damnation of Vancouver.

British Columbia. Lower Mainland Regional Planning Board. The Lower Mainland looks ahead: a report and outline plan for the development of the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia.
Presented to each municipal council for consideration, this report by the Planning Board includes a description of the region, the problems and policies of the area and specific recommendations for land use.

British Columbia Electric Company. Take a peak- at Canada’s coming industrial empire.
A brochure designed to educate industrial and commercial customers on new uses of electricity and gas in the post-war economy of the lower coastal region of British Columbia.

Cates, Charles W. Tidal action in British Columbia waters.
A descriptive narrative of the “massive eternal tides” that seamen get to know while working the waters, especially those of Burrard Inlet, the Fraser River and the Narrows.
Cates’ father, Charles Henry Cates formed C.H. Cates, a towing in company, in1913.

Norris, Len. Norris cartoons in the Vancouver Sun.
The first annual collection of cartoons which were published on the editorial page of the newspaper. His last original cartoon appeared in the Vancouver Sun in 1988.

Pioneers of Burrard Inlet, Granville, Hastings, Moodyville, North arm Fraser River, 1886: our city is their monument.
On the 66th anniversary of the incorporation of Vancouver as a city, the Board of Park Commissioners invited 190 elderly individuals who were residents of the city since before Vancouver had a name, to celebrate. Of these, 110 attended and their names and addresses are listed at the back of the pamphlet.

Smith, Mrs. Alexander. Smith Brothers and Wilson, pioneers in western construction: this book depicts the origin, growth, and spread of the company during the past fifty-five years, 1897 to 1952.
From humble beginnings in the Greenwood/Grand Forks area, the company moved its main offices to Vancouver in 1921 and built such landmarks as the Seaforth Armories and the main post office.

Vancouver Board of Trade. Forward B.C. Committee. Free enterprise speakers handbook: a reference manual compiled for the assistance of speakers called upon to refute the statements of socialist dogma and the claims of those “reformers” whose policies would vest greatly expanded power in the hands of government, while discouraging the free enterprise investment of funds in British Columbia.
This manual, with a review of the province’s economy, had a pre-election plea urging people “to vote thoughtfully with British Columbia’s future progress and paycheques in mind”.

Wild, Roland. Nine o’clock gun.
While this is a novel of a young Scottish immigrant who discovers Vancouver and stays for the rest of his life, it is also the story of the city itself and its rise from a few shacks to a stately metropolis. VIP

Wilson, Ethel. The equations of love: Tuesday and Wednesday, Lilly’s story.
Two short novels set in Vancouver written by “Vancouver’s most respected novelist for several decades”. VIP

Woodcock, George. Ravens and prophets: an account of journeys in British Columbia, Alberta and Southern Alaska.
Soon after his arrival to Canada, George Woodcock was commissioned by his publisher to make this trip which was partially financed by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation who asked for a series of broadcasts in return.

1953

Chinatown news.
This semi-monthly began life as Chinatown in September, 1953 and three years later re-christened itself as Chinatown News and published until July, 1996 when it then “took a short break”. It was the longest running English-language news magazine about Vancouver’s (and Canada’s) Chinese.

Fallis, George O. A padre’s pilgrimage.
Rev. George Fallis was chaplain of the forces during World War I and was largely responsible for the building of the Canadian Memorial Chapel at 16th Avenue and Burrard Street. Opening services were held on Sunday, November 11, 1928.

Latta, John F. The ascent of “The Lions”: William S., John F. and Robert P. Latta: 5th September and subsequent days, 1903.
On this date, the Latta brothers started their climb of “The Lions” which lasted until September 11th. The Vancouver City Archives published this booklet on the 50th anniversary of the event.

Miller, J. J. Early history of the Vancouver Exhibition Association: as told in 1933.
In 1933, Mr. Miller, alderman and first president of the Vancouver Exhibition Association in 1908 related the early history of the association. This booklet was published by the Vancouver City Archives in 1953.

Pretious, Edward S. Vancouver harbour model.
In 1953, the Civil Engineering Dept. of the University of British Columbia began a study to determine the effects on currents, tides and navigation of proposed dredging in the First Narrows. The Vancouver Harbour and Burrard Inlet Model Project ran until 1956.

1954

Churchill, Dennis Michael. The Greater Vancouver metropolitan community: a preliminary factual study.
Published by the Lower Mainland Regional Planning Board of British Columbia to outline the problems of a large urban community spreading over a number of independent municipalities.

Clerk, Blair M. The official history of the Vth British Empire and Commonwealth games: 1954, Vancouver, Canada.
Details from the beginning in 1948 to the end of the games; including photographs, results in each sport and a directory of competitors and team officials.

Keith, W.D. St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver, B.C., the history of the medical staff, 1920-1940.
Founded and managed by the Sisters of Providence, St. Paul’s Hospital administration worked closely with the medical staff to maintain high standards of scientific medicine.

Matthews, J.S. Royal Engineers survey, 1863: Burrard Inlet and False Creek.
In 1954, Major Matthews had white photostat prints made from a 1933 copy (in negative) of this original Survey book from 1863. He then traced over all lines and figures with black India ink. Published by the Vancouver City Archives.

Mitchell’s Vancouver book, 1954.
An illustrated guide book to Vancouver, North and West Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster.

Nicolls, J.P. Real estate values in Vancouver: a reminiscence.
This slender volume has a history of real estate prices from the early days of land grants to the 1920’s. Illustrated with vintage photographs.

Official souvenir book and programme of events: Vth British Empire and Commonwealth Games, Vancouver, Canada, July 30 – August 7, 1954 VIP

Redwood, John. A hundred days’ adventure.
A story for older children sees two boys, one English and the other Russian, leave Vancouver on summer vacation and experience adventures with the Russian boy’s schemes for making money.

Sato, Tsutae. [History of the Vancouver Japanese Language School].
[Bankuba Nippon Kyoritsu Go-Gakko enkaku shi]
This history of the Vancouver Japanese Language School Educational Society from 1923-1942 is a source of information for students interested in the education of Japanese Canadians. In Japanese.

Vancouver, B.C. Committee on Burrard Inlet Crossings. Technical Subcommittee. Report on Burrard Inlet crossings.
A technical report outlining the requirements of future crossings of Burrard Inlet. To this end, a survey of traffic originating from the North Shore was carried out over a 16 hour period on November 24th, 1953. Includes illustrations, tables and maps.

1955

Birney, Earle. Down the long table.
Birney’s semi-autobiographical novel is about a medieval literature professor in Utah who rides the rails to Vancouver to organize for the Communists during the Depression.

The Kerrisdale story.
This book (published by the Kerrisdale Courier) “traces its past, describes its present and hints at the district’s promising future.

MacGill, Elsie Gregory. My mother the judge: a biography of Judge Helen Gregory MacGill.
Elsie MacGill became the first woman judge in British Columbia in 1917, presiding over Vancouver’s juvenile court until 1928 and the first woman to receive an honorary law degree from UBC. VIP

Marshall, James Stirrat. Adventure in two hemispheres including Captain Vancouver’s voyage.
The story of a single voyage around the world by Captain Vancouver from April 1791 to October, 1795. Illustrated with maps and charts.

Matthews, J. S. Conversations with Khahtsahlano, 1932-1954.
“Conversations with August Jack Khahtsahlano, born at Snauq, False Creek Indian Reserve, circa 1877, son of Khaytulk and grandson of Chief Khahtsahlanogh.” VIP

Norris, Leonard Matheson. The best of Norris as selected by himself.
Although there was a regular annual of his cartoons published in the Vancouver Sun, Len Norris was persuaded to choose some of his social and political cartoons that would appeal to a wider audience. VIP

Rails to rubber, 1890-1955.
A special issue of The Buzzer (vol.40, no.6) invites you to the last ride on Sunday, April 24, aboard a Vancouver street car, Car No. 53, the oldest transit vehicle in the B.C. Electric Co.’s fleet, before the complete transition to buses on rubber wheels.

Vancouver, B.C. (City). Submission to Royal Commission on Canada’s economic prospects.
This brief to the Royal Commission is “an appraisal of the future of the City of Vancouver during the next 25 years”.

Vancouver, B.C. Technical Committee for Metropolitan Highway Planning. Future crossings of the Fraser River.
In its interim report, the Committee recommended three possible sites for the next crossing of the Fraser River: Annacis Island, Port Mann, or Tilbury Island.

1956

Armstrong, John E. Surficial geology of Vancouver area, British Columbia.
A Geological Survey of Canada report which deals mainly with the unconsolidated deposits of Vancouver. Map included. (Geological Survey of Canada. Paper. 55-40)

Beaton, Al. Laugh with Al Beaton cartoons from the Province: the best of Beaton for 1956.
This collection of cartoons from the editorial pages of the Province for the previous two years leads to much mirth and mayhem.

Final report of the Vancouver city police force inquiry of R.H. Tupper into the Vancouver city police force under the terms of Order in Council no. 1618, approved June 24th, 1955.
The Royal Commission looked into allegations of corruption in the Police Department and of laxity in the enforcement of the Criminal Code of Canada by that Department.
The Inquiry reached to the top with ex-police chief Walter Mulligan fleeing Vancouver for the United States during the hearings.

Haig-Brown, Roderick. Captain of the Discovery: the story of Captain George Vancouver.
Haig-Brown’s story of Captain Vancouver is written for older children and is part of the Great Stories of Canada series.

Lambert, David. The story of west coast designs on hand made pottery, with 40 authentic stories & myths of the coast people.
Lambert Potteries Ltd. was established on Fraser Street along the traditions of seventeenth century English pottery workshops. Stories of west coast figures, such as beaver, frog and raven used on their ceramic pieces are featured.

McGregor, Donald A. Over the fifty years.
“A keepsake commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Men’s Canadian Club of Vancouver, 1906-1956”.

Vancouver, B.C. City Planning Department. Technical Planning Board.

Downtown Vancouver, 1955-1976: city of Vancouver development plan.
Report on the downtown parking problem.

Both reports form the twenty-year plan for the Central Business District of Vancouver and part of the larger twenty year plan for the City. As the Downtown Area was physically separate from the rest of the City, Council wanted a separate study of its special function and character.

1957

Beaton, Neville. Point Grey Road waterfront: proposed beach level drive, park strip and sand beach.
This alternate proposal for Point Grey Road would have cost $1,680,000 if the work were to be carried out by 1957 or 1958. Plans, maps included.

Edgar G. Baynes, pioneer of the West: 1870-1956.
Baynes, contractor and builder, came to Vancouver in 1888 and built many schools in Vancouver and the Grosvenor Hotel on Howe Street. He was also founder and president of the Haney Brick Co.

The first 40 years, 1917-1957. Fraser Valley Milk Producers’ Association.
On June 8th, 1913, dairy farmers met in New Westminster and took out a charter under the new Co-operatives Act. However, operations were delayed until 1916 and by 1917, 97% of milk production was being marketed through the co-operative. (Updated in 1967)

Francis, Robert. Official opening of new passenger facilities, Vancouver International Airport, Nov.4, 1957.
A souvenir of the new passenger terminal includes a brief history of the Airport along with statistics about number of flights, passengers, pounds of airmail and air cargo.

Harrison, Raymond O. A permanent monument for British Columbia’s Centennial. The Native Sons of British Columbia Post No. 2, Vancouver, B.C. propose a Vancouver Centennial Museum.
This proposal for a museum and a home for the St. Roch included a museum, City Archives, a seafood restaurant and an auditorium.

Harry, Kenneth F. The climate of Vancouver.
Weather records began for the City in November, 1899 but were incomplete until 1905 when complete and continuous reporting started. At the time, readings were taken in the City. In 1938, the Vancouver Airport became the official weather observation area for Vancouver. Monthly averages for each month are given for Vancouver City and Airport.

Lane, Myrtle E. Land of shining mountains: British Columbia in legend and story.
Written from a child’s point of view, this children’s book has several short stories based in Vancouver and historical incidents.

Mount Pleasant early days: memories of Reuben Hamilton, pioneer 1890.
A wonderful collection of reminiscences, photographs and correspondence between Mr. Hamilton and Major Matthews regarding early Vancouver are in this small book published by the Vancouver City Archives.

Native Sons of British Columbia. The Good Citizen Medal, Vancouver, Canada: roll of recipients, 1922-1957.
The Good Citizen medal was awarded to “a citizen of Vancouver who has been selected from nominations made by the people of this city, which recipient is chosen for his or her sterling qualities of good citizenship”. Brief biographies of recipients are included.

Tomorrow’s tall building: B.C. Electric Building, 970 Burrard St., Vancouver, B.C.
An illustrated overview of the new head office of the British Columbia Electric Company which opened March 28, 1957.

Vancouver, B.C. City Planning Department. Vancouver redevelopment study.
This report began as a study in 1956 to select the mostly residential areas that might require redevelopment and to produce a plan for redevelopment as part of the Twenty-year Development Plan begun in 1955.

Vancouver submarine power cable story.
Over ninety-three miles of cable was laid underwater by British Insulated Callender’s Cables for the B.C. Electric Company to make possible the transmission of some 175,000 horsepower from Tsawsassen Beach to Vancouver Island. Illustrated.

1958

Adachi, Ken. A history of the Japanese Canadians in British Columbia, 1877-1958.
The first Japanese person to arrive on the coast is thought to be a sailor, Manzo Nagano, who arrived in New Westminster in 1877 and stayed in British Columbia until 1923 when he returned to Nagasaki. This is a factual account and a study of broad movements and developments of the Japanese which was published by the History Committee of the Japanese Canadian Citizens Association.

British Columbia. Royal Commission, Second Narrows Bridge Inquiry, 1958. Report.
On the afternoon of June 17th, 1958, during the construction of and without warning, the Second Narrows Bridge collapsed, killing eighteen men. The Hon. Sherwood Lett was the sole Commissioner of the Inquiry.

British Columbia: a centennial anthology.
A collection of newspaper articles, poetry, short stories and photographs by writers and artists of British Columbia to celebrate the centennial. Many Vancouver references are included.

British Columbia centenary, 1858-1958.
Along with various articles outlining historical events of the past one hundred years are descriptions and advertisements for many Vancouver firms presented by type of business.
A list of Vancouver centennial events for 1958 is also included.

Hailey, Arthur. Runway zero-eight.
This first novel by well-known fiction writer Arthur Hailey partially takes place in Vancouver. The crew and passengers of a trans-Canada charter flight suffer from a sudden outbreak of food poisoning with suspenseful results. Also published as: Flight into danger: a novel of suspense and made into the movie: Zero Hour.

Harker, Douglas E. The city and the store.
Charles Woodward came to Vancouver in 1891 and by 1892 had purchased two lots at the corner of Main and Georgia Streets and built and opened the original Woodward’s Department Store there. This history was written to commemorate the Centennial of B.C.

A history of the municipality of Richmond.
Presented to the community by the Richmond Division of Crown Zellerbach Canada Limited on Richmond’s 96th birthday, this brief historical review highlights events since 1862 when the municipality was first settled.

Logan, Harry T. Tuum est: A history of the University of British Columbia.
Published as part of the Jubilee celebrations, the book traces the story of the University from the beginning in 1908 to the end of the 1957/58 session. VIP

Rogers, Mary Isabella. B.C. Sugar.
Benjamin Tingley Rogers founded the B.C. Sugar Refining Company in 1889. Written by Mary Rogers who was the wife of one president, niece of another and mother of four sons who all became presidents of the company.

Taylor, Gordon. Delta’s century of progress.
This story of a rural municipality where farming and fishing were the main industries was written for the celebration of the British Columbia Centennial.

1959

Edward Lipsett Limited. Edward Lipsett, 1891-1959.
In 1891, Edward Lipsett started a small sail making business at 69 Water Street and gradually included fishing, boating and hunting supplies before finally becoming a large retailer of industrial supplies, marine hardware, sporting goods and boats.

What’s cooking: new cook book signature recipes.
Published by the Vancouver Kiwassa Club to finance club activities. The Kiwassa Club was formed in 1934 to support girls in the community in the same way that the Kiwanis Club supported boys.

Mayer, Adrian C. A report on the East Indian community in Vancouver.
Written by a visiting professor at U.B.C. during the summer of 1959, who interviewed as many East Indians as possible, this study looks at major aspects of East Indian social organization.

Minshall & Smith Engineering Ltd. History of large-bore tunnel, Vancouver Harbour.
This proposal to have a large-bore tunnel as an alternative First Narrow crossing from the North Shore to Vancouver was conceived as essential to the orderly development of Canada’s fastest growing metropolis. It would accommodate transit, rail and vehicles.

The Naming, opening and dedication of Stanley Park.
Presented by the Vancouver City Archives, this history includes correspondence relating to the creation of and articles on the dedication and opening of Stanley Park.

The Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada.
A souvenir book on the opening of the new civic theatre July, 1959 at which Queen Elizabeth II attended.

Vancouver, B.C. Police Department. Visit of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and His Royal Highness, the Duke of Edinburgh to Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Wednesday, July 15, 1959: general information and operation order.
A rare and interesting glimpse of the detailed procedures necessary to the police, such as the posting of constables and motorcade processions etc. that go on behind the scenes of a Royal Visit.

Vancouver International Airport. Golden anniversary of powered flight: air show program, Sunday July 12, 1959, Vancouver International Airport.
In part of the program, there is a local history of fifty years of flying in Vancouver beginning on March 25, 1910 when a Curtiss biplane flew at Minoru Park.

Vancouver Real Estate Board. Real estate trends in metropolitan Vancouver.
The first volume of a long-running publication, this statistical annual gave monthly and annual figures for real estate activities and values, construction and business costs and employment conditions.

1950

1951

1952

Wilson, Ethel. The equations of love: Tuesday and Wednesday, Lilly’s story.
Two short novels set in Vancouver written by “Vancouver’s most respected novelist for several decades”. VIP

1953

1954

Mitchell’s Vancouver book, 1954.
An illustrated guide book to Vancouver, North and West Vancouver, Burnaby and New Westminster.

Official souvenir book and programme of events: Vth British Empire and Commonwealth Games, Vancouver, Canada, July 30 – August 7, 1954 VIP

1955

The Kerrisdale story.
This book (published by the Kerrisdale Courier) “traces its past, describes its present and hints at the district’s promising future.

1956

McGregor, Donald A. Over the fifty years.
“A keepsake commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Men’s Canadian Club of Vancouver, 1906-1956”.

Vancouver, B.C. City Planning Department. Technical Planning Board.

Downtown Vancouver, 1955-1976: city of Vancouver development plan.
Report on the downtown parking problem.

1957

1958

1959

The Queen Elizabeth Theatre, Vancouver, Canada.
A souvenir book on the opening of the new civic theatre July, 1959 at which Queen Elizabeth II attended.

1960 - 1969

1960

Canada. Restrictive Trade Practices Commission. Report concerning the production and supply of newspapers in the city of Vancouver and elsewhere in the province of British Columbia: Combines Investigation Act.
An investigation into newspaper publishing occurred when allegations of monopoly arose during the late 1950s when Southam Press Limited purchased the Herald and resold it to Pacific Press Limited and subsequently when The Province and the Vancouver Sun were also bought by Pacific Press Limited.

Dobie, M.H. Twice told tales.
In this small booklet are delightful stories and articles written by the author that were previously published in the Vancouver Daily Province from the 1940’s to the 1960’s.

Marshall, J.S. The Dominion Construction story: a record of achievements.
A recounting of the first fifty years of the company which is based in Vancouver.
Charles Bentall was President and General Manager from 1916 to1955.

Peacey, Arthur. A history of the Unitarian Church of Vancouver.
This fifty year history notes that the first Unitarian service was believed to have been held at the Maple Leaf Theatre on Granville Street in early 1909.

Rhodes, Theodora G. A history of the British Columbia chapter of the Telephone Pioneers of America.
Stirling Ross was the founder of B.C. Chapter No. 53 which received its charter on July 12, 1940. The first meeting was held on October 9, 1940.

Steeves, Dorothy G. The compassionate rebel: Ernest E. Winch and his times.
Ernest Winch immigrated to British Columbia in 1910 and in 1918 was President of the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council. An early member of the CCF, he was elected as an MLA for Burnaby and remained so until the end of his life.

Vancouver: Canada’s most beautiful city!
This elaborate volume showing Vancouver’s hotel and convention facilities was sent with a letter to the American Society of Travel Agents inviting them to hold their annual conference in Vancouver, which they did in 1964.

Vancouver Iron & Engineering Works Ltd. The view.
The View is the story of a group of engineering companies, based in Vancouver, which provided services to manufacturers of logging, construction and other equipment and field installations throughout British Columbia.

1961

British Columbia. Lower Mainland Regional Planning Board. Land for leisure.
A preliminary report dealing mainly with those aspects of outdoor recreation which have compelling land requirements, such as major parks, golf courses, skiing, marine parks, and land for hunting and fishing. (Part of the 1963 report Chance and Challenge).

Guide to the Vancouver public aquarium.
Written by Murray Newman, this guide was created for visitors to the Aquarium to make their visit more enjoyable and to tell them something of the animals gathered from around the world. Included is a section on how Canada’s first major aquarium operated.

Hyde, Wilton. The Cunningham story.
A history of the Cunningham Drug Stores Ltd. which began at the corner of Denman and Nelson Streets by George Cunningham, who opened the store fifty years earlier at the age of twenty-two.

International Power and Engineering Consultants. Vancouver downtown coliseum: feasibility study.
This study looked into all aspects of building a downtown coliseum on two blocks of land bound by Georgia, Cambie, Robson and Homer Streets opposite the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and the Post Office.

McLarty, Stanley D. The story of Strathcona School.
Strathcona School’s wonderful history begins with the Hastings Mill School, then the Oppenheimer Street School, followed by the East School (Strathcona) and moves on through eighty-eight years of memories of the School and its surrounding community.

McGregor, Donald A. Vancouver’s early newspapers.
The first newspaper, begun even before Vancouver officially existed, was the weekly Herald & North Pacific News which was first published on January 15, 1886. In over 75 years, more than 300 newspapers came and went in the Lower Mainland.

Morley, Alan. Vancouver: from milltown to metropolis.
Citizen and newspaperman, Alan Morley, speaks to the character and vitality of Vancouver in his look at the city’s past and present. Rev. 1969; 3rd. ed. 1974. VIP

St Mary’s Church (Anglican). The fiftieth anniversary, St. Mary’s Church, Kerrisdale, 1911-1961.
St. Mary’s Church began in 1911 when Rev.Battershill of Eburne conducted the first service. Land was purchased from Canadian Pacific Railway at the corner of 37th Avenue and Larch Street to build the first church out of lumber and canvas.

Thorne, Gordon Kit. Strolling & sketching: 10 original lithographs drawn directly on the plate and autographed.
Thorne drew these rapid sketches of Vancouver landmarks and scenery during a quiet stroll from his studio and back. A self-portrait and short biography are included in this limited edition volume.

Vancouver, B.C. City Council. Seventy-fifth anniversary of the first meeting of the Vancouver City Council, May 10th, 1886.
A lovely souvenir with a red velveteen and gold print cover includes a list of living former member of the Vancouver City Council and the years they served.

The Vancouver Kitsilano Boys Band: woodwinds, brass and glory.
In January, 1928, conductor Arthur Delamont held the first practice of the Band which was made up of boys aged 8 to 15. The Band won 153 awards in 34 years, mostly under Delamont’s leadership.

Wilson, Ethel. Mrs. Golightly and other stories.
This collection of short stories is the last publication by Ethel Wilson who lived in Vancouver until her death in 1980. As in this collection, many of her novels and stories have wonderful descriptions of Vancouver. See also: 1947, 1952.

1962

20 Lower Mainland hiking trails.
This small booklet published by The Daily Province gives descriptions of hiking destinations within a days trip from Vancouver, e.g. Black Mountain, Mount Hollyburn and Mount Strachan, Burke Mountain, Munro Lake and Mount Seymour.

British Columbia Research Council. Rail-rapid transit for metropolitan Vancouver.
Prepared for the B.C. Department of Highways, this report looks at the feasibility of including a rail-rapid transit system in the overall scheme of freeways and bus rapid transit system for Greater Vancouver.

The Founding of the Salvation Army, Vancouver; as told by those who established it.
Founded in Vancouver by the “Hallelujah Lassies”, the first Salvation Army quarters was near the corner of Hastings Street and Westminster Avenue (Main Street). Researched by Major J.S. Matthews and published by the Vancouver City Archives.

Labor Poets Workshop. Poems for life.
Founded in February, 1959, the Labor Poets Workshop “devoted itself to producing poetry that has something constructive and moving to say to ‘ordinary people’”.

McInnis, George J. Captain Alexander McLean, “The Sea Wolf”: notes on the life of Captain Alex McLean, the original of Jack London’s graphic story in book form.
Perhaps linked to Jack London’s famous 1904 novel, Captain McLean was found dead in the waters of False Creek between the foot of Union Street and the Great Northern tracks in 1914.

Stainsby, Donald. Vancouver: sights & insights.
A history of Vancouver and environs illustrated with many line drawings by George Kuthan. VIP

Walker, Margaret. Come down from yonder mountain: a novel.
A light-hearted first novel from this Calgary native sees a wealthy widow and her son arrive in Vancouver and subsequently finds her life complicated by running five or six volunteer organizations and juggling two suitors.

Webb, Phyllis. The Sea is also a garden.
At the time of the publication of this second collection of her poems, Phyllis Webb was teaching at the Department of English at UBC.

1963

Atkinson, J.R. A story of Walter Moberly School, 1886-1961.
Moberly School began soon after the incorporation of Vancouver as North Arm School at the corner of River Road (Marine Drive) and North Arm Road (Fraser Street) and finally became Walter Moberly Annex A in 1930. A list of staff from 1886-1963 is included.

British Columbia. Lower Mainland Regional Planning Board. Chance and challenge: a concept plan for the development of the Lower Mainland region.
This report is the result of several years’ intensive work and many published studies, which were written from 1956 to 1963. Major reports are:

Land for leisure (1961)
Industrial land prospects (1961)
Land for farming (1962)
Land for living (1963)

British Columbia Hydro & Power Authority. Area and Industrial Development Department. Potential deep sea industrial sites in southwestern British Columbia.
Information about existing and potential industrial areas suitable for industries requiring their own deep sea wharfage is given to prospective customers. The main areas are Burrard Inlet and Fraser River. Maps included.

Fountain, G.F. The changing face of the city.
G.F. Fountain was the Director of Planning when he gave this address in 1963 on the topic of how changes in Vancouver had brought about the town planning movement and urban renewal in the city.

Lawren Harris, retrospective exhibition, 1963: The National Gallery of Canada, 7 June to 8 September, 1963; The Vancouver Art Gallery, 4 to 27 October, 1963.
Lawren Harris, a founding member of the Group of Seven, moved to Vancouver in 1940 where he and his wife were leaders in the local art community. Well-known for his early landscapes and later abstract paintings, he died in Vancouver in January, 1970.

Liversedge, Ronald. Recollections of the On-to-Ottawa Trek, 1935.
In Recollections, the author recounts the appalling conditions of relief camps in B.C., leading to protests, strikes and demonstrations in Vancouver and finally, on June 3, 1935 with the men hopping onto freight trains to carry their protest on to Ottawa.

Rotary Club of Vancouver. Rotary Club of Vancouver, 1913-1963: fifty years of service.
The Vancouver chapter of Rotary was created on March 8, 1913 at the Elysium Hotel on Pender Street. This brief historical review is in chronological form.

Shiels, Archie W. The world’s finest coastal fleet: a few notes on the Canadian Pacific British Columbia Coast Service Fleet.
Thumbnail sketches of the individual “Princess” ships, some of which ran between Vancouver, Seattle and Victoria; Vancouver to Victoria and Vancouver to Nanaimo.
Information given includes tonnage, date built and shipyard.

Vancouver, B.C. City Engineering Department. Transportation Engineering Branch. Georgia Viaduct replacement: preliminary engineering report.
The original Georgia Viaduct was opened in 1914 and by the late 1950s, the structural viability of the road was deemed limited. City Council authorized this study as a preliminary step to replacing the viaduct. Maps, drawings included.

1964

Bowering, George. Points on the grid.
George Bowering studied at UBC, helped to found Vancouver poetry magazine Tish and taught at Simon Fraser University. This was his first book of poetry.

Graham, W.E. False Creek rehabilitation.
By the 1960’s, False Creek was regarded as a “bad address”, becoming old, declining and not attractive to new industries. In this report, the City Planning Department, with the help of public and private agencies, looked at various options.

Gingras, Larry. Transportation tokens of British Columbia.
This illustrated guide to tokens used by Langley Bus Lines, North Vancouver City Ferries, West Vancouver Municipal Ferries and British Columbia Electric Railway Co. Ltd. has brief histories of the companies.

Lidster, H. Norman. Memories of sixty years.
Hugh Norman Lidster immigrated to Canada in 1902, became a solicitor and lived in New Westminster where he was active in public affairs. He was Chairman of the New Westminster Public Library Board and also the Public Library Commission of B.C.

Mount Pleasant news: 75th anniversary…1889-1964.
This souvenir edition of the Mount Pleasant News was published on July 16, 1964; volume 1, number 7.

Vancouver, B.C. City Planning Department. Chinatown, Vancouver, B.C.: design proposal for improvement.
What would happen if there was no Chinatown? Should we do all we can to keep Chinatown’s district identity? Can Vancouver afford to keep Chinatown? This report seeks to answer these and other questions.

Vancouver, B.C. City Planning Department. Vancouver’s changing population.
Based on the 1961 Census, this book contains tables and charts on trends of growth, population change, age, ethnic groups, education, households, employment and housing.

Vancouver, B.C. Office of the Mayor. Centennial Pacific Trade Centre.
“This is an application to the National Centennial Administration by His Worship Mayor Wm. G. Rathie on behalf of the City Council and the citizens of Vancouver”. Those words begin the proposal to secure a $10 million multi-purpose structure in downtown Vancouver for a trade and convention centre.

1965

Bell, L.I. Metropolitan Vancouver – an overview for social planners.
Based on the 1961 Census, detailed population characteristics are presented by census tract in tabular form.

Clyne, J.V. What’s past is prologue: the history of Macmillan, Bloedel and Powell River Limited.
J.V. Clyne was Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the company when he delivered this address at the 1964 Canadian dinner of the Newcomen Society in North America.

Davey, Frank. Bridge force.
Davey was born in Vancouver, raised in Abbotsford, returned to Vancouver in the late 1950’s and became the editor of “Tish” (a West Coast poetry magazine). This is Davey’s first full-length volume of poems.

Hacking, Norman R. Annals of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club 1903-1965.
Topic covered in the annals are the founding of the Yacht Club, prominent early yachtsmen, racing contests and trophies along with a general review of sail and power boat activity in the waters of Burrard Inlet, English Bay and the Gulf of Georgia.

Heinrich, Theodore Allen. The Vancouver museums: a report on their situations and possible developments.
Written on behalf of the Community Arts Council of Vancouver, this report surveys the current status of various public museums, galleries and archives with recommendations for their future.

Pearce, Alfred H. A history of St. Augustine’s Anglican Church: Marpole.
In the early days of Eburne, St. Augustine’s was formed in 1908. The first service in the new and still existing building at 8680 4th Street (now Hudson Street) was held on September 11, 1910.

Vancouver, B.C. City Planning Department. Blocks 51 and 61, D.L. 541 as a part of redevelopment in downtown Vancouver.
This controversial plan by the City, especially for Block 61 which was bound by Robson, Hornby, Howe and Smithe streets, was the subject of much discussion between various levels of government and among the citizens of Vancouver.

Woodland Park Area Resources Council. A Study of the Woodland Park area.
“An examination of the physical and social characteristics of the area with related recommendations for improvement of its social welfare.”

1966

British Columbia. Lower Mainland Regional Planning Board. Official regional plan of the Lower Mainland Regional Planning Board, the municipalities of the region and the province of British Columbia for the Lower Mainland planning area.
This consolidated document “constitutes the co-ordinate development policy “which is a basic set of guidelines in establishing the individual policies of the municipalities and their agencies. Amendments published in 1969.

Broadfoot, Anne. Through Lions Gate: a pictorial tour of Greater Vancouver.
Large-format scenic views of metropolitan Vancouver photographed by Ted Czolowski are in this volume published by the Vancouver Real Estate Board.

Irving, Arthur. Past, present, future: being a report on the Majestic Theatre at 20 West Hastings Street near Carrall.
The Majestic Theatre was originally built for Alexander Pantages who officially opened it as the Pantages Theatre on June 18th, 1917 for vaudeville shows. The Pantages Theatre later became the Beacon Theatre and the Odeon-Hastings Theatre. It was demolished in 1967.

Khahtsahlano, August Jack. Squamish legends.
These legends, told by Chief Khahtsahlano and his brother, Domanic Charlie, were tape-recorded and set down in the words of the native as given. Illustrated.

McArthur, Craig J. B.C. centennial of logging: a century of photographs.
Liberally illustrated with photographs, the Centennial Issue of Truck Logger Magazine provides an historical look at logging and sawmills from 1866 to 1966.

McKelvie, B.A. Magic, murder and mystery.
Previously published in The Vancouver Province and The Victoria Colonist, McKelvie’s stories featured interesting historical items like the Komagata Maru War, a schoolboy killer and a mystery figure.

Mitchell, Bruce. Exploration and settlement in southwestern British Columbia before 1900.
Presented in two parts: from 1791 to 1860, the author documents four major expeditions to the area and from 1860 to 1900 looks at the acquisition of land from Howe Sound to Pender Harbor.

Scrapbook for a golden anniversary: the University of British Columbia Library, 1915-1965.
The editors of this anthology compiled reminiscences, quotations, pictures and articles to bring alive the Library at various times in its past.

Symposium on the Port of Vancouver: proceedings.
Sponsored by the Department of Extension, University of British Columbia, this symposium was offered to the citizens of the Lower Mainland to inform them of the opportunities for growth and expansion of the port.

Vancouver, B.C. City Planning Department. Technical Planning Board. The future of the Vancouver metropolitan core.
This follow-up to the 1956 study Downtown Vancouver is now a detailed and comprehensive development plan for the metropolitan core.

Vancouver, B.C. Special Joint Committee on Detoxication Centre. Skid Road: the chronic drunkenness offender.
This report “considers the handling of the chronic drunken offender in Vancouver and makes recommendations for more effective methods of management, treatment and rehabilitation which not only apply in the city” but to other jurisdictions.

Vancouver General Hospital. After the wild wind.
A history of health-related activities from 1886 and of Vancouver General Hospital from 1902, gleaned from hospital archives.

1967

Bowering, George. Mirror on the floor.
Poet George Bowering’s first novel, which takes place in Vancouver, is the story of a summer in the fractured life of graduate student, Bob Small and a free-living girl named Andrea.

British Columbia Research Council. Economics and Market Research Section. Vancouver harbour: traffic trends and facility analysis.
Commissioned by the National Harbours Board, this study describes the present nature and size of shipments through the port and its facilities and forecasts the nature and size of expected shipments through to 1975 with an outlook to 1985.

Canadian birthday party: Empire Stadium, Vancouver, B.C., July 1, 1967.
Were you at this big celebration for Canada’s 100th birthday? If you were, perhaps this souvenir programme will bring back some memories. The show was produced by Rai Purdy; music by Dal Richards and choreography by Grace MacDonald.

Erickson/Massey Architects. Erickson/Massey Architects: [prospectus].
Biographical information accompanies illustrations of Vancouver buildings designed by Arthur Erickson, Geoffrey Massey, Bruno Freschi and Kenneth Burroughs.

Grouse Mountain Resorts Ltd. This is Vancouver: the Grouse Mountain skyride.
In 1965, Grouse Mountain Resorts Ltd. purchased the mountain and built an aerial tram which opened on January 29, 1966 offering both tourists and skiers an amazing view.

Kitsilano Yacht Club. Kitsilano Sailing centre: submission to the city of Vancouver outlining a proposal to develop the Kitsilano foreshore at the foot of Trafalgar Street to satisfy the urgent needs of recreational boating.
The yacht club hoped to develop the foreshore between Trafalgar and Balsam streets as a public water-oriented park with access from the foot of Trafalgar Street. Maps and plans are included.

Mayhew, B.W. Local areas of Vancouver.
Twenty-one local areas within Vancouver are defined with charts and maps describing each area according to specific features.

Mayhew, B.W. A regional atlas of Vancouver.
A small but valuable reference tool which has historical and current maps showing boundaries of various areas within Vancouver on different topics: e.g. census tracts, postal areas, health units, social service units, traffic patterns etc.

Rawson & Wiles Ltd. A development plan for Musqueam Indian reserves 2 & 3.
Prepared for the Musqueam Band, this report includes commercial uses, waterfront plans, family homes and apartments for one of the most valuable pieces of property in Vancouver.

Pacey, Desmond. Ethel Wilson.
The first “full-dress” critical study of noted Vancouver author Ethel Wilson whose short stories, essays and novels earned her an Order of Canada Medal of Service in 1970.

1968

British Columbia. Lower Mainland Regional Planning Board. Our southwestern shores: a report on the shoreline and foreshore areas from Point Grey to Peach Arch, including Sturgeon Bank, Roberts Bank, and Boundary Bay.
Requests for information on these shores, previously known as “undetermined reserve”, prompted the planners to put together this summary of critical features of the area.

The Days before yesterday in Cedar Cottage.
In the early days of Cedar Cottage, the area was separate from Vancouver, then became a district within the city limits. This history was compiled by the Gladstone Historical Committee and produced by Gladstone Secondary School.

Forward, Charles N. Waterfront land use in metropolitan Vancouver, British Columbia.
An inventory of the city’s supply of waterfront land and an analysis of present and future requirements. (Canada. Dept. of Energy, Mines & Resources. Geographical Branch. Geographical Paper. No. 41)

Hunter, Robert. Erebus.
Bob Hunter, well-known as a columnist for the Vancouver Sun and a founding member of Greenpeace, wrote this first novel about “a place of darkness halfway between heaven and hell.”

Isla de Apodaca, 1791 (Bowen Island): first European vessel to sail the waters of Vancouver Harbour.
Don Jose Maria Narvaez sailed into Burrard Inlet in the Santa Saturnina (a goleta). On his way, he passed by a mountainous island which he named “Isla de Apodaca” now known as Bowen Island. Published by the Vancouver City Archives.

PBQ&D, Inc., Engineers. Vancouver transportation study: city of Vancouver, British Columbia.
This ill-fated study recommended a freeway through the east side of the downtown area and along the waterfront. It prompted the citizens of Vancouver to strongly protest and resist the destruction of Chinatown and obstruction of waterfront development and view lines.

Perrault, E. (Ernie)G. The kingdom carver: a novel.
Ernie Perrault grew up and lives in Vancouver. His first novel is modeled on the life of Gordon Gibson, Sr’s early years of being an independent logging operator.

Rankin, Harry. A program for Vancouver.
The Harry Rankin Election Committee published his election platform pamphlet which sold for fifty cents. Curmudgeonly Rankin served as city councilor for twenty-four years and was always on the side of the working class citizen.

Reekie, Isabel M. Red paddles.
An adventure story for children about a pioneer boy, Dave Henderson and his aboriginal friend, Little Bear which takes place in Vancouver’s earliest days and ends with them surviving the Great Fire.

Shadbolt, Jack. In search of form.
Shadbolt’s book on design and the aesthetics, philosophy and sociology of art is illustrated with the artist’s own drawings done over a thirty-year period. A leading Canadian artist, Shadbolt taught drawing and painting at the then Vancouver School of Art, now Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design from 1938 to 1966.

Siemens, Alfred H. Lower Fraser Valley: evolution of a cultural landscape.
While this collection of essays was prepared for a group of geographers on an excursion of the Fraser Valley, it also provided a general introduction for visitors and greater insight for residents.

1969

Barr, James. Ferry across the harbor.
Recollections by Capt. Barr of the old North Vancouver Ferry Service which ran across Burrard Inlet regularly from 1903 to August 30, 1958.

Greene, Ruth. Personality ships of British Columbia: thirty-seven illustrated sea tales of Canada’s western ships…also Gerald Rushton’s compact history of the Union Steamship Company of British Columbia.
These tales of ships that plied the coastal waters include one about the Barque Robert Kerr which saved two hundred lives during the 1886 fire in Vancouver.

The history of Kitsilano High School, 1917 to 1969.
Prepared by the Archives-Clippers Clubs of 1966-69. Kitsilano High School began in 1917, when four classes were moved from King Edward High School to another school. In January, 1920, the first temporary wood structure was built at Twelfth Avenue and Trafalgar Street and in November, 1927 a permanent school was opened.

Laurence, Margaret. The fire-dwellers.
Margaret Laurence lived in Vancouver from 1957 to 1962 during which time she published her first novel This Side Jordan in 1960. The Fire-dwellers, part of the Manawaka series, takes place in Vancouver.

Matthews, J.S. The first gasoline filling station in Canada: Imperial Oil Limited Vancouver.
The first station opened in Vancouver in 1907 at the very end of Cambie (and Smythe) Street on a spur track of the CPR in the forest clearing of the “CPR Townsite” in an isolated area for safety reasons. Illustrated.

Patillo, Roger. The West End of Vancouver: a social profile.
When Gordon Neighbourhood House closed in 1968 and agencies began talking about proposals for a replacement, all parties realized that a comprehensive study of the area was necessary. One item that was important: a basic social profile.

Pook, A.H. Western DVAtions.
This commemorative issue of the magazine “DVAtions” tells the history of Shaughnessy Hospital from 1919, when the Department of Veterans’ Affairs took over a boys’ private school and a girls’ one for the purposes of providing active and convalescent treatment for returning servicemen of World War I, to 1969.

Roy, Reginald H. The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, 1919-1965.
Continuing the History of the 72nd Canadian Infantry Battalion, Seaforth Highlanders of Canada (see 1920); the author looks at the next fifty years of the regiment which gained renown by its victories in Sicily, Italy and North-West Europe. Fatal and non-fatal casualties, honours and awards are listed in the appendices.

Spence, Terry. B.C. yesterday.
Descriptions of points in British Columbia with many references to Vancouver streets, landmarks and geographical points. Published by Forest Lawn, Burnaby, B.C.

Vancouver Tug Boat Co. Ocean odyssey.
This large, colourfully illustrated paperback describes the history of the company, its fleet of tug boats and barges and its marine activities.

1960

1961

1962

Stainsby, Donald. Vancouver: sights & insights.
A history of Vancouver and environs illustrated with many line drawings by George Kuthan. VIP

Webb, Phyllis. The Sea is also a garden.
At the time of the publication of this second collection of her poems, Phyllis Webb was teaching at the Department of English at UBC.

1963

Land for leisure (1961)
Industrial land prospects (1961)
Land for farming (1962)
Land for living (1963)

1964

Bowering, George. Points on the grid.
George Bowering studied at UBC, helped to found Vancouver poetry magazine Tish and taught at Simon Fraser University. This was his first book of poetry.

1965

Bell, L.I. Metropolitan Vancouver – an overview for social planners.
Based on the 1961 Census, detailed population characteristics are presented by census tract in tabular form.

1966

Vancouver General Hospital. After the wild wind.
A history of health-related activities from 1886 and of Vancouver General Hospital from 1902, gleaned from hospital archives.

1967

Mayhew, B.W. Local areas of Vancouver.
Twenty-one local areas within Vancouver are defined with charts and maps describing each area according to specific features.

1968

1969

Barr, James. Ferry across the harbor.
Recollections by Capt. Barr of the old North Vancouver Ferry Service which ran across Burrard Inlet regularly from 1903 to August 30, 1958.

Spence, Terry. B.C. yesterday.
Descriptions of points in British Columbia with many references to Vancouver streets, landmarks and geographical points. Published by Forest Lawn, Burnaby, B.C.

Vancouver Tug Boat Co. Ocean odyssey.
This large, colourfully illustrated paperback describes the history of the company, its fleet of tug boats and barges and its marine activities.

1970 - 1979

1970

Bowering, George. George Vancouver: a discovery poem.
Bowering’s modern poem is centered on Captain George Vancouver and his explorations of the Vancouver area.

De Leuw Cather & Company. Report on the Greater Vancouver area rapid transit study: prepared for the Joint Transportation Committee, Greater Vancouver Regional District and British Columbia Hydro & Power Authority.
“Is there a role for Rapid Transit in Greater Vancouver within the next 20 years?”
This report attempts to answer the question and makes recommendations on a proposed network of rapid transit facilities and how such facilities should be provided, organized and managed.

Gastown revisited.
“A lighthearted look at old Vancouver: maps, walking tours, historic photographs, architecture”. Published by the Community Arts Council of Vancouver.

Gordon Soules Economic Research. Vancouver at your feet.
Descriptions and maps to ten walks in the Greater Vancouver area, including Stanley Park, Cates Park, Kitsilano Park and Central Park.

Greater Vancouver Regional District. Planning Department. The Lower Mainland’s economy: trends and prospects.

Summary report
Technical report

Both reports offer a review of the Lower Mainland’s rapid population growth and the resulting economic expansion. Together, the reports provide a basic understanding of the economy and how policy decisions might affect it.

Howard, Irene. Vancouver’s Svenskar: a history of the Swedish community in Vancouver.
An account of the activities of Swedish immigrants and their families from the 1880’s onward. (Vancouver Historical Society. Occasional Paper. Number 1)

Morton, James W. Capilano: the story of a river.
This history of the Capilano River from the time of the Indians to present day shows how civilization has taken its toll on the river. Dedicated to the Squamish and Musqueam Indians

Nicol, Eric. Vancouver.
Written by one of Canada’s most famous humourists, this “reasonably affectionate” history is a witty chronicle of many aspects of Vancouver. Part of The Romance of Canadian Cities Series. VIP

O’Grady, Rohan. Bleak November.
Rohan O’Grady was the pen name of June Skinner who was the first female novelist born in Vancouver. Bleak November was written at the behest of O’Grady’s publisher and is the fictionalized account of the real-life murder of a Coquitlam family.

Rankin, Harry. Tenant rights.
“In this pamphlet Vancouver Alderman Harry Rankin and tenant leader Bruce Yorke tell what tenant rights have been won and what rights still need winning.”

Sutherland, Neil. When grandma and grandpa were kids.
This study guide for elementary school students used many historical photographs of Vancouver to illustrate social conditions in the early twentieth century.

1971

Alm, Edwin A. I never wondered.
An autobiography by E.A. Alm, real estate and insurance businessman who emigrated from Sweden to America at age nineteen and came to Vancouver in 1921. In business for fifty years, his office at the time of writing was at the corner of Broadway and Burrard Streets.

Barnes, LaVerne. The plastic orgasm.
LaVerne Barnes was the wife of Emery Barnes who came to Canada from the United States and played for the B.C. Lions football team from 1957 to 1964. Ms. Barnes has written a frank assessment of the Canadian Football League. To her “The object of professional football is money. And sex. And power.”

British Columbia. Royal Commission on Disturbances in a Portion of the City of Vancouver Known as Gastown. Report on Gastown inquiry.
Commissioner Thomas A. Dohm reports on the events leading to, during and after the “Gastown Riot” where mounted policemen were deployed to discharge a group of demonstrators.

Cruikshank, Julie. From settlement to city: Vancouver’s growth to 1913.
This paper submitted to the Canadian Inventory of Historic Building describes the residential and commercial building rush from 1886 to 1913. Rapid building programs caused real estate values to inflate until the crash of 1913.

Greater Vancouver Regional District. Planning Department. Space for industry.

1. Summary report
2. Technical report

The Planning Board initiated a survey in 1966 to discover trends and patterns, changes in demand, location and investment patterns in industrial development to aid in short and long term decision-making.

Hull, Raymond. Gastown’s Gassy Jack: the life and times of John Deighton of England, California and British Columbia.
Gassy Jack, hotel owner, got his nickname because he talked or “gassed” so much. The town of Granville was nicknamed Gastown, after Gassy Jack who was the first settler in the area.

Lowry, Malcolm. October ferry to Gabriola.
Lowry’s “novel about Burrard Inlet” was completed in draft form just before his death. His widow, Margerie Bonner Lowry, assembled and edited the novel.

Roberts, Sheila. Shakespeare in Vancouver: 1889-1918.
The first production of a Shakespeare play in Vancouver was Richard III at the Imperial Opera House on December 5th, 1889. This small book lists 187 productions of Shakespeare in Vancouver from 1889 to 1971. (Vancouver Historical Society. Occasional Paper. Number 3)

Rodgers, John. The birds of Vancouver.
This “… illustrated pocket guide for the amateur birdwatcher” is based on columns the author wrote for the Vancouver Sun. VIP

Schools of old Vancouver. Ed. by James M. Sandison.
Originally published in a magazine first known as “Westward Ho” (and other titles), this collection of articles on education, schools and university in the Vancouver area were published as “booster articles” from 1907 to 1915. (Vancouver Historical Society. Occasional Paper. Number 2)

Takashima, Shizuye. A child in prison camp.
An award-winning children’s story of a Japanese-Canadian eleven year-old girl who, in 1942, experiences the move from Vancouver to an internment camp of Japanese. Illustrated with the author’s watercolour paintings.

Vancouver: the golden years, 1900-1910: photographs from the Philip T. Timms collection.
This paperback is based on the 1970 Vancouver Centennial Museum photographic exhibition “The World of Philip Timms”. Timms ran his own photography and printing studio in Vancouver from 1900 until 1968 when he retired. Illustrated.

Wassermann, Jack. Vancouver on 5,000 calories a day: a guide to dining out.
Wassermann did all his own research for this guide and only recommended restaurants that had “ a good meal at a good price” because he found them to be more interesting and rewarding than other higher-priced, more elegant places. [Note: not the Sun columnist Jack Wasserman.]

1972

Boyd, Denny. History of hockey in B.C.: from the Denman Arena to the Pacific Coliseum.
From the Vancouver Millionaires who won the Stanley Cup in 1915 to the Vancouver Canucks, this history is one of Denny Boyd’s first projects after leaving the Vancouver Sun in 1969, where he was a sports writer. (An historical supplement to the Vancouver Canucks hockey magazine.)

Czolowski, Ted. Vancouver calling.
A colourful pictorial guide created to “portray the City of Vancouver, not by statistics, but by her moods, her heart and her people.”

Forever deceiving you: the politics of Vancouver development.
Published by the Vancouver Urban Research Group, this handbook was developed to encourage and guide the average citizen to get involved in land development so that control was not always in the hands of the rich and powerful minority. Includes local case histories.

Holt, Simma. The devil’s butler.
Former Liberal MP and newspaperwoman for the Vancouver Sun, Simma Holt writes about the case of a young boy who was kidnapped by the notorious Satan’s Angels motorbike club, the subsequent police actions and the resulting trial.

Logan, Harry T. The University Club of Vancouver: an informal history.
The first University Club was founded in 1911 and survived until 1930 when it closed during the Depression. It re-started in 1958 and at the publication of this history was going to celebrate its twenty-fifth anniversary in 1973.

Mullerheim, S. Feasibility study of ferry mass transit across Burrard Inlet.
Could a modern, technologically advanced ferry system across Burrard Inlet attract enough passengers to reduce the congestion on Lion’s Gate Bridge and therefore the need to build a third crossing?

Nicol, Eric. Still a Nicol: the best of Eric Nicol.
When this largest and funniest collection was published, Nicol was a freelance writer and columnist for the Vancouver Sun.

Pendakur, V. Setty. Cities, citizens & freeways.
The author’s study of the freeway question which took place from 1952 to 1972 provides insight into how Vancouver citizens and some councilors (including Pendakur) managed to stop a freeway from being built through the heart of the city.

Persky, Stan. An oral literary history of Vancouver: Stan Persky’s section.
An interview by Brad Robinson is part of a vocal history of Vancouver poetry. Persky came to Vancouver from the United States in 1966 and was a co-founder of the Georgia Straight Writing Supplement which became New Star Books in 1974.

1973

Bain Burroughs Hanson Architects. Granville, Vancouver, as a pedestrian transitway: a design study for the city of Vancouver.
Study of and proposal to transform Granville Street to a transit and pedestrian only thoroughfare. Includes maps and illustrations.

Community Arts Council of Vancouver. Orpheum theatre feasibility study.
The City of Vancouver requested that the Community Arts Council find out if the Orpheum could be used as a civic theatre. Part of the study has the history and architecture of the Orpheum which was built in 1927 as an elegant vaudeville theatre. Appendices included.

Davis, Chuck. Chuck Davis’ guide to Vancouver.
Chuck’s version of a visitor’s guide has an “Odds ‘N’ Ends” section which gives the reader interesting bits of information about Vancouver.

Eisbacher, Gerhard H. Vancouver geology: a short guide.
Prepared for the Cordilleran Section of the Geological Association of Canada, the guide offers some glimpses into the geological past of the Vancouver area and shows sites that are readily accessible along public roads and in municipal parks.

Gibson, William Carleton. Wesbrook and his university.
Biography of Frank Wesbrook who was brought to Vancouver in 1913 to become the first president of the University of British Columbia. Unfortunately he died before the university moved to the Point Grey campus.

Hotson, Norman. Open space: a policy outline for the West End.
Prepared for the City’s West End Planning Centre the “study examined and evaluated all existing and potential open space sites in the West End to establish an open space network that was innovative and reflected the urban needs of West End residents.”

Seelig, Michael Y. Time present and time past: proposals for area conservation in Vancouver.
Seelig wrote this report to provide a qualitative assessment of conservation possibilities which would serve as a basis for development of a conservation policy for Vancouver. Among the sample areas included are Kitsilano Point and Quebec Street.

Vancouver restaurant guide.
One of Dick MacLean’s Guides, this promotional book has listings for ninety-four restaurants in the Greater Vancouver area. Includes photographs.

Vardeman, Lynn. A guide to Stanley Park.
This guide to Stanley Park includes a brief history, maps, sections on trees, plants, wildlife, photographs of the Park during different seasons, plus all the tourist attractions.

1974

Bannerman, Gary. Gastown: the 107 years.
Bannerman, an anchorman for CKNW/98 radio station, wrote this illustrated history of Gastown from 1791 to 1974.

Burnes, J. Rodger. Echoes of the ferries: a history of the North Vancouver ferry service.
Burnes rode the ferries five days a week to school and work for many years and draws from his memories during the early years prior to 1907 for the history.

Exploring Vancouver; ten tours of the city and its buildings.
The official guidebook of the Greater Vancouver Chapter of the Architectural Institute of British Columbia takes you on six walking tours of Vancouver and four driving tours of Greater Vancouver. Rev. and enl. ed. 1978.

Hardwick, Walter G. Vancouver.
What is being done to preserve the beauty and quality of life in this rapidly growing city? Hardwick, a Vancouver alderman from 1968 to 1974, challenges all readers interested in the problems facing cities today and especially in Vancouver.

Hull, Raymond. Vancouver’s past.
Written for older children, this illustrated history of Vancouver begins with early Indian settlements and follows through to the early 1970’s.

Kennedy, Liv. Vancouver, once upon a time: a collection of stories.
This collection arose from CJOR Radio’s weekly series “Recall” which was designed and dedicated to feature Vancouverites who added to the city’s history. Some of the people are Fred “Cyclone” Taylor, Pearl Steen, Ben Wosk and Grace MacInnis.

Kennedy, Warnett. Vancouver tomorrow: a search for greatness.
A town planner, Kennedy states “I believe that the next ten years will determine the physical absolutes of this city until the middle of the next century”.

Matches, Alex. It began with a Ronald.
Using many excellent and previously unpublished photographs, Matches presents a fine history of the fire trucks and equipment used by Vancouver fire halls from 1886 to 1974.

Pethick, Derek. Vancouver recalled: a pictorial history to 1887.
An interesting story of the early days of Granville, also known as Gastown, illustrated with historical photographs and illustrations.

Taylor, Jim. Dirty 30.
While this book is about Jim Young, football player for the B.C. Lions, it is also about the game, the players, life on and off the football field. Jim Taylor was a football reporter for the Vancouver Sun from 1966 – 1970 and then became a columnist for the paper.

Vancouver, B.C. (City). Official development plan for False Creek – City of Vancouver, British Columbia.
From studies and reports beginning in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s has come “By-Law No. 4812: a by-law to regulate the development of that part of the City of Vancouver for which the Zoning District is described as ‘False Creek Comprehensive Development District (F.C.C.D.D.)’”

Vancouver, B.C. City Planning Department. Fairview Slopes building heritage: a study of those buildings deserving preservation.
Fairview Slopes, on the south shore of False Creek, was an early suburb of Vancouver. This study points out those buildings which the Planning Department felt architecturally and/or historically important enough to consider saving. Photographs included.

1975

Ardies, Tom. Russian roulette.
Published in 1974 as “Kosygin is coming”, this suspense novel takes place in Vancouver where an assassination attempt is made on Soviet leader, Alexei Kosygin. Made into a movie in 1975 starring George Segal and Vancouver as itself.

Davies, David L. English Bay Branch, C.P.R., Vancouver.
Also known as the Kitsilano Branch or Line, the English Bay Branch was the final piece of main line section of the transcontinental line to the Pacific coast. When built in 1886-1887, it was 3¼ miles long and ran from a junction at Main Street, down the north side of False Creek over to Kitsilano.

Erickson, Arthur. The architecture of Arthur Erickson.
A handsomely illustrated volume which attempts to record Erickson’s architecture work to date. A number of houses in the Vancouver area, Simon Fraser University and the Macmillan Bloedel building are featured.

Gutstein, Donald. Vancouver Ltd.
“Donald Gutstein reveals the tangled web of corporate ownership and influence, family relationships and social contacts which hold the Vancouver business establishment together.” VIP

McClung, Nellie L. Pomegranate: a selected anthology of Vancouver poetry.
McClung chose the poems she liked best from the works of thirty-six poets who are living in or have lived in Vancouver and represent “a part of the emerging cultural history of the place”.

McNamara, Peg. Marpole: heritage of 100 years.
Details of significant events in Marpole’s history from its earliest origins to the present day, the most famous of which is the discovery of the Marpole Midden.

“Man along the shore”: the story of the Vancouver waterfront, as told by longshoremen themselves, 1860’s-1975.
Published by the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union. Local 500 Pensioners, this book is a collection of interviews with a selected group of retired longshoremen and other associated with the waterfront. Illustrated.

Mills, Edward. Vancouver architecture, 1886-1914.
This study of the surviving pre-1914 architecture is separated into three periods characterized by differences in architects, designs and technology. Specific buildings are listed with photographs, building specifications and brief history.

Potrebenko, Helen. Taxi!
While Shannon drives a taxi to earn a living, she runs into many of society’s social and political problems. The novel is based on Helen Potrebenko’s own taxi-driving experiences. VIP

Selman, Gordon R. Adult education in Vancouver before 1914.
From the time the first settlers arrived in Vancouver until the start of the Great War, many institutions contributed to the education and cultural enhancement of the adult citizens. Going to libraries, reading rooms, evening classes by the YMCA and YWCA, music and art events were some of the ways men and women enriched their lives.

Vancouver’s heritage.
Prepared by the City Planning Dept. for the Vancouver Heritage Advisory Committee, this illustrated two volume set looks at forty-seven specific buildings and two historic areas as possible candidates for preservation.

Wood, Daniel. Kids! Kids! Kids! and Vancouver.
“A rather incredible collection of things to do with young people between four and sixteen in Greater Vancouver. An access catalogue of possibilities. With almost 1000 suggestions.” (Research assistance provided by Chuck Davis).

1976

Ashlee, Ted. Gabby, Ernie and me: a Vancouver boyhood.
Ashlee, who was born in Vancouver and is an author of books for young readers, tells of happy memories of growing up in Vancouver during the 1920s and 1930s.

Broadfoot, Barry. The city of Vancouver.
Beautiful portrait volume of Vancouver by photographers Rudy Kovach, Fred Herzog, Robert Keziere, Allan Harvey and Howard Fry; designed by Herbert Gilbert with text by reporter and author Barry Broadfoot.

Davis, Chuck. The Vancouver book.
In 1967, the author wrote a note to himself: “should do urban almanac on Vancouver”. From that note, along with his passion for making and collecting lists, Chuck Davis compiled this fact-filled book. VIP

Creating a livable inner city community: Vancouver’s experience.
Prepared for the joint project of the False Creek Development Group and the Canada Ministry of State for Urban Affairs, this report documents a complicated project to change inner city land previously used for industry into a residential and recreational site.

Driver, Grant. Vancouver Police Department: badges & insignia 1886-1976.
A guide with photographs and descriptions of the badges and insignia used by the Vancouver Police Department over the years.

Harker, Douglas E. The Woodwards: the story of a distinguished British Columbia family, 1850-1975.
Three months after he arrived in Vancouver, Charles Woodward opened the first Woodward’s store at Westminster Avenue and Harris Street (now Main and Georgia Streets) on March 1, 1892. Douglas Harker was a personnel manager in Vancouver for Woodwards.

Knight, Rolf. A man of our times: the life-history of a Japanese-Canadian fisherman.
Ryuichi Yoshida came to Vancouver from Japan in May, 1910. In his own words, he tells the story of his exploits in Vancouver and up and down the coast and of his involvement with the labour union. Historical background to Mr. Yoshida’s story is included.

Lash, Harry. Planning in a human way: personal reflections on the regional planning experience in Greater Vancouver.
As Director of Planning for the Greater Vancouver Regional District for six years, Harry Lash reflects on the maintenance of good human communication skills necessary to negotiate between the public, the politician and the planner.

Maillard, Keith. Two strand river.
Born in West Virginia, Keith Maillard came to Vancouver in 1970. This, his first published novel, is about a young man, a young woman and a middle-aged woman brought together by the shifting worlds of sexual identity and transformations. Set in Vancouver.

NGO Committee for Habitat. Habitat Forum, May 27 – June 11, 1976.
In 1976, the first meeting of the United Nations Conference on Human Settlements took place in Vancouver. This booklet describes the origin, objectives, program and location of Habitat Forum, the non-governmental activities open to the public, which took place on Jericho Beach

Vancouver gastronomic 1976- 77.
The first in an annual collection of menus from various restaurants in Vancouver, Gastown and Chinatown, the North shore and other areas.

Warren, Lois M. Fraser River Pile Driving: the company history, 1911-1976.
Based in New Westminster, most work by the company has been performed within a 100 mile radius of home. Reminiscences of “old timers” and their photograph albums make for an interesting history.

1977

A Chronicle of the Hellenic community of Vancouver: [50th anniversary 1927-1977].
Published by the Hellenic Community of Vancouver, this volume is dedicated to its pioneers who felt the need to preserve Greek culture, heritage and traditions.

Hastings Sunrise Action Council. Inside Hastings Sunrise.
How has the Hastings-Sunrise area come to be? What can the local citizens do about it? This citizens council makes recommendations for improvement.

Heinmiller, J.W. A future for the past: the preservation and reuse of old firehalls in Vancouver.
This report examines several “old” public buildings, studies two firehalls, in particular V.F.D. 12 in Kitsilano and V.F.D. 19 in Point Grey, and discusses the possibilities of preserving them.

Kloppenborg, Anne, et al. Vancouver’s first century: a city album 1860-1960.
Illustrated with 200 photographs and advertisements of each period. VIP

Mather, Barry. Pertinent portraits.
A small paperback with biographies of leaders as well as rank and file members, including many Vancouverites, who contributed to the founding of the C.C.F. (Co-operative Commonwealth Federation) with illustrations by Fraser Wilson. Previously published in the Commonwealth newspaper in 1934.

Morgan, Roland. Vancouver then and now.
With recent photographs by Tom Wroblewski, Morgan compares old and current pictures of specific locations in Vancouver and concludes that not all changes are necessarily for the better.

Morton, James. The enterprising Mr. Moody, the bumptious Captain Stamp: the lives and colourful times of Vancouver’s lumber pioneers.
The lives of Edward Stamp, Sewell Moody and other characters that worked the early lumber trade in Burrard Inlet are revealed. VIP

Navigating the coast: a history of the Union Steamship Company.
The Union Steamship Company was formed in 1889 by a small group of Vancouver businessmen. This aural history by old time employees who worked the steamships is published by the Provincial Archives of British Columbia. (Sound heritage; v.6, no.2)

Prescott, Christine. A nature walk in Stanley Park: Lost Lagoon and Beaver Lake.
A field guide to the plants and animals (mostly birds) of the Lagoon and Lake with identifying photographs, descriptive information and specific finding locations.

Rule, Jane. The young in one another’s arms.
In this novel, set in Vancouver, fifty-year-old Ruth Wheeler owns and runs a boardinghouse and cares for her temporary boarders as a mother and guide. Winner of the Best Novel of the Year (1978) by the Canadian Authors Association.

The shopping guide of the west: Woodward’s catalogue, 1898-1953.
Woodward’s mail order catalogues were issued between 1898 and 1953. Reproduced here are the April 1912 and the Spring and Summer 1929 catalogues. VIP

1978

Harrison, Pam. Beaten tracks: a jogger’s guide to Greater Vancouver.
A guide to various jogs in and around Vancouver with description, location, distance, and level of difficulty for each route along with other tips relevant to the jogging crowd.

Harrison, Pam, and Colin Dobson. The first Vancouver catalogue: all the appurtenances of a civilized, amusing, and comfortable life.
A catalogue of “…the best, the unusual, the most intriguing, professional and well-loved places that give the city its multi-textured appeal.” VIP

Moogk, Peter N. Vancouver defended: a history of the men and guns of the Lower Mainland defences, 1859-1949.
“ …a warm hearted and carefully researched chronicle of the men and weapons used in the defence of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland of British Columbia”. VIP

Pollock, Sharon. The Komagata Maru incident.
This play was first presented at the Vancouver Playhouse in January, 1976. Pollock’s impression of this dark, historical event of 1914 in Vancouver is filtered through her mind and makes the audience rethink their views of both past and present.

Portholes and pilings: a retrospective look at the development of Vancouver harbour up to 1933.
A history of Burrard Inlet, from a secluded home of the Indian people to a busy international port. Issued by the Vancouver City Archives on the occasion of the 100th birthday of Major Matthews who was born September 7,1878.

Proctor, Sharon. Vancouver’s old streams.
Published as an issue of Waters (v.3,no.1), magazine of the Vancouver Public Aquarium
Association, this issue looks at the salmon and trout streams of old Vancouver. Included is a map showing the natural drainage of Vancouver as it was before the city was built.

South Vancouver Community Profile Reports.
The City of Vancouver Planning Department published a number of community profiles during the 1970s. Each profile is an overview of the community, its land, people, parks, recreation, social, safety, transportation, housing, schools and other issues. The reports in this particular series are of:
• Kerrisdale
• Oakridge
• Sunset
• Victoria/Fraserview

Vancouver: western metropolis.
A collection of papers on the urban and social geography of Vancouver as a metropolitan area. (Western geographical series: 16)

Wilson, Eric. Vancouver nightmare.
The second “Tom Austen” mystery novel sees Tom going into the streets of Vancouver’s Skid Road posing as a runaway to help police smash a gang hooking kids on drugs. Eric Wilson is a Canadian author well-known for his writing for older children and young adults.

1979

Appelbe, Frank. The Community Arts Council of Vancouver through the years.
Vancouver had the first Community Arts Council in North America in 1946 thanks to the Junior League of Vancouver who were looking for new avenues of community service when it was suggested that the arts would a worthwhile project.

Bank Book Collective. An account to settle: the story of the United Bank Workers (SORWUC).
In 1976, a group of women bank workers in Vancouver, unhappy with their employer, decided to organize their workplace. At that time, the Service, Office and Retail Workers Union of Canada were leafleting downtown office buildings, so one of the women made a call. This is their story.

Craig, Jim. The Vancouver colouring book.
“Over 40 exciting drawings to colour plus great Vancouver puzzles and a map of the city”. A delightful introduction and guide to Vancouver for children

Deverell, William. Needles.
Award-winning first novel by criminal lawyer William Deverell, who writes a fast-paced story of corruption and drug trafficking in Vancouver involving both sides of the law. VIP

A History of the Vancouver Electric Club, 1919-1979: the first 60 cycles.
Members of the Club, known as “Electrons”, were business people from the new electrical industry. The first meeting was held on July19th, 1919 in the Hudson’s Bay lunchroom (Lunch was fifty cents!)

Lim, Sing. West Coast Chinese boy.
Reminiscences by the author of his childhood in Vancouver’s Chinatown during the 1920’s. This small book is wonderfully illustrated with the author’s own pen-and-ink drawings and colour monotypes. VIP

Magus, Merv. Hockey is a funny game!
The first collection of very funny hockey cartoons by Merv Magus who was cartoonist for the Vancouver Canucks.

Marlatt, Daphne, and Carole Itter. Opening doors: Vancouver’s East End
The East End of Vancouver, a working-class district, was home to many immigrants. Nearly sixty tape-recorded interviews of some of these residents have been transcribed and reproduced here. VIP

Robens, Howard. Hambro’s itch.
Looking forward to 1983, a beautiful young cellist is mysteriously found dead in a fleabag hotel in Vancouver. Written by Robens, a high school science teacher
and freelance author, Jack Wassermann, both of Vancouver.

Savelieff, David. The Whitecap miracle.
The story of the Vancouver Whitecaps which were founded in 1974 as a team in the North American Soccer League and their struggle to overcome growing pains.

Walker, Miriam. Literary publishing in Vancouver: a survey report on the four major presses.
This report looks at the histories of Blewointment Press, Intermedia, Pulp Press and Talon Books and includes a list of publications for each press.

1980 - 1989

1980

Ackery, Ivan. Fifty years on Theatre Row.
Ivan Ackery retired in 1969 after fifty years in show business promotion with thirty-five of them as manager of the Orpheum Theatre.

Carver, John Arthur. The Vancouver Rowing Club: a history, 1886-1980.
One of the oldest athletic clubs in Vancouver, the Club began when the predecessor, Vancouver Boating Club, was formed in April, 1886. It then joined with the Burrard Inlet Rowing Club in 1899 to become the Vancouver Rowing Club.

Davis, Chuck. Chuck Davis’ Vancouver appointment book: 52 little-known stories about Vancouver.
This dual-purpose book was based on a series of columns on little-known stories in the Sunday edition of the Province. The object was for the owner to “be able to learn more about Vancouver at the same time you keep track of your appointments…”.

Imredy, Peggy. Guide to sculpture in Vancouver.
Scattered throughout the city are pieces of sculpture and murals with many having unknown histories. This guide hopes to make locals and tourists aware of the locations and stories behind these pieces of art.

Keate, Stuart. Paper boy: the memoirs of Stuart Keate.
Born in Vancouver, Keate started out as a newspaperman with the Vancouver Province and after working outside of British Columbia for awhile, returned and eventually became the publisher of the Vancouver Sun.

Knight, Rolf. Along the no. 20 line: reminiscences of the Vancouver waterfront.
The no.20 streetcar line ran from the western to the easternmost limits of the waterfront from 1909 to 1949.
From the author’s own memories and oral accounts of local denizens comes a portrait of the industrial waterfront during the mid to late 1940’s. VIP

Mendelson, Susan. Mama never cooked like this: Susan Mendelson’s first cookbook.
The recipes in this book were developed or adapted for the CBC Radio program “Three’s Company” which featured Mendelson regularly. Her famous recipe for lemon cheesecake is included.

Persky, Stan. The house (convention centre, stadium, rapid transit system, etc.) that Jack built: Mayor Jack Volrich and Vancouver politics.
What goes on in the political backrooms and council chambers of Vancouver? Persky’s take on city politics during Jack Volrich’s time as mayor is at once humourous, informative and committed.

Roy, Patricia E. Vancouver: an illustrated history.
A highly readable social history for the general reader. Part of “The History of Canadian Cities Series” by the National Museum of Man. VIP

Thornton, John M. H.M.C.S. Discovery and Deadman’s Island: a brief history.
Known as Menaloose Illahie or Deadman’s Village to the Indians, Deadman’s Island, situated just off Stanley Park, now houses a training facility for Naval Reservists, Sea Cadets and Navy League Cadets.

Wilson, Robert. The Wendy King story.
Wendy King’s tell-all memoir of her life as a prostitute up-ended the judicial establishment and was subsequently “banned” from sale in regular bookstores in British Columbia when it appeared. VIP

1981

Flying high: the 50th anniversary of Vancouver International Airport, 1931-1981.
This slender, nicely-illustrated volume was written and produced for Transport Canada by journalism students from Vancouver Community College, Langara Campus.

Godfrey, Ellen. By reason of doubt: the Belshaw case.
Cyril Belshaw, well-known professor of anthropology at the University of British Columbia, was put on trial in Switzerland in December, 1980 for the murder of his wife whose body was found in 1979 wrapped in garbage bags in the Swiss Alps. He was acquitted.

Keane, Frank. The Vancouver Stock Exchange: from bucketshop to world venture money capital.
Along with the facts about the evolution of the VSE are stories about the unusual personalities, entrepreneurs and promoters that make up the Vancouver Stock Exchange.

Keller, Betty. Pauline: a biography of Pauline Johnson.
Betty Keller, born in Vancouver, wrote this comprehensive biography of well-known poet Pauline Johnson for which she won the Canadian Biography Medal in 1982.

Kogawa, Joy. Obasan.
This first novel for Kogawa, who was born in Vancouver and lived in Marpole, tells the moving story of her family’s forced relocation during World War II through the eyes of six-year old Naomi Nakane. Winner of numerous awards.

Moore, Vincent. Angelo Branca: gladiator of the courts.
Son of an immigrant Italian miner, Branca began practicing criminal law in Vancouver in 1926 and was appointed a judge of the BC Supreme Court in 1963 and went on to serve in the BC Court of Appeal until retirement in 1978. He was also a leader in the Italian community. VIP

Reeve, Phyllis. Every good gift: a history of S. James’ Vancouver, 1881-1981.
St. James’ Church (Anglican) was first established at Hastings Mill and moved to its present location at Cordova Street and Gore Avenue in August, 1936.

Scrivener, Leslie. Terry Fox: his story.
The author was given access to Terry Fox’s journals so that she could tell his story the way he wanted. Fox, from Port Coquitlam, began his Marathon of Hope run across Canada from Newfoundland on April 12, 1980 in aid of cancer research.

Turner, Arthur J. Somewhere a perfect place.
Reminiscences of Arthur Turner who represented Vancouver East as an MLA for the CCF and the NDP from 1941 to 1966. In 1933, he became the first president of the CCF in British Columbia.

Turner, Robert D. The Pacific empresses: an illustrated history of Canadian Pacific Railway’s Empress liners on the Pacific Ocean.
The Empress of India, on her maiden voyage, arrived in Vancouver on April 28, 1891, the first of the Pacific Empress ships to do so. (Second edition. 2004)

1982

Allen, Richard Edward. Origin of street and place names.
Allen, born in Vancouver in 1911, became a “chronicler of the physical origins of Vancouver” after his retirement, which led to an illustrated book on the origins of the names used for early Vancouver streets and places. (Pictorial history of Vancouver; book 1)

Breen, David. Pacific National Exhibition: an illustrated history.
In 1907, the Vancouver Exhibition Association was created and on August 16, 1910, Vancouver’s first exhibition opened. After World War II, it was renamed the Pacific National Exhibition. Many historical photographs included.

Cabinets of Curiosities (1982: Vancouver, B.C. Cabinets of curiosities: collections of the Vancouver Museum, 1894-1981.
A selected guide to the permanent collections of the Vancouver Museum beginning with the first donated item: a stuffed white swan which was given in 1895.

Ferry, Jon and Damian Inwood. The Olson murders.
As journalists for the Province, Ferry and Inwood reported on the heinous murders by Clifford Olson of approximately fifteen young victims and then recounted the events in this straightforward book.

Formosa, Gerald. The pleasure of seeing: architectural sculpture and decorative art in Vancouver.
Wonderful photographs have been taken by the author of this book on decorative details mounted on buildings within the inner city, starting with the Marine Building.

Gallagher, Tony. Towels, triumph and tears: the Vancouver Canucks and their amazing drive to the 1982 Stanley Cup final.
How did the Vancouver Canucks come back from behind in the latter half of their twelfth season, win twenty out of twenty-two games and end up playing the New York Islanders for the Stanley Cup? Along the way, Roger Neilson created “Towel Power”.

Lai, Chuen-yan David. Arches in British Columbia.
From 1869-1946, over one hundred and twenty celebratory arches were built in B.C., many of which were in Vancouver. They were a popular form of respect built to celebrate special events or visits by various dignitaries to the province.

Leckie, Ruth. A guide to researching historic buildings in Vancouver.
Published by the City of Vancouver Archives, this guide shows what resources are available at the Archives to research well-known buildings and also to do research on buildings in general.

Menghi, Umberto. The Umberto Menghi cookbook.
Umberto Menghi came to Vancouver in 1969 and by 1973 he had opened “Umberto’s” in an old yellow house on Hornby Street. Here and in this book, he offers his own style of Italian food.

Petrie, Anne. A guidebook to ethnic Vancouver: walking, shopping, and eating tours of the ethnic neighborhoods of Vancouver.
Take a trip through Japantown, Chinatown, Little India, Greektown and Little Italy. VIP

Stursberg, Peter. Extra: when the papers had the only news.
Published interviews with newspaper people, most of whom started work for the Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province during the 1920s and 1930s, before radio news became popular. (Provincial Archives of B.C. Sound Heritage Series. No. 35)

1983

Allen, Richard Edward. Heritage Vancouver.
Dedicated to industrial Vancouver photographer Otto F. Landauer, this volume has black and white photographs with descriptions of selected heritage buildings and houses in Vancouver. (Pictorial history of Vancouver; book 2)

British Columbia. Ministry of Transportation and Highways. Design and Surveys Branch. Vancouver –Squamish corridor study.
An investigation into the existing and possible alternative routes that could be developed to improve the movement of traffic from Vancouver to Squamish.

Fairley, Jim. The way we were: the story of the old Vancouver Court House.
Illustrated with photographs, this book “chronicles the story of the old Vancouver Court House and some of the personalities who kept it functioning during its career as a palace of law”. A roster of Superior Court judges is included.

Fond memories: recollections of Britannia High School’s first 75 years, 1908-1983.
Many well-known Vancouverites who attended Britannia High School remember their experiences at the school. Angelo Branca (Judge), Dave Barrett (Premier) and Bill Yee (City Councilor) are among them.

Harlow, Robert. Paul Nolan: a novel.
In 1965, Harlow, native to British Columbia, became the first head of the Department of Creative Writing at UBC, the first of its kind in Canada. Paul Nolan, central character, lives in West Vancouver and has a very shattering experience in five days of his life.

Kennedy, Ian. A guide to neighborhood pubs: in Greater Vancouver, the Fraser Valley, Squamish, Whistler and on the Sunshine Coast.
In the mid 1970s, the liquor laws in British Columbia changed to allow neighbourhood pubs, not just beer parlors. This guide had its beginning with a pub crawl wherein seventy-seven establishments were visited before being published.

Smith, Ian. Polar bear!
Peter Pantages was the founder of the Polar Bear Swim Club where “a Polar Bear swims, regardless of temperature, of wind, of all excuse”. New Years Day, 1920 was the official first swim with five men and one woman participating. Well illustrated.

Vancouver Art and Artists, 1931-1983 (1983: Vancouver, B.C.) Vancouver, art and artists, 1931-1983: an inaugural exhibition in celebration of the opening of the new Vancouver Art Gallery at Robson Square, October 15th to December 31st, 1983.
This large catalogue of works is a tribute to art created in Vancouver over a fifty year period by some one hundred and fifty local artists.

Whitelaw, Elisabeth. Vancouver’s heritage tree inventory.
Two students of landscape architecture recorded the history of over one hundred trees in the City of Vancouver and UBC campus. The trees were grouped in some twenty districts with photographs, measurements, location and story given for each one.

Yearsley, Meredith. Not for ourselves alone: fifty years at York House School, 1932-1982.
The School first opened in a leased home at 28th Avenue and Granville Street in Shaughnessy. It was to be very much a Canadian private school.

Yee, Paul. Teach me to fly, skyfighter: and other stories.
Short stories for young readers about Sharon, Samson, John and Christine who live in Vancouver’s Chinatown and Strathcona area, the same area that Paul Yee grew up in.

1984

Burkinshaw, Robert K. False Creek: history, images, and research sources.
City of Vancouver Archives. Occasional Paper No. 2 focuses on the major developments of the waterway and the changing ideas of citizens and officials alike regarding the role of False Creek. VIP

Chadney, James Gaylord. The Sikhs of Vancouver.
The results of a study done in the early 1970s on the way of life of Punjabi Sikhs who immigrated to and now live in Vancouver.

Chow, Raymond. Vancouver as it was.
Raymond Chow, artist, was born in Vancouver and raised in the East Hastings area. He became well-known for his line drawings of Victorian-style houses and buildings in the West End and Strathcona area, some of which are presented here.

Congregation Schara Tzedeck (Vancouver, B.C.) Schara Tzedeck: 77th anniversary year book, 1984 (5744).
The Congregation has been in existence since 1907 as B’nai Yehudah when its first service was in a rented home at 14 West Cordova Street. The new Synagogue on Oak Street was officially opened in 1948.

Gray, John. Dazzled.
“A satire set in Vancouver in 1974, about Hippie culture, the coming Reagan era, the explosion of mass media, and the men’s clothing business.” Gray’s only full-time job was six months as a salesman in a men’s clothing store. He never got over it.

Kluckner, Michael. Vancouver the way it was.
Beautifully illustrated with historical photos, vintage postcards and 42 reproductions of the author’s own watercolours of buildings and neighbourhoods in Vancouver. VIP

McCallum, Doug. Vancouver’s Orpheum: the life of a theatre.
This fourth (and last) Orpheum Theatre building opened in November, 1927 and was bought by the City of Vancouver from Famous Players in March, 1974. It was refurbished and reopened in April, 1977. The Smithe Street foyer was added by 1983.

Pethick, Derek. Vancouver, the pioneer years 1774-1886.
A detailed history of the Vancouver area prior to the official existence of the city.

Starkins, Edward. Who killed Janet Smith?
In his look at the 1924 killing of a Scottish nursemaid (which remains unsolved), Edward Starkins reveals intriguing aspects of politics and privilege in Vancouver’s high society. VIP

Thee, Boen. Vancouver Winter.
Thee, a photographer, tried to capture the beauty of Vancouver, even in snow and fog, by taking pictures of familiar scenes during two winters. Here are the results.

Vancouver, literary landscapes; with poet and filmmaker Colin Browne.
An anthology of Vancouver literature compiled for a lecture series given in November, 1984, with selections from the journals of George Vancouver to poetry by George Bowering.

1985

Adams, Norman. Vancouver’s top ten: a unique guide to the best in the city.
By the author’s own admission, this top 10 guide to many good things about Vancouver is completely subjective.

Chandler, Raymond. Raymond Chandler’s unknown thriller: the screenplay of Playback.
Playback is an original screenplay written for Universal Studios during 1947-1948 by the creator of Philip Marlowe. The action is set in Vancouver. However, the screenplay was never made into a movie.

Gerson, Carole. Vancouver short stories.
This collection is not of Vancouver authors, but of Vancouver stories, chosen because they emphasize the city’s social history and literary development. The stories are arranged chronologically, according to the first date of publication.

Henderson, Craig O. The Vancouver trivia book.
How much do you know about Vancouver? In 101 puzzles, riddles, quizzes and more, you can learn a lot of facts in a fun way.

Hersee, Philip. Greater Vancouver: touch the magic.
A photographic essay of Greater Vancouver taken over four seasons by this internationally acclaimed photographer who arrived in Vancouver in 1966.

It’s everybody’s port.
Published by the Western Education Development Group (Faculty of Education, U.B.C.), this book looks at Vancouver’s port through the eyes of children. Illustrated with watercolour drawings.

McDonald, Glen. How come I’m dead?
Starting in 1953, Judge Glen McDonald became Vancouver’s Coroner for twenty-six years. His purpose was to study the cause of death in order to protect the living.

Steele, Richard M. The Stanley Park explorer.
Illustrated with maps and historical photographs, this guide presents the history of Stanley Park and points of interest on five different walks. VIP

Stubbs, Betty. From golf course to garden: a history of VanDusen Botanical Display Gardens.
In 1960, a movement began to save the Shaughnessy Heights Golf Course from being subdivided. In 1966, Vancouver City Council endorsed the idea of a botanical garden on the site of the golf course.

Watmough, David. Vancouver fiction.
These excerpts and stories from thirteen authors, whose work gives a distinct literary portrait of Vancouver and its past, were collected in a single volume to celebrate Vancouver’s coming Centennial.

Working Lives Collective. Working lives: Vancouver 1886-1986.
More than fifty writers contributed to this portrait of Vancouver’s ordinary working people and their lives. Illustrated with one hundred photographs. VIP

1986

Dampier, Paul. Courage and conviction: the Y.M.C.A. in Vancouver 1886-1986.
On October 24, 1886, a meeting was called “for the purpose of organizing a branch of the Y.M.C.A. for this city.” Construction began on December 22, 1886 for a building at 139 West Hastings Street.

Davis, Chuck. Vancouver: an illustrated chronology.
Produced in cooperation with the Vancouver Board of Trade, this history of events in Vancouver beginning at July 5, 1791 provides insight to the people of the city at work, play and building the city.

Ewert, Henry. The story of the B.C. Electric Railway Company.
Very much a history of local transportation, this book looks at the streetcars and trams and the over two hundred miles of route operations and interurban lines that ran in B.C. especially in Vancouver, New Westminster, Port Moody, Coquitlam and North Vancouver from 1890 to 1958.

Hale, Linda L. Vancouver centennial bibliography.
“ …a comprehensive, thematic bibliography on Vancouver, compiled under the auspices of the Vancouver Historical Society as its centennial celebration of the city’s incorporation in 1886.” VIP

Keller, Betty. On the shady side: Vancouver 1886-1914.
True stories are told of “…those devoted gamblers and demoted policemen, legendary rogues and ladies of the evening who are ignored in other histories of the city.” VIP

Port watch: a retrospective look at 100 years of ships and shipping in Vancouver harbour.
Published by the Vancouver City Archives, Port Watch provides historical background notes to a cross-section of the ships that were a part of the Vancouver waterfront.

Sutherland, Tom. Vancouver, a year in motion: a photographic portrait of Vancouver in celebration of its centennial year.
Fifty photographers, who began taking pictures on January 1, 1985 and continued for the rest of the year, present over two hundred photographs to create a vivid and vital memento for Vancouverites and those who visited Expo 86.

Swan, Joe. A century of service: the Vancouver Police 1886-1986.
On May 10, 1886, John Stewart became the first, and for awhile, the only policeman in Vancouver. A well-illustrated history of the Vancouver Police.

The official souvenir guide, Expo 86.
Guide to the international transportation and communications exposition held in Vancouver to celebrate the city’s centennial. VIP

Twigg, Alan. Vancouver and its writers.
“This book is designed to help British Columbians…to approach well over 100 Vancouver-related fiction authors from the familiar ground of geographic surroundings.” VIP

Vancouver past: essays in social history.
Vancouver Centennial Issue of “B.C. Studies”. Provides a lively portrait of city life over a sixty-year period and lays groundwork for future analysis of the city as we know it today. VIP

Vancouver poetry.
Published in celebration of Vancouver’s Centennial, this collection of poetry, some by members of the Vancouver Poetry Society illustrates the heart and human condition of Vancouver. Includes a history of poetic activity in the city.

Vancouver, soul of a city.
A selection of the best stories, poems and articles about Vancouver by more than seventy authors who were both residents and visitors alike.

Wachtel, Eleanor. The Expo story.
The author chronicles the process, from conception, design and construction, by which Expo 86 came into being.

Williams, David Ricardo. Mayor Gerry: the remarkable Gerald Grattan McGeer.
Biography of one of Vancouver’s most colourful characters who served as mayor from 1935 – 36 and again in 1946, dying midway through this term. VIP

1987

Cruise, David. Fleecing the lamb: the inside story of the Vancouver Stock Exchange.
This investigative report about the world’s leading venture-capital market is full of tales about money-makers, scams and scandals.

Gough, Laurence. The goldfish bowl.
An award-winning debut mystery novel which introduces Vancouver detective Jack Willows to rookie Claire Parker in the first of a continuing series of police mysteries all taking place in Vancouver. VIP

Hadeler, Hajo. Greater Vancouver from the air.
Bird’s-eye views of Greater Vancouver shot from a Cessna 180 on sunny afternoons, make up this unique collection of aerial photographs of the city.

Hastings and Main: stories from an inner city neighbourhood.
In twenty biographical chapters are life stories taken from interviews of forty-two men and twelve women done between 1980 and 1985 which offer a biography of the Downtown Eastside, Vancouver’s oldest neighbourhood.

Pattison, Jimmy. Jimmy: an autobiography.
Pattison moved to Vancouver when he was seven years old and went on to become a well-known entrepreneur and philanthropist. He served as President of Expo 86 for a salary of one dollar a year.

Roberts, Ken. Pop bottles.
Set in Vancouver during the Depression, Pop Bottles is a humourous children’s story about twelve-year old Will who discovers that the sidewalk in front of his house is made of thousands of pop bottles.

Salloum, Sheryl. Malcolm Lowry: Vancouver days.
Lowry lived and worked in a shack near Dollarton in North Vancouver from 1940 to 1954. Salloum looks at Lowry’s years in Vancouver and integrates recollections of people who knew the author while he was here.

Schwann, Gregory M. When did you move to Vancouver? An analysis of migration and migrants into Metropolitan Vancouver.
Based on research sponsored by the Laurier Institute, this study looks at the effects of migration on the housing market in Greater Vancouver.

Swan, Joe. The police murders: true stories from the Vancouver Police Archives.
Staff Sergeant Joe Swan, Ret. tells the stories of how five Vancouver policemen met their deaths from 1912 to 1922. (West Ender crime series; no. 1)

Waite, Peter Busby. Lord of Point Grey: Larry MacKenzie of U.B.C.
Biography of MacKenzie who was President of the University of British Columbia from 1944 to 1962 during which time the student population quadrupled.

1988

Baxter, Sheila. No way to live: poor women speak out.
Baxter, while working as a volunteer at a downtown women’s centre, interviewed fifty poor women in 1986. These interviews gave the women of the Downtown Eastside and East Vancouver a chance to speak out on their poverty.

From Cambie to Clark: a look at Mount Pleasant, past and present: a collection of student research papers.
Essays written by adult students of a Grade 12 urban geography class at the King Edward Campus of the Vancouver Community College.

“Glancing Back”: reflections and anecdotes on Vancouver public schools.
Conceived of during Vancouver’s centennial celebrations, this memoir took two years to research and write. Well-illustrated with photographs and advertisements, the book uses quotations and stories from staff and students to reflect on school life.

Gourley, Catherine. Island in the Creek: the Granville Island story.
Granville Island was once the most intensely industrial centre of the city’s core. In the early 1970s, the federal government saved it and transformed the “island” into a cultural, historic and social link to its surrounding neighbourhoods.

McAlpine, Mary. The other side of silence: a life of Ethel Wilson.
Ethel Wilson wrote all her novels and stories after age 49 while she lived in Vancouver. Mary McAlpine, her close friend during the last thirty years wrote this biography.

Marlatt, Daphne. Ana historic: a novel.
Poet and writer Daphne Marlatt’s first novel is the story of Mrs. Richards, who appears briefly in 1873 in the Vancouver city archives and of Annie, a contemporary, who becomes obsessed with Mrs. Richards. VIP

Sirotnik, Gareth. Running tough: the story of Vancouver’s Jack Diamond.
In 1926, Jack Diamond arrived in Vancouver and not long afterward became involved in the meat-packing industry. He also loved horseracing and at one time managed Exhibition Park/Hastings Park Racecourse.

Steele, Richard M. The first hundred years: an illustrated celebration.
Published by the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation on the occasion of their one hundredth anniversary. On June 8, 1887, the Dominion government agreed to lease a 950 acre military reserve to the city for park purposes – this would become Stanley Park.

Tse, Linda. Families in East Vancouver: our multicultural neighbourhood.
Families from various cultural groups involved in the Mount Pleasant Family Centre got together and contributed customs, celebrations, festivals, recipes, children’s songs and rhymes, games and dances to this volume.

Yee, Paul. Saltwater city: an illustrated history of the Chinese in Vancouver.*
Derived from a 1986 exhibition by the Chinese Cultural Centre to celebrate Vancouver’s centennial, the book presents first-hand accounts and photographs in a chronology of the Chinese community from early beginnings to modern times. Rev. Ed. 2006. VIP

1989

Adams, Neale. Living Stones: a centennial history of Christ Church Cathedral, 1889-1989.
William Van Horne offered the “New Church Committee” land in two locations on Burrard Street for a new building. Five lots costing $500 each at the northeast corner of Burrard and Georgia Streets were chosen. Christ Church had its opening services on October 6, 1889.

Becker, John. Discord: the story of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
After a highly successful period during the 1970s, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra very nearly collapsed towards the end of the decade. Becker examines the orchestra’s situation and tells what went wrong.

Bovery, Robin B. Birds of Vancouver and the lower Mainland.
A guide to many birds that frequent or live in the Greater Vancouver area, with coloured illustrations and description of habitat.

Brown, Rosemary. Being Brown: a very public life.
In her autobiography, Rosemary Brown “writes about the people and events she has known and witnessed – from her childhood in Jamaica and the family life that helped to shape her early views of life, to her rise within Canada’s social fabric, as a politician and concerned citizen”. VIP

East of Main: an anthology of poems from East Vancouver.
This alternative collection to mainstream anthologies published earlier, happened because both editors lived in East Vancouver at the time and wanted to show that no one locale, style, form or subject matter had a monopoly on poetry.

Fari. Buried alive: the true story of Joe Philliponi’s murder.
On September 18, 1983, Joe Philliponi, owner of the Penthouse Cabaret was killed in his office at the Penthouse. Sid Morrisroe, boxer, gambler, was one of the men arrested and convicted for the murder. This book presents arguments that Morrisroe is not guilty and hopes to gain a new trial for him.

Lau, Evelyn. Runaway: diary of a street kid.
Evelyn Lau was born to Chinese immigrant parents who saw her dream to be a writer as a waste of time. At age 14, she ran away to live on the streets of Vancouver. This book comes from her chronicles of two years spent being a drug-addict and a prostitute. Made into a 1994 television movie. VIP

McNulty, W.B. Magee 75th Anniversary.
Magee Secondary School began in 1912 when nine students entered Grade 9 and occupied a room in the Eburne Superior School at 67th and Cartier Street in Marpole. In the fall of 1913, the class moved to it current site at 49th Avenue and Maple Street.

Schreiner, John. The refiners: A century of BC Sugar.
BC Sugar was one of Vancouver’s oldest independent companies, operating a sugar refinery which was the first major industry not based on logging or fishing. It has been continuously managed by members of the Rogers family from the beginning.

Vancouver (B.C.) City Planning Department. Letters from the public on the future of Vancouver and downtown Vancouver: columns by Denny Boyd (Vancouver Sun) and the public response.
Reprint of several columns by Denny Boyd along with forty-two letters from readers whom Mr. Boyd invited to send him their ideas.

Vancouver (B.C.) City Planning Commission, City of Vancouver Planning Department. Selected interviews on the future of Downtown Vancouver.
Twenty individuals representing a range of expertise and experience were interviewed and asked for their insight on the future of downtown Vancouver.

1990 - 1999

1990

Davies, Bill. From sourdough to superstore: the Kelly, Douglas story.
Bob Kelly and Frank Douglas opened their wholesale grocery business in Vancouver in 1896. Kelly, Douglas created the Nabob brand early on and in 1950 established the SuperValu supermarket chain.

Jewison, Norm. The Vancouver Canucks: the first twenty-five years.
On May 22, 1970, Vancouver acquired an NHL franchise and soon after the Vancouver Canucks played in the new Pacific Coliseum. In this pictorial history there is a reference somewhere to every player that took part in a regular or playoff game.

Keswick, Maggie. In a Chinese garden: the art and architecture of the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.
The Garden was the only full-sized, classical Chinese garden outside China when it was built in 1980 in Vancouver’s Chinatown. It was crafted by artisans from China using the ancient techniques of the originals.

Kluckner, Michael. Vanishing Vancouver. *
A collection of extraordinary watercolours painted in the late 1980’s of downtown buildings, old houses, gardens and streetscapes of Vancouver accompanied by historical anecdotes. VIP

Knickerbocker, Nancy. First generation.
These “success” stories are from First Generation Canadians who came to the Greater Vancouver area from other countries and found a home, a sense of belonging and a commitment.

Lee, Sky. Disappearing moon cafe. *
A first novel about four generations of the lives and loves of the Wong family women in Vancouver. VIP

Leonoff, Cyril E. An enterprising life: Leonard Frank, photographs 1895-1944.
Leonard Frank worked in Vancouver from 1917 until his death in 1944 during which time he became an internationally renowned photographer. This biography presents some 200 photographs from Frank’s collection. VIP

Stewart, Lee Jean. It’s up to you: women at UBC in the early years.
The author looks at the experiences of women at the University of British Columbia from the founding of the university until after World War II.

Vancouver Ink: images of a city.
This collection of illustrations and cartoons on various aspects of Vancouver were donated by numerous artists of Vancouver including Len Norris and Robin Ward. The proceeds went to the New Play Centre and The Visual Learning Society.

Ward, Robin. Robin Ward’s Vancouver.
Robin Ward earned a Vancouver Heritage Award in 1990 for this collection of seventy “superb drawings” that preserve Vancouver’s architectural heritage. VIP

Webster, Jack. Webster! : an autobiography.
Webster came to Canada from Glasgow, Scotland shortly after World War II. After spending forty years as a reporter in Vancouver he went on to pioneer Talk Radio and Television where he spent twenty-seven years as an open-line broadcaster in his unique hard-hitting style.

1991

Anderson, Kay J. Vancouver’s Chinatown: racial discourse in Canada, 1875-1980.
“In this insightful study of race and racism, Kay Anderson examines Vancouver’s Chinatown as a creation of the white community over a hundred-year period. She shows that the very existence of the district…is the result of cultural domination that continues to exist today.” VIP

Baxter, Sheila. Under the viaduct: homeless in beautiful B.C.
Baxter took to the streets of Vancouver and talked to people who have been and who are homeless; to find the stories that show the reality of life under bridges and on the streets.

Edwards, Gregory. Hidden cities: art and design in architectural details of Vancouver and Victoria.
Assorted lions, dragons, gods, goddesses, gargoyles and historical figures decorate many buildings in Vancouver and Victoria. This guide is well illustrated and includes maps of walking tours.

Grescoe, Paul. Flesh wound.
Private investigator Dan Rudnicki, finds himself involved in a case when a murdered starlet is found on Wreck Beach. A first novel by Paul Grescoe, a career journalist and award-winning writer who lives in Vancouver.

Kahrer, Gabrielle. A mosaic of destinies, a mosaic of landscapes: the history of Pacific Spirit Regional Park, 1860s to 1950s.
Presented in a chronological manner, this book tells how the Park went from a largely unmanaged urban forest to the creation of Pacific Spirit Regional Park in 1989.

Mulgrew, Ian. Who killed Cindy James?
Was it suicide or murder? Using police files, psychiatric reports and interviews, Mulgrew looks into the case of this former nurse and social worker who disappeared in May, 1989 and was found dead two weeks later in a vacant lot with her hands and feet bound.

Mullins, Christine. Russell & Dumoulin: the first century, 1889-1989.
Vancouver’s oldest law firm began in 1889 when Joe Russell joined the company of Yates, Jay & Russell and opened the Vancouver branch on Cordova Street. In 1929, Len and Theo Dumoulin joined the firm which formally became Russell & Dumoulin in 1948.

Rosenthal, William. The original mountain bike trails handbook: a guide to the best trails in the Greater Vancouver area.
This guide was published to support the new sport of mountain biking and off-road biking. Maps are included.

Roy, Reginald. Sherwood Lett, his life and times.
Distinguished lawyer and Chief Justice of British Columbia, Sherwood Lett took an active interest in community affairs in Vancouver, helped to establish the Faculty of Law at UBC and served on the University’s Senate and Board of Governors.

1992

Adachi, Pat. Asahi, a legend in baseball: a legacy from the Japanese Canadian baseball team to its heirs.
The Asahi Baseball Team started as a juvenile boy’s team in 1914 at the Powell Street grounds and became the best known of the Vancouver Japanese teams.

Fisher, Robin. Vancouver’s voyage: charting the Northwest Coast, 1791-1795.
Published in conjunction with the Vancouver Conference on Exploration & Discovery at Simon Fraser University in April, 1992, this book is well-illustrated with photographs, engravings and maps.

Howard, Irene. The struggle for social justice in British Columbia: Helena Gutteridge, the unknown reformer.
Helen Gutteridge, socialist and feminist, immigrated to Vancouver in 1911. Among her many accomplishments were becoming the only woman on the Vancouver Trades & Labour Council and being the first woman elected to Vancouver City Council in 1937. VIP

MacDonald, Bruce. Vancouver: a visual history. *
A unique atlas of Vancouver divided into three sections: Reference Maps; History of Vancouver – land use by decades; Social Maps -major trends in history, politics, gender, ethnicity, religion and consumer culture. VIP

Nichols, Marjorie. Mark my words: the memoirs of a very political reporter.
Marjorie Nichols was political commentator for the Vancouver Sun from 1972 to 1987. She was one of the first women in the press gallery covering Parliament in Ottawa.

Straley, Gerald B. Trees of Vancouver.*
A guide to a majority of native and cultivated trees on public and private grounds within the city, the University Endowment Lands and U.B.C. campus. Trees are listed alphabetically by family. VIP

Wakayama, Tamio. Kikyo: coming home to Powell Street.
In 1977, the first Powell Street Festival to celebrate Nikkei (Japanese Canadian) culture was held at Oppenheimer Park. Photographs taken by the author at a number of festivals are paired with oral histories gathered by Linda Uyehara Hoffman.

Williams, David Ricardo. Yesterday, today and tomorrow: a history of Vancouver’s Terminal City Club.
The Terminal City Club which began as the Metropolitan Club started as a businessmen’s club by those involved in the port, railway and associated businesses.

Wing, Robert C. (Robert Carlyle) Joseph Baker: lieutenant on the Vancouver expedition, British naval officer for whom Mt. Baker was named.
Baker was the cartographer on Capt. Vancouver’s ship Discovery for the 1791-1795 expedition. He produced the first continuous set of charts covering 4,000 miles of the western coastline from San Diego to Alaska.

Woodward Stores Ltd. So much to celebrate: Woodward’s 100th anniversary.
Woodward’s Centennial Magazine was published to help celebrate the company’s anniversary. In 1910, the first one-price sale day (25 cents) was held, a forerunner to the long-running $1.49 day which began in 1951.

Wynn, Graeme, and Timothy Oke. Vancouver and its region.
Contributions by leading Canadian geographers examine the physical, social, economic, historical and environmental development of the region. VIP

1993

Brissenden, Connie. Triple-O: the White Spot story.
In 1928, Nat Bailey cleared land in south Vancouver at Granville Street and 67th Avenue to start Canada’s first drive-in restaurant. This White Spot history on its 65th anniversary is illustrated with many vintage photographs and memorabilia.

COPE: working for Vancouver, 1968-1993.
Published by the Committee of Progressive Electors as a history of the first twenty-five years of the party. Organizers like Harry Rankin and Fred Kennedy felt the need to challenge the right of centre hold on city politics.

Davis, Chuck. Top dog! : a fifty year history of B.C.’s most listened to radio station.
Published in celebration of CKNW’s fiftieth anniversary, this history begins in the Forties when founding owner, Bill Rea, took it on the air in New Westminster in 1944.

Fife, Robert. Kim Campbell: the making of a politician.
Who is Kim Campbell? Fife interviewed family, friends and colleagues in his portrayal of the woman whose meteoric rise in Canadian politics culminated in becoming the first female Prime Minister in Canada to answer the question.

Griffin, Kevin. Vancouver’s many faces: passport to the cultures of a city.
This social history and guide to more than thirty cultural groups in Vancouver includes references to print and broadcast media, neighbourhood guides and events, past and present.

Hawthorn, Audrey. A labour of love: the making of the Museum of Anthropology, UBC, the first three decades, 1947-1976.
In 1947, Harry Hawthorne, the first anthropologist at UBC, was appointed as Director of the Museum with his wife, Audrey Hawthorne, as Honorary Curator. The Museum operated from one room with a $250 budget for supplies and assistance.

Kalman, Harold, Ron Phillips, and Robin Ward. Exploring Vancouver: the essential architectural guide.
534 examples of new and old architectural styles accompanied by short descriptions are contained in this guide which explores fourteen areas of Vancouver, the North Shore and Simon Fraser University. VIP

Lewis, Sunny P. Grace: the life of Grace MacInnis.
Grace MacInnis was a dedicated humanist who helped her father J.S. Woodsworth found the CCF party. She was a Member of the Legislative Assembly for B.C. in 1941 and a Member of Parliament from 1965 to 1974 for the riding of Vancouver-Kingsway.

Lyon, Jim. The Port of Vancouver: Canada’s global gateway.
This photo-essay was published by the Vancouver Port Corporation on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Captain George Vancouver’s expedition to the West Coast.

Taylor, Jim. Forgive me my press passes.
Jim Taylor was a sports writer and broadcaster who wrote for the Vancouver Sun and Vancouver Province before becoming a nationally syndicated columnist. This is a collection of his humourous columns.

Vogel, Aynsley. Vancouver: a history of photographs.
This compact paperback presents a history of Vancouver with one hundred and fifty photographs carefully reproduced to capture every phase of the city’s growth.

1994

Atkin, John. Strathcona: Vancouver’s first neighbourhood
Using words and photographs, the author gives us a glimpse into the history of Vancouver’s spirited community, the East End, which was renamed Strathcona in the 1950’s. VIP

British Columbia Police Commission. Report on the riot that occurred in Vancouver on June 14-15, 1994.
On June 14, 1994, the Vancouver Canucks lost to the New York Rangers in the seventh and deciding game of the Stanley Cup hockey playoffs. A riot occurred after the game and carried on into the next morning.

Cameron, Elspeth. Earle Birney: a life.
A lengthy, but thorough biography of one of Canada’s most respected poets. Birney taught at UBC from 1948 to 1965 and was the founder of the first creative writing department in Canada at the University of British Columbia.

Chong, Denise. The concubine’s children: portrait of a family divided. *
In exploring her roots, Denise Chong discovers her grandfather left behind a wife in China before coming to Canada and had her grandmother sent over as a concubine. Ms. Chong encourages her mother, the concubine’s daughter, to help her unravel the past, which leads them both back to China. VIP

Claydon, Peter S. N., and Valerie A. Melanson. Vancouver voters, 1886: a biographical dictionary.
Based on the 1886 Voters’ List of Vancouver, this dictionary of 528 family histories is the result of a project to commemorate the Vancouver Centennial. VIP

Gawthrop, Daniel. Affirmation: the AIDS odyssey of Dr. Peter.
Dr. Peter Jepson-Young, a physician, was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986. In September, 1990, he made the first broadcast of 111 episodes of his well-known AIDS Diary on CBC Television.

Jagpal, Sarjeet Singh. Becoming Canadians: pioneer Sikhs in their own words.
Most of today’s Sikhs in Canada are descendents of pioneers who came to British Columbia in the early 1900s. From interviews with the early descendents, comes a book which is richly illustrated with family photographs and documents. VIP

Reid, Robert R. The front page story of World War II: as told through the front pages of Vancouver’s daily newspapers from 1939 to 1945.
“Portrait of a world at war and a city – Vancouver – coping with it.” Headlines and news stories have been taken from the Vancouver Sun, Province and Vancouver News Herald.

Wade, Catherine Jill. Houses for all: the struggle for social housing in Vancouver, 1919-50.
In this book, Wade analyzes the housing problem that developed during the first half of the twentieth century when there was a chronic shortage of decent housing for citizens with low income.

Welsh, Robert M. Sex, vice & morality: tales from a detective’s notebook.
Welsh served for thirty-one years on the Vancouver Police Force. The cases presented here are from his years on the Morality Squad and are retold as cautionary tales so that ordinary people do not become victims.

1995

Barrett, Dave. Barrett: a passionate political life.
Son of a Jewish fruit peddler, Barrett grew up in the east side of Vancouver and went on to be elected as an MLA and Premier of British Columbia and also a Member of Parliament.

Boyd, Denny. Denny Boyd: in my own words.
Denny Boyd came to Vancouver at age five. This candid autobiography tells of his experiences as a sports writer and columnist and of his private life of alcoholism and failed marriages.

Broadfoot, Anne. Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver: a history of service, 1919/1994.
Published by the Board on their 75th anniversary, this is a history of real estate practice in Vancouver from March, 1888 and specifically that of the Vancouver Real Estate Exchange Ltd. from March, 1919 onward.

Choy, Wayson. The jade peony: a novel. *
Vancouver’s Chinatown of the 1930s and ’40s is the setting for Wayson Choy’s award-winning first novel told through the eyes of the three younger children of a Chinese family. VIP

Clement, Diane. Diane Clement at the Tomato: recipes and tales from Vancouver’s Tomato Fresh Food Café.
“Chef on the Run” Clement opened Tomato in 1991 at Cambie Street and 17th Avenue in what was originally called the Rosebud Café which opened in 1947.

Leier, James Mark. Red flags and red tape.
Using the Vancouver Trades and Labour Council as a case study, the author examines the relationship between bureaucracy, class and ideology.

Lupini, Valerie. There goes the neighborhood.
Written for teens, this Vancouver author’s first novel is a thought-provoking look at how we deal with change. A young activist is faced with a new neighbour who cuts down trees when he moves into a “monster” house.

Petrie, Blair. Mole Hill living heritage: an early history of Vancouver’s oldest intact block of housing.
“This book documents the neighbourhood’s history, architectural characteristics, and the lives of past residents as well as the commitment of the current ones.” VIP

Simmie, Lois. Mister got to go: the cat that wouldn’t leave.
In this charming children’s story, Mister Got to Go arrives on a dark, rainy night to the Sylvia Hotel in Vancouver’s west end, and somehow never leaves. VIP

Smith, Doug. Vancouver Grizzlies: the official book.
In May, 1995 the Vancouver Basketball Limited Partnership was granted a franchise by the National Basketball Association. The first league game was played November 3, 1995 against the Portland Trailblazers (which the Grizzlies won).

Turner, Michael. Kingsway.
Turner’s collections of poems are linked to Kingsway, Vancouver’s oldest thoroughfare that is neither “street” nor “avenue”, but a “way” of thinking about cities and people. When he wrote these poems, Turner lived just a few blocks from Kingsway.

1996

Bingham, Janet. More than a house: the story of Roedde House and Barclay Heritage Square.
Roedde House was built in 1893 at 1415 Barclay Street by Gustav and Matilda Roedde who were bookbinders. This book is also about the fight to save and preserve this heritage house and surrounding area, also known as “Park Site 19”.

Crowley, Jean M. The story of Avalon Dairy Ltd., 1906-1996.
In 1906, Jeremiah Crowley and his family moved from Newfoundland’s Avalon Peninsula and bought a farm in the Collingwood area where it remains to this day. A brief history of the dairy industry in British Columbia is included. VIP

Dawe, Alan. Richmond and its bridges: fifteen crossings of the Fraser River.
Published by the City of Richmond Archives, Dawe looks at the bridges and tunnels that connect Richmond to its neighbours, beginning with the Marpole Bridge built in 1889.

Hardin, Herschel. Working dollars: the VanCity story.
Vancouver City Savings Credit Union began as a cooperative lending society in October, 1946. Even before the charter had arrived, the secretary, Martha Makovichuk had to sign herself up as a member in order to take the money of a client who wanted to make a deposit.

McDonald, Robert A.J. Making Vancouver: class, status, and social boundaries, 1863-1913.
This study “traces the social transformation of the city and points out how Shaughnessy Heights lumber barons, Mount Pleasant trades people, and East End labourers were part of a complex society whose members exhibited sharp differences in attitudes and behaviour.” VIP

Nature in Vancouver: a guide to the best places to find birds, animals, insects, marine life, plants and flowers in and around Vancouver.
A Vancouver Natural History Society publication, this guide was written by expert naturalists from the Society and is presented by geographical location.

Newman, Peter C. Vancouver: the art of living well.
Sponsored by the Vancouver Board of Trade, Newman and photographer Alex Waterhouse-Hayward capture the living spirit of Vancouver. Companies and organizations that made the book possible are profiled.

O’Kiely, Elizabeth. The arts and our town: Community Arts Council of Vancouver, 1946-1996.
On October 29, 1946, in response to a wide-ranging survey entitled “The Arts and Our Town”, Mayor J.W. Cornett declared that the first Community Arts Council in North America would be organized.

Thirkell, Frederick W. Postcards from the past: Edwardian images of Greater Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
Eighty-four lithographed postcards originally produced in black and white between 1901 and 1910, accompanied by one-page descriptions, offer a nostalgic glimpse of Vancouver’s early days.

Trower, Peter. Dead man’s ticket: a novel of the streets and the woods.
Peter Trower, logger/poet, came to Vancouver from England when he was ten years old and worked in the woods before taking up writing. This novel takes place mainly in Vancouver.

1997

Cherrington, John. Vancouver at the dawn: a turn of the century portrait.
Told through the eyes of Sara McLagan, a little-known pioneer newspaperwoman who was publisher and editor of the Vancouver “World,” this book is a fictionalized account of daily life in Vancouver almost a century ago.

Christy, Jim. Shanghai Alley.
Private eye Gene Castle, working in Vancouver’s Chinatown in 1936, didn’t know how hard he would have to work for his twenty-five dollars a day. The first of four Gene Castle mystery novels.

Collected memories: a guide to the community markers of South East Vancouver.
There are 138 community markers on lamp posts throughout South East Vancouver. Each marker has its own page in the guide which contains stories gathered by students from local citizens of this area. VIP

The Greater Vancouver book: an urban encyclopedia.
This expanded version of The Vancouver Book (1976) again has Chuck Davis as editor-in chief who put this encyclopedia together with help from his friends.

Leonoff, Cyril Edel. Bridges of light: Otto Landauer of Leonard Frank Photos, 1945-1980.
Landauer came to Vancouver and bought Leonard Frank Photos in October, 1946. He photographed the industrial development of western Canada, especially Vancouver’s architecture from the late 1940s to 1980.

Liscombe, Rhodri Windsor. The new spirit: modern architecture in Vancouver, 1938-1963.*
“ …the first comprehensive study of the acclaimed Modernist architecture of Vancouver.” VIP

Macdonald, Ian. The Mulligan affair: a cop on the take.
This is the story of Vancouver Police Chief Walter Mulligan who became Vancouver Police Chief in 1947. By 1955, he had become the focal point of a B.C. Royal Commission on the Vancouver City Police Force.

Our Own Backyard: Mapping the Grandview Woodland Community.

Pictorial history of Commercial Drive, 1912-1954.
Snapshots taken of buildings from 800 Block to 1900 Block Commercial Drive.
Stories from our own backyard: a history of Grandview Woodland as told by neighbourhood seniors.
Our Own Backyard walking tours of Grandview Woodland.

All titles were part of a collaborative project of the local residents of Grandview-Woodland, the Institute for the Humanities at Simon Fraser University and Britannia Community Education.

Meikle, Margaret. Dog city: Vancouver: the definitive guide for dog owners in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.
Marge Meikle, better known as CBC Radio’s “Answer Lady” has many answers for dog owners who live in the Greater Vancouver area.

Pauls, Naomi, and Charles Campbell. The Georgia Straight: what the hell happened?
A collection of thirty years of alternative news, views, reviews and cartoons from this counterculture weekly newspaper still published in Vancouver. VIP

Weicht, Christopher. Jericho Beach and the West Coast flying boat stations.
In 1920, the Canadian Air Board was granted permission to use a plot of land on English Bay next to the Jericho Golf and Country Club. The Jericho Beach Air Station was built on this land for the use of what was to become the Royal Canadian Air Force.

1998

Blore, Shawn. Vancouver: secrets of the city.
Not just the usual guidebook, this one is published in conjunction with Vancouver Magazine and is based on its annual “Secrets of the City” issue. It includes anecdotes, factoids and statistics.

Culos, Raymond J. Vancouver’s society of Italians.
The history of three main Italian mutual aid societies from 1904 to 1966: the Sons of Italy, the Veneta and the Vancouver Italian-Canadian associations is told with family histories and photographs of pioneer Italians.

Ferone, Joseph. Boomboom: a novel.
Written by a former longshoreman, this murder mystery takes place on the Vancouver waterfront in the early 1980s.

Hutton, Thomas. A. The transformation of Canada’s Pacific metropolis: a study of Vancouver.
Hutton’s study looks at rapid changes to Vancouver over the past fifteen years which took the city from just being the third-largest city in Canada to a vibrant multi-cultural metropolis, gateway to the Pacific and a regional entity with a north-south focus within the Pacific Northwest.

McCullough, Michael. Granville Island: an urban oasis.
Published by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, this is the story of how thirty-five acres of land was transformed into a successful urban redevelopment twenty years ago. Included is a tour of the area.

Murrills. Angela. Food city: Vancouver: the delectable guide to finding and enjoying good food in Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.
Murrills, restaurant reviewer and Food Editor for the Georgia Straight, writes not just about where to eat, but also how to “food-forage” –where to find ingredients and utensils.

O’Connell, Sheldon. Mandrake, incomparable.
Recollections from family, colleagues and friends of Leon Mandrake, well-known magician and illusionist, who was born in New Westminster in 1911.

Rossiter, Sean. The Hotel Georgia: a Vancouver tradition.
The Hotel Georgia opened in 1927 in downtown Vancouver and soon became a social centre for locals and visitors alike. With many historical photographs and illustrations, the book celebrates the history of this famous hotel. VIP

1999

Harrison, Keith. Furry Creek.
In this non-fiction novel, Harrison uses documents and made-up lives to tell the story of the art, life and violent death of poet Pat Lowther.

Heinl, Russ. Vancouver and the Lower Mainland from the air.
Subtitled: Then and Now. Some of the beautiful new aerial photographs were taken at the same altitude, longitude and latitude as the archival ones and are then compared.

Choy, Wayson. Paper shadows: a Chinatown childhood.
At age 57, the author mysteriously discovers that he was an orphan and was adopted. This haunting memoir tells of growing up in Vancouver’s Chinatown during the 1940s and ’50s. VIP

D’Acres, Lilia, and Donald Luxton. Lions Gate.*
In their celebration of Lions Gate Bridge, the authors reveal some of the mysterious stories associated with the building of the bridge. VIP

Ng, Wing Chung. The Chinese in Vancouver, 1945-80: the pursuit of identity and power.
Research into the Chinese population shows how culture and identity had evolved since World War II and how “local borns” co-existed with recent immigrants. VIP

Osborn, Bud. Hundred block rock.
Written by a former addict, poverty-rights activist and poet, this book presents poems about the area of Vancouver’s East Side bounded by the street corners of Main and Hasting Streets, known as the Hundred Block.

Varner, Collin, and Christine Allen. Gardens of Vancouver.
Twenty-six very fine private gardens are featured in the book which has detailed hand-painted plans, coloured photographs and descriptive text. VIP

Walker, Elizabeth. Street names of Vancouver.
A dictionary of past and present street names and their origins up to the end of 1996. VIP

Windreich, Leland. June Roper: ballet starmaker.
June Roper came to Vancouver in 1934 to help coach her niece in ballet. She opened the B.C. School of Dancing at 887 Seymour Street and taught many rising dance stars, one of whom was Yvonne de Carlo.

2000 - 2009

2000

Christie, Dugald E. A journey into justice.
In 1998, Christie (Not Doug Christie, lawyer in Victoria, B.C.) a lawyer, rode his bicycle from Vancouver to the house of the Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa to champion access to justice for the poor.

Constantine, Barbara. A Hurricane in the basement and other Vancouver experiences: stories and photos from the Millennium collection.
Portrait V2K – a City of Vancouver Official Millennium Project was launched on October 5, 1999 to celebrate the end of the millennium. Citizens were encouraged to send in stories and photographs of their twentieth century experiences to the Project.

Coupland, Douglas. City of glass: Douglas Coupland’s Vancouver.
Coupland’s A to Z of Vancouver describes many areas and things about the city with a distinctly unconventional eye. Illustrated.

Falk, Gathie. Gathie Falk.
Falk moved to Vancouver in 1947 and became a full time artist in 1965. Presented here are one hundred images and six essays of her work in ceramic sculpture, paintings and other media.

Live at the end of the century: aspects of performance art in Vancouver.
Samplings of thirty-five years of performance art, from 1965 to 2000, are presented in chronological order.

Macdonald, Ian. Canadian holy war: a story of clans, tongs, murder, and bigotry.
When a Scottish nursemaid was murdered in 1924 and a Chinese houseboy tried and acquitted of the deed, feelings ran high in the Scottish and Chinese communities and the two groups clashed.

McLaren, T.A. (Thomas Arthur). Ships of steel: a British Columbia shipbuilder’s story.
Allied Shipbuilders Ltd. began business in 1948 on the shores of False Creek and then moved to the North side of Vancouver harbour. Owner/operator, McLaren, reminisces in this illustrated history.

Pepper, Kaija. Theatrical dance in Vancouver: 1880’s-1920’s.
This brief look at dance in the early days of theatrical production in Vancouver is illustrated with many vintage photographs and reproductions of theatre programs.

Pepper in our eyes: the APEC affair.
In November, 1997, at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit, a group of student protesters were pepper-sprayed during a strong police response to the gathering.
The essays in this book seek to explain the background and issues behind this incident.

Phillips, Sallie. You’re on the air.
These radio scripts on various topics of Canadian life were broadcast between 1946 and 1952 when Phillips did freelance work for the CBC and other radio stations in Vancouver.

Point, Susan A. Susan Point: Coast Salish artist.
Coloured illustrations of fifty works of art in various media along with comments by the author/artist are in this book, published at the same time as an exhibition at the Spirit Wrestler Gallery. Susan Point is from the Musqueam Indian Reserve.

2001

Armitage, Doreen. Burrard Inlet: a history.
This history traces the development of the land bordering Burrard Inlet from early exploration in the 1790s to expansion, reclamation and protection up to 2001.

Campbell, Bart. The door is open: memoir of a soup kitchen volunteer.
In these essays by Campbell, he reflects on his three and a half years of volunteering at a skid row drop-in centre in Vancouver’s downtown eastside.

Davis, Chuck. Vancouver, then and now.
Archival photos of Vancouver by six photographers are compared with present-day photos by John McQuarrie. Text by Chuck Davis.

Greene, Trevor. Bad date: the lost girls of Vancouver’s Low Track.
Greene investigates the mystery of thirty-one prostitutes, who have disappeared, without a trace, over the past years from the “Low Track, the area known as the Downtown Eastside.

Kirkness, Verna J. The First Nations Longhouse: our home away from home.
In 1993, a Coast Salish-style longhouse opened at the University of British Columbia, the first of its kind on a North American university. This is the story of how the longhouse came to be.

McCardell, Mike. Chasing the story god.
McCardell appears at the end of the (then) BCTV evening news each weekday night with tongue-in-cheek stories of life in Vancouver. Here he tells how he came to Vancouver from New York and became a television reporter.

McKellar, Keith. Neon eulogy: Vancouver café and street.
McKellar’s book has “jazz-line caricatures of the fading, old café and theatre faces of Vancouver with their poem neon names and marquees” and stories to go with each.

O’Keefe, Betty. Merchant prince: the story of Alexander Duncan McRae.
McRae came to Vancouver in 1907 and very soon became a west coast industrialist. He and his wife, Blanche, built the Hycroft mansion in Shaughnessy during 1909 to 1911 at the cost of $100,000.

Snyders, Tom. Namely Vancouver: a hidden history of Vancouver place names.
This illustrated glossary of Greater Vancouver place names provides origins and history of streets, neighbourhoods, waterways, mountains, boroughs and buildings.

Stanley, Meg. Station normal: the power of the Stave River.
In 1911, electrical power from Stave Lake flowed to New Westminster and Vancouver. Published in association with B.C. Hydro, this is the story of life in a company town where everyone was family.

Thien, Madeleine. Simple recipes.
An award-winning author who lives in Vancouver, Thien’s debut collection of seven short stories looks at childhood and family memories.

Thirkell, Fred. Frank Gowen’s Vancouver, 1914-1931.
Frank Gowen moved to Vancouver in 1913 and started to produce photographic postcards of local scenes, many of which are reproduced here. He became known as “The Official Stanley Park Photographer”.

2002

Clarkes, Lincoln. Heroines: photographs.
Of some four hundred black and white portraits of marginalized women living and working on the streets of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, one hundred photographs are presented in Heroines.

Cole, Barbara. City of Vancouver public art walk: downtown shoreline.
This guide to fifty-seven items of artwork, architectural landmarks and heritage sites along a 13 kilometre perimeter of the downtown peninsula is divided into seven neighbourhoods.

Community portraits: a look at West Point Grey.
Published by the West Point Grey Community Centre, this book is a compilation of stories and photographs by citizens of Point Grey on art, local events, sports, schools, history and community.

Facing history: portraits from Vancouver.
Edited by Karen Love of the Presentation House Gallery, this collection of photographs of Vancouverites taken by well-known local artists over the years, gives a glimpse of Vancouver’s sense of self.

Flood, Cynthia. Making a stone of the heart: a novel.
Owen Jones dies in a Bella Coola nursing home. His story is told backwards through time against the backdrop of Vancouver from 1997 to 1900.

Hagelund, William A. Harbour burning: a century of Vancouver’s maritime fires.
This history of fire-fighting on the waterfront celebrates the performance of equipment and dedication of people to one hundred years of marine fire-related events.

Mansbridge, Francis. Launching history: the saga of Burrard Dry Dock.
In 1894, Alfred Wallace opened a shipbuilding yard at the north end of Granville Street. It moved to North Vancouver in 1906 and in 1921, the name changed to Burrard Dry Dock.

Perrault, E.G. (Ernest G.) Tong: the story of Tong Louie, Vancouver’s quiet titan.
In 1927, Hok Yat Louie, Chinese immigrant, opened the wholesale business of H.Y. Louie. One of his sons, Tong took this business and expanded it to include the IGA grocery chain and London Drugs.

Stan Douglas: every building on 100 West Hastings.
Based on a monumental-sized print of the south side of 100West Hastings Street by Stan Douglas, contemporary artist, who photographed each building and composited each print to achieve a block long perspective.

Varner, Collin. Plants of Vancouver and the Lower Mainland.
A Raincoast pocket guide to the most common native plants and flowers in the Lower Mainland describing habitat, history and use of each plant.

2003

Alexander, Donald. False Creek urban heritage trail guidebook.
A guide to fifty sites around False Creek with some history of each of the points of interest.

Clague, J.J. (John Joseph). Vancouver, city on the edge: living with a dynamic geological landscape: [rocks, landforms, volcanoes, the Ice Age, earthquakes, landslides, & water issues in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia].
Timely and important information for residents on how geology affects all our lives in Vancouver. Well illustrated.

Conn, Heather. Vancouver’s glory years: public transit, 1890-1915.
The first electric streetcars appeared in Vancouver in 1890. This history of the first twenty-five years of streetcars and interurban cars shows how those transit lines changed the city immensely.

Craig, Wallace Gilby. Short pants to striped trousers: the life and times of a judge in skid road Vancouver.
Follow the story of Wallace Craig, from his days growing up in Fairview to a law practice and then twenty-six years on the bench of the criminal division of the Provincial court.

De Vries, Maggie. Missing Sarah: a Vancouver woman remembers her vanished sister.
On April 14, 1998, Sarah de Vries went missing from the corner of Princess and Hastings Streets becoming one of the many women in the area who had disappeared. Maggie, her sister, who never stopped searching for her, tells Sarah’s story.

Delgado, James P. Racers and rovers: 100 years of the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club.
Vancouver Yacht Club, formed in 1903, was granted a Royal Charter in 1906. This book, written by the Executive Director of the Vancouver Maritime Museum, celebrates the history of yachting in Vancouver and the Pacific Coast.

Grant, Paul. The Stanley Park companion.
This new guide to enjoying Stanley Park includes vintage and modern-day photographs along with descriptions of the major attractions.

Keithley, Joey. I, Shithead: a life in punk.
Joey Keithley, aka Joey Shithead, is the lead singer of Vancouver punk rock band D.O.A. which was started in 1978. Keithley’s recollections focus on his life in punk rock and his activism in music, politics and the environment.

Spaner, David. Dreaming in the rain: how Vancouver became Hollywood North by Northwest.
Spaner, movie critic for the Province newspaper, writes a history of feature film-making in the city and how Vancouver emerged as a production centre for films and television series.

Woodsquat: social housing now!
Beginning on September 14, 2002, the old Woodward’s Department Store building had a street encampment around it for ninety-two days. Aaron Vidaver edited this collection of writings, interviews, poems, speeches, reports, graffiti and more for a history of that time.

2004

Barman, Jean. The remarkable adventures of Portuguese Joe Silvey.
Born in the Portuguese Azores, Silvey came to Vancouver around 1860. He became a saloon keeper, whaler and was the first man to have a herring seine license in B.C.

Francis, Daniel. L.D.: Mayor Louis Taylor and the rise of Vancouver.
Taylor, who came from Chicago in 1896, was first elected mayor in 1910 and served on and off until 1934. During his time, Vancouver grew from frontier town to an international port city.

Hall, Peter J. Place names of West Vancouver: a gazetteer.
Published by the West Vancouver Historical Society, this gazetteer has the origins of the names of neighbourhoods, streets, geographical features such as rivers and islands, parks, schools and Pacific Great Eastern Railway stations.

Hunter, Robert. The Greenpeace to Amchitka: an environmental odyssey.
Hunter, Sun columnist and official chronicler, tells of the first journey by Greenpeace to protest underground nuclear testing by the United States in Amchitka. Hunter went on to become co-founder and first president of the Greenpeace movement.

Jackson, Stewart M. From dough to DNA: 601 West Tenth, Vancouver: the bakers, the building and the BC Cancer Research Centre.
How did a building which housed the Shelly Brothers Bakery from 1923 onward become the McGavin Toastmasters Bakeries and finally become the facilities for the B.C. Cancer Research Centre in 1979?

Jensen, Vickie. The totem poles of Stanley Park.
Totem poles were first erected in Stanley Park in the early 1920’s. This small guide gives details of the carved figures, the stories of the poles and the carvers.

O’Keefe, Betty. Dr. Fred and the Spanish lady: fighting the killer flu.
Here is the story of how Dr. Fred Uphill, Vancouver’s first full-time medical health officer, responded to the “Spanish influenza” (aka the Spanish lady) epidemic in the city.

Potter, Greg (Gregory Ernest). Backstage Vancouver: [a century of entertainment legends].
Co-authored by Red Robinson, this delightful book of anecdotes, archival photographs and eyewitness accounts of entertainers who visited Vancouver is woven with enough gossip to give it the right amount of juiciness.

Taylor, Tom. Glimpses: World War II, West Vancouver through the eyes of the paper and the paper boy.
A chronology of life in West Vancouver during World War II as displayed by headlines and newspaper articles of local life interwoven with those of world events.

Thirkell, Fred. Breaking news: the postcard images of George Alfred Barrowclough.
In the early 1900’s, newspapers did not publish photographs of major news events. From 1908 to 1912, the news photographs here were taken by Barrowclough and sold as postcards to the public.

2005

Barman, Jean. Stanley Park’s secret: the forgotten families of Whoi Whoi, Kanaka Ranch and Brockton Point.
Before Stanley Park was opened in 1888, aboriginal people had been living in various small villages in the Park while indigenous Hawaiians lived at Kanaka Ranch. By 1958, the last of the families were removed.

Barnholden, Michael Dorn. Reading the riot act: a brief history of riots in Vancouver.
A look at one hundred years of civil unrest, starting with the Anti-Asian riots of 1907 and moving through depression-era, prison, sports and music concert riots.

Berelowitz, Lance. Dream city: Vancouver and the global imagination.
How did we get to be the city of dreams? Award-winning author, Berelowitz looks at the links between patterns of growth, development and the culture of planning and design.

Delgado, James P. Waterfront: the illustrated maritime story of greater Vancouver.
Delgado tells the story of the ever-evolving growth of activity along the sea, rivers and shores of Greater Vancouver from early times to the present.

Hayes, Derek. Historical atlas of Vancouver and the lower Fraser Valley.
370 maps and 140 archival photographs and modern art works illustrate this beautiful atlas of local history which portrays the dreams and schemes of many people that shaped metropolitan Vancouver.

Johnston, Hugh J.M. Radical campus: making Simon Fraser University.
History of the formative years of SFU from the early 1960’s when Premier W.A.C. Bennett announced the project to its rapid completion and opening in 1965.

Quartermain, Meredith. Vancouver walking.
Poet, Quartermain observes her surroundings while out walking and puts what she sees into words which become poems about scenes of Vancouver.

Smith, Bill. The Grand Canyon of the Capilano: remembering when a river ran through it.
On the 50th anniversary of the completion of the Cleveland Dam and Lake Capilano comes this history of the Capilano Valley before it became a lake bottom; written by Bill Smith who worked for the Greater Vancouver Water District and the G.V.R.D.

Unfinished business: photographing Vancouver streets, 1955 to 1985.
This publication of the Presentation House Gallery in North Vancouver grew out of an exhibit of photographs taken by famous and not-so-famous photographers who took individual points of view about the streets of Vancouver during the “boom town” years.

The Vancouver stories: West Coast fiction from Canada’s best writers.
Experience Vancouver through this collection of fourteen stories by well-known Canadian authors from Pauline Johnson to Douglas Coupland who wrote the introduction.

2006

Badami, Anita Rau. Can you hear the nightbird call?
The lives of three women are intertwined over a fifty year period from 1947 to 1985, between India and Vancouver, where conflicts of the past are connected with the new.

Francis, Daniel. Red light neon: a history of Vancouver’s sex trade.
This history of prostitution in Vancouver, using archives and personal interviews, concludes that “commercial sex is a reflection and result of Vancouver’s essential character, tolerant social attitudes, ethnic diversity and political opportunism”.

Grubisic, Brett Josef. The age of cities.
A first novel by Grubisic, who teaches at the University of British Columbia, about a small-town male librarian who come to the big city in 1959, at the height of the Cold War, and accidentally discovers a gay subculture.

Johnston, Tom. Westwood: everyone’s favourite racing circuit.
Westwood, the first purpose built road racing circuit in Canada, opened in Coquitlam on July 26, 1959 and lasted until 1990.

Kluckner, Michael. Vancouver remembered.
In his book on historical Vancouver, Kluckner uses his beautiful watercolours and vintage photographs to recall the commercial and residential areas of the city during the 1950s, 60s and 70s.

Lavelle, Phyllis Grant.
• Full scream ahead
• A spot of trouble at Jenny G’s
Lavelle, a Vancouver resident, wrote a series of six “history mysteries” for young readers about kids and families in Vancouver during the late 1890s.

Newman, Murray A. People, fish and whales: [the Vancouver Aquarium story].
This colourfully illustrated introduction to the Vancouver Aquarium, past and present, is written by Dr. Murray Newman who was head of the Aquarium from 1955 to 1993.

Osborne, Graham. Vancouver wild: a photographer’s journey through the southern Coast Mountains.
Osborne, professional photographer and biologist, presents a beautiful collection of photographs of the city in its natural environment.

Philip Timms’ Vancouver: 1900-1910.
Philip Timms’ mission was “to consciously photography everyday life in Vancouver…that there might be a visual historical record of the city in its youthful days”.

Rogatnick, Abraham J. B.C. Binning.
Prairie-born Binning came to Vancouver in 1913 and spent his life in the art and architecture field, becoming head of the Dept. of Fine Arts at U.B.C. in 1955. Binning widely influenced West Coast modern art and architecture.

Rud, Jeff. Canucks legends: Vancouver hockey heroes.
Over one hundred player profiles are included in this history of the first four decades of Western Canada’s first NHL franchise.

2007

Barnholden, Michael Dorn. Street stories: 100 years of homelessness in Vancouver.
Along with photographs by Lindsay Mearns, the author gives an overview of homelessness in Vancouver from 1907 onward and how it has changed through the century.

Bradbury, Elspeth. West Vancouver: a view through the trees.
A project of the District of West Vancouver, this book is the story of the evolution of the forest that is a major part of the community of West Vancouver and how it affects the lives of the citizens.

Brooks, Carellin. Wreck Beach.
“A little slice of nonconformist heaven twenty minutes from downtown Vancouver, directly below the University of British Columbia.”

Cameron, Stevie. The Pickton file.
Investigative reporter Cameron, started research in 2002 on the cases of the missing women in Vancouver and continued to follow the case when Robert Pickton was suspected and charged with their murders.

Geddes, Gary. Falsework.
Geddes, a Vancouver-born poet, weaves a portrait of the many lives affected by the crumpling of the partially-built Second Narrows Bridge when it collapsed on June 17, 1958.

Harcourt, Michael. City making in paradise: nine decisions that saved Vancouver.
Former Mayor Mike Harcourt leads the way in this book that tells about the leaders, activists and citizens that have been involved since 1945 in the birth of regional planning, the re-making of False Creek, Expo 86 and other major decisions.

Herzog, Fred. Fred Herzog: Vancouver photographs.
Fred Herzog came to Vancouver from Germany in 1953 and in over fifty years, has photographed urban life in Vancouver: focusing on storefronts, billboards, cafes and crowds of people.

Lazarus, Eve. At home with history: the untold secrets of Greater Vancouver’s heritage homes.
A collection of social history stories of selected heritage homes with their genealogy and the glamourous and sometimes not-so-glamourous tales.

Schofield, Peggy. The story of Dunbar: voices of a Vancouver neighbourhood.
This account of the history of Dunbar, was based on interviews with over 350 local residents, pioneers as well as new arrivals. Ranging from early settlement, to first schools, tent homes and last streetcars, the book celebrates community roots and a sense of place.

Sommer, Warren F. The ambitious city: a history of the City of North Vancouver.
Published in honour of the centennial of the City in 2007, this history “…details the fascinating story of North Vancouver, from the migration of the Squamish people to Burrard Inlet, to the settlement of Moodyville in the 1800s to the city’s incorporation in 1907”.

Wells, Martin J. Coal Harbour recollections.
Stories of Coal Harbour from the foot of Granville Street to Brockton Point, where the commercial life of Vancouver began and where the Canadian Pacific Railway ended its west coast rail terminal.

2008

Bown, Stephen R. Madness, betrayal and the lash: the epic voyage of Captain George Vancouver.
A re-evaluation of Captain George Vancouver’s expeditions, discoveries, betrayal by former crew and descent into illness and poverty.

Cocking, Clive. Britannia remembers: 100 years of achievement.
Published for the centennial reunion in 2008 of Britannia Secondary School. Britannia is the oldest operating secondary school in Vancouver and the oldest west of Winnipeg that is still on its original site.

Cran, Brad. Hope in shadows: stories and photographs of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
These stories and photographs have sprung from five years of Pivot Legal Society’s annual Hope in Shadows contest where 200 disposable cameras were given to local residents to document their lives.

Gresko, Jacqueline. Traditions of faith and service: Archdiocese of Vancouver, 1908 – 2008.
The centennial history of the Catholic Church in the very large Archdiocese of Vancouver is also a story of the diversity of peoples in British Columbia. Includes a chronology of parishes from 1859 to 2008.

Harbeck, William H.
• City reflections 1907, Vancouver, 2007. (DVD)
Harbeck’s film of Vancouver was taken from the front of a streetcar on May 8, 1907. Many parts of the film were lost, but what remains has been restored and presented in this DVD with new footage retracing the original route.
• William H. Harbeck and his 1907 Vancouver film.
Here is the history behind Harbeck’s trip to Vancouver, the filming, the finding and restoration of the film and a chronology of the DVD. (By Andrew Martin of the Vancouver Public Library.)

Henderson, Lee. The man game.
Henderson’s first novel takes place in Vancouver just after the 1886 fire, when two lumberjacks, accused of setting the fire, and Molly, a former vaudeville performer, team up and invent a new raunchy sport that is performed in the nude.

Jamieson, Eric. Tragedy at Second Narrows: the story of the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.
On the 50th anniversary of the collapse of the Second Narrows Bridge, which was under construction, comes this investigation into “the worst industrial accident in Vancouver history”.

Mansbridge, Francis. Hollyburn: the mountain and the city.
This history of the Hollyburn Mountain Region, which is the forested mountainous area above West Vancouver, covers the early geological past, use by First Nations people, early development and use by outdoor enthusiasts.

Murray, Anne. Tracing our past: a heritage guide to Boundary Bay.
Boundary Bay and its watershed include Delta, Surrey, White Rock, Langley and Richmond. Murray’s guide is an exploration of “human history” from an ecological perspective.

Sleigh, Daphne. The man who saved Vancouver: Major James Skitt Matthews.
Matthews, founder of the City of Vancouver Archives, is seen in this biography of the controversial archivist as a man with a fiery nature, obsessed with collecting artifacts and oral histories.

Smedman, Lisa. Vancouver: stories of a city: a history of Vancouver’s neighbourhoods and the people who built them.
An expansion of Smedman’s twelve part series of cover stories published in the Vancouver Courier newspaper during 2006 and 2007, this book covers a history of the city, neighbourhood by neighbourhood.

2009

Boyd, Susan. Raise shit! : social action saving lives. A collection of documents – newspaper articles, excerpts from reports, poems, posters, photographs – that tells how a social justice movement led to the opening of the first supervised safe injection site, Insite, in September 2003.

Campbell, Larry. A thousand dreams: Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and the fight for its future. Co-authored with criminologist Neil Boyd and journalist Lori Culbert, this book raises crucial questions about an area that once was the city centre of Vancouver. Each author brings their own experiences to this interesting book.

Demers, Charles. Vancouver special. Activist and comedian Demers’ collection of essays on Vancouver is a “who, what, where, when, why and how of Vancouver” – a thoughtful look at the strategies and influences that have made the city what it is today. Illustrated with edgy photographs.

Lee, John. Walking Vancouver: 36 strolls to dynamic neighborhoods, hip hangouts, and spectacular waterfronts. Each walk has notes on historical points of interest along with distance and difficulty ratings. Walks in the North Shore, New Westminster and Steveston are included.

Mansbridge, Francis. Vancouver: then and now. This pictorial compares vintage photographs of unique Vancouver locations with modern-day ones. Historical notes complete the side-by-side photographic spreads.

Parsons, Tony. A life in the news: a memoir. English-born Parsons, moved to Vancouver in 1974 as a news correspondent for CTV Network for what was then the Six O’clock News Hour. He spent three decades as the anchor, often with his dog Charlie sleeping under the desk.

Richards, Dal. One more time! : the Dal Richards story. On his 90th birthday, Dal Richards sold out the Orpheum Theatre in Vancouver. The legendary musician and bandleader relates stories of the “stars and the wannabes, the hustlers, bootleggers and hat check chicks” in his memoir.

Ross, Becki L. Burlesque West: showgirls, sex and sin in postwar Vancouver. Stories from dancers bring a personal touch to this social history of erotic entertainment, burlesque, go-go dancing and striptease in Vancouver, from the early days at Isy’s Supper club onward.

Smedman, Lisa. Immigrants – stories of Vancouver’s people. This expanded collection of a 20-part series of cover stories that appeared in The Vancouver Courier newspaper from 2007 to 2009 forms a history of those who came to Vancouver (and to British Columbia, before there was a Vancouver) from the 1850’s to present day. Illustrated.

Steil, John. Public art in Vancouver: angels among lions. A guide to more than five hundred public art installations which is divided into neighbourhoods – featuring maps, notes and a photograph on the history of each piece.

Verse map of Vancouver. George McWhirter, Poet Laureate of Vancouver, chose writings from over 100 poets to illustrate specific points of the City. This “word ordinance survey” is illustrated with photographs by Derek Von Essen.

2010

Aronsen, Lawrence. City of love and revolution: Vancouver in the sixties.
If you weren’t in Vancouver during the sixties, Aronsen takes you back in this illustrated account to the hippie days and lifestyle which spread north from San Francisco.

AtkiAronsen, Lawrence. City of love and revolution: Vancouver in the sixties.
If you weren’t in Vancouver during the sixties, Aronsen takes you back in this illustrated account to the hippie days and lifestyle which spread north from San Francisco.

Atkin, John. The changing city: architecture and history walking tours in central Vancouver.
Some thirteen areas of downtown Vancouver are covered as Atkin introduces recent development, some classic Modernism and local heritage in the guide and walking tour. Guide maps are provided.

Basran, Gurjinder. Everything was good-bye: a novel.
Meena, a young Indo-Canadian woman growing up in the Lower Mainland, struggles with her identity and independence in a Punjabi community. 2010 winner of the Great British Columbia Novel Contest.

Body heat: the story of the Woodward’s redevelopment.
Edited by Robert Enright, architecture by Henriquez Partners. The story of the redevelopment of the Woodward’s department store (which closed in 1993) from “Woodsquat” into a complex of multi-use buildings. Well-illustrated.

Burrows, Bob. Hope lives here: a history of Vancouver’s First United Church.
Burrows, a United Church minister for fifty years, tells the story of First United Church at Gore and Hastings Streets, which has been ministering to the changing needs of the neighbourhood for 125 years.

Cramp, Beverly. Pacific National Exhibition: 100 years of fun.
The Vancouver Exhibition Association ran the first fair at Hastings Park from August 15 to 20, 1910. This history, told in decades, is filled with historical photographs.

Douglas, Greg. Canucks at forty: our game, our stories, our passion.
Follow the team’s rich history since 1970 with photos from the team’s archives and commentary from coaches and players.

Keller, Betty. A thoroughly wicked woman: murder, perjury and trial by newspaper.
In November 1905, Thomas Jackson was poisoned in his home in the west end of Vancouver. Suspicion fell on four people living in the house. Accounts by the newspapers of the day, which were locked in a circulation war, kept the murder on the front page for weeks.

Proctor, Sharon J. Time travel in North Vancouver: a peek into the past.
This guide around North Vancouver City and District looks at specific addresses and sites and compares vintage photographs with present-day ones.

Ryan, Denise. Nettwerk: 25 years of music we love.
Founder of Nettwerk, Terry McBride, tells all about the founding of one of Canada’s best known indie record labels; from his bedroom to the world-wide company it is today.

Takao Tanabe: Sometime Printer. Designed and produced by Robert R. Reid for the Alcuin Society.
Tanabe, born in British Columbia, is an accomplished painter. In the 1950s, while in Vancouver, he worked for a short time with Robert Reid at his printing shop on West Pender Street, and later, established Periwinkle Press in 1963. This beautifully produced book celebrates Tanabe’s expertise in the art of true letterpress printing.

Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games/Comite d’organisations des jeux olympiques and paralympiques d’hiver de 2010 a Vancouver. With glowing hearts: the official commemorative book of the XXI Olympic Winter Games and the X Paralympic Winter Games=Des plus brillants exploits: le livre commemorative official des XXIes Jeux olympiques d’hiver et des Xes Jeux paralympiques d’hiver.
Highlights and behind-the-scenes moments of fifteen Olympic and five Paralympic sports. Names of the medalists, athletes and the Olympic/Paralympic workforce, and the volunteers are included.