West Van History in the News

"West Vancouver Legion holds early Remembrance Day cemetery ceremony" - City News. WVHS Board Member John O'Flynn attended. Read more here.

"99-year-old veteran recalls unfinished business of the Second World War" - North Shore News: "At age 17, Orville Singer enlisted with the Royal Canadian Air Force at the very first available opportunity...He attends West Vancouver’s Memorial Park each year for Remembrance Day[.]"

"Eve Lazarus: West Vancouver's Ambleside has an interesting history" - North Shore News: "Swamps, swimming, huts and guns: The Ambleside area of West Van has seen some interesting changes over the last 100 years."

"Long name, compelling riding" - Squamish Chief: "With the federal election campaign in full swing, it is worth looking at our riding and its history."

"West Vancouver Tennis Club serves up 100th anniversary celebration" - North Shore News: "Established in June 1925, the club started off with only three courts and less than 50 members. The club has grown over the decades, now home to five courts covered with a heated bubble and more than 500 members."

"This new event series dives into West Van's colourful history" - North Shore News: "The West Vancouver Historical Society is offering locals a journey through West Vancouver’s past with the much welcomed return of its Local Voices program, a series that sets history in motion."

"Ecole Pauline Johnson, a grand old lady, celebrates a century" - North Shore News

"Book offers insider's view of how West Vancouver came to be." - North Shore News: "If West Vancouver seems like an idyllic place, with vast parks and quiet neighbourhoods, it didn’t happen by accident. Rod Day should know. He had a hand in shaping it... Inside West Vancouver is available through the book's publisher, West Vancouver Historical Society."

"This Week in History, 1977: Frank Baker invites you to dine with James Bond and his Aston Martin" - Vancouver Sun: "[T]he Frank Baker James Bond car, [] was parked at his West Vancouver restaurant Frank Baker’s Attic throughout the 1970s...“James Bond Eats Here Every Night,” boasted an ad in the Oct. 19, 1977, edition of The Vancouver Sun."

"Efforts underway to save West Vancouver's Navvy Jack House" - CBC News: "A group of citizens in West Vancouver are hoping to raise money to save the Navvy Jack House...According to the West Vancouver Historical Society, 'their union was one of the first between the local Indigenous people and the incoming settler population, and their offspring continue to live in the Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh and Musqueam lands of the Lower Mainland.'"

"Renters embrace co-ownership to try and save heritage Horseshoe Bay cottages " - North Shore News: "Tiny, colourful, craftsman-style homes are more than 100 years old and harken back to neighbourhood's early history as a seaside community."

"Can Navvy Jack House be saved? District of West Vancouver discusses its fate tonight" - North Shore News: "The West Vancouver Historical Society and the Navvy Jack Citizens Group are at a critical juncture in their quest to save one of the district’s most important heritage buildings."

"West Vancouver lighthouse and park caretaker heads to drier land after 40 years" - North Shore News:"The District of West Vancouver will continue to work with the Lighthouse Park Preservation Society and the West Vancouver Historical Society to promote education and awareness, as well as park stewardship."

"Time ticking for North Shore’s oldest building" - North Shore News: "'This recent decision caught us all by surprise. We thought that the house would be rehabilitated,' said Rod Day, president of the West Vancouver Historical Society...'when it’s a house that goes back to 1873 – the oldest continuously inhabited house in West Van and the Lower Mainland – I think you have an obligation to take it seriously. This is part of our history, part of who we are.'”

"West Vancouver's Beach House: Tracing the building’s storied past back to 1913" - North Shore News: "The North Shore was once home to grand old architectural dames...One building that avoided demolition is the former Clachan, built in 1912 for Scottish immigrants Jessie and Helen Stevenson...the sisters ran the Edwardian-era style residence as a tea room, which soon became the epicentre for social gatherings and soirees for West Vancouver’s elite."

"NORTH SHORE SHAKEDOWN: A moviegoer's guide to all theatres in North and West Vancouver history" - Squamish Chief: "The longest continuously running theatre in the history of North Shore movie houses was the beloved West Van Odeon, located at 1565 Marine Dr. in the heart of Ambleside...With special thanks to...the West Vancouver Historical Society."

"Photographers open West Vancouver Historical Society series at library" - North Shore News: "Photographers Mike Wakefield and Ralph Bower will open the West Vancouver Historical Society’s Local Voices series at the West Vancouver Memorial Library."

"West Vancouver makes racist land covenants history." - CBC: "West Vancouver, B.C., there are several homes in the British Properties neighbourhood with historic covenants declaring people of colour can't live there...District staff will now begin the process of identifying covenants that discriminate based on race, ethnicity, gender, ancestry or religion, and will work with B.C.'s Land Title and Survey Authority to determine how they can be removed."

"Former West Vancouver civil servants reflect on a community in motion." - North Shore News: "A conversation with Steve Nicholls and Rod Day is like a master class in civic government – West Vancouver style...Day, a longtime member and current president of West Vancouver Historical Society, is writing a book about his years in municipal government."

"Exhibition in West Van breathes new life into forgotten objects" - North Shore News: "At its peak in the 1930s, the Hollyburn Ferry, prior to the construction of the Lions Gate Bridge, provided service for those looking for a direct route between Vancouver and West Vancouver. Decades later, the ship sank – but it was eventually salvaged and a 600-pound propeller was recovered."

"Illustrated novel explores life and times of former West Vancouver socialite" - North Shore News: "It was 1983 and Michael Kluckner, history writer, artist and president of the Vancouver Historical Society, was busy researching for his latest book, Vancouver: The Way It Was, when he first encountered Julia Henshaw."

"50 years ago West Vancouver's Elaine Tanner made Canadian Olympic history" - North Shore News: "West Vancouver native Elaine Tanner made Canadian sports history, winning three medals at the Summer Olympic Games in Mexico City...[she] became the first Canadian woman ever to win an Olympic swimming medal and the first Canadian ever to win three medals in a single Olympic Games."

"MEMORY LANE: West Van museum charts firefighting culture and history" - North Shore News: "Browsing through the artifacts, scrapbooks and log books is like opening a time capsule full of thumbnail sketches that add another layer to the story of our community."

"Lighthouse’s legacy celebrated" - North Shore News: "In 1874, long before there was a West Vancouver, the first light beamed from the new lighthouse built on Point Atkinson...The day is organized by Lighthouse Park Preservation Society and West Vancouver Historical Society[.]"

"Longtime West Vancouver realtor remembers the early days" - North Shore News: "It was 1986, summer of Expo. Tom, a realtor in his home community, found a new home for his family...He is also a long-serving member of West Vancouver Historical Society."

"West Vancouver Historical Society project aims to collect memories" - North Shore News: "The West Vancouver Historical Society is trying to capture something before it’s lost. The group is launching a pilot project to collect memories and experiences of longtime West Vancouver residents."

"Heritage homes preserved in West Vancouver" - North Shore News: "District council voted Monday night to guarantee heritage protection for two historic character homes in exchange for allowing more development on their lots...Both projects have the blessing of the North Shore Heritage Preservation Society and the West Vancouver Historical Society[.]"

"Preserving heritage" - North Shore News: "District of West Vancouver’s new archivist Reto Tschan was the guest speaker at a meeting of the West Vancouver Historical Society at West Vancouver Seniors’ Centre last month."

"West Vancouver Memorial Library celebrates 65th birthday" - North Shore News: "Taken by an unknown photographer, this picture shows the construction of West Vancouver Memorial Library’s main building in 1949-50 with the Memorial Arch visible in the background."

"West Vancouver archives celebrates May Days of yesteryear" - North Shore News: "MAY Day celebrations were a significant community event in West Vancouver from the 1930s to the early 1970s...The material was collected by the West Vancouver Historical Society... the West Vancouver Archives was pleased to be awarded one of the first grants funded by the successful sale of the West Vancouver Historical Society's book, Cottages to Community."

"New book sheds light on WV's past" - North Shore News: "'Does it help to be a bit of a detective when gathering images for a book on community history? 'Oh yes' says John Moir, curator of Cottages to Community: The Story of West Vancouver's Neighbourhoods, commissioned by the West Vancouver Historical Society to commemorate the community's 100th anniversary next year."

"Vancouver History Tidbits: Lions Gate Bridge and the Guinness Family" - Miss 604: "[T]he Lions Gate Bridge was built by the Guinness family – the Irish beer barons – to provide access to the north shore of the city. The Guinnesses had purchased 4,000 acres in what is now West Vancouver for $18.75 an acre – and were busy developing it."