1909 is the first year with so many events that we gave it its own separate file. Further analysis might show that Metropolitan Vancouver took a giant leap forward this year: many prominent buildings were erected, and there seemed to be a heightened sense of excitement at the promise of the city.
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“Imagine,” says the Vancouver Historical Society, “seeing King George VI and Queen Elizabeth being driven down Georgia Street in 1939 as thousands line the sidewalks and cheer . . . and all in colour!” That’s just one of the rare chunks of film shown February 22 at the Vancouver Museum. Colin Preston (left), the CBC’s Vancouver archivist, has a fine collection of film clips from the past, so this was one of the VHS’s more enjoyable events of the year….
Read More![Princess Elizabeth and Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, embarking on HMCS Crusader for Victoria October 21, 1951. [Photo: BC Archives NA-42089] [Photo: BC Archives NA-42089]](https://vancouverhistory.ca/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/3d20e1e8-e014-412d-9529-3f160b8ac42a-A36389-800x445.jpg)
The 1951 census showed that Metropolitan Vancouver had a population of 584,830, just barely squeaking past 50 per cent of the province’s total of 1,165,200. These figures are a reminder of how rapidly the city’s suburbs have grown since 1951, when the population of the city totaled nearly 60 per cent of the metropolitan area. In 2007 the percentage was more like 27 per cent….
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1944 marks the dramatic entry into local history of New Westminster’s Ernest Alvia “Smokey” Smith. On October 21 Smokey, a Seaforth Highlander, aged 30, won the Victoria Cross for bravery in action in northern Italy.
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I’ve been working on some research for the Association for Mining Exploration British Columbia (AME BC), and came across a book by Ernest Ingersoll (1852-1946) titled Gold Fields of the Klondike. It’s a fine little book, originally published in 1897 as Gold Fields of the Klondike and the Wonders of Alaska.
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