East Vancouver

1880s – 1930s

Railroad boom years.

The arrival of the railroads led to the East End and East Van generally becoming popular for industry and new residents. This meant the area was an affordable spot for newcomers, leading to the arrival of Chinese immigrants. Vancouver’s Chinatown was established toward the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.

The Hastings Mill was an early employment centre in the area, and remained so until the late 1920s. After it closed, it was moved to Hastings Mill park as a museum. But much of the nascent city was wiped out during the Great Vancouver Fire on 13 June 1886, just two months after the city incorporated. It started as forest clearing and waste burning fires that got out of control. Seeing the flames, Squamish rescuers headed out in canoes on Burrard Inlet to save fleeing survivors. But the aftermath was seen as a chance to reconstruct Vancouver with more modern buildings and utilities, so the fire led to rapid rebuilding and a focus on urban development.
Because this period of East Van and Strathcona’s history saw a boom in construction, the area is home to Vancouver’s largest collection of late 19th and early 20th century buildings. Today, you can find historic row homes and detached houses in the area, many of which have been restored.

Jimi Hendrix’s grandmother, Nora Hendrix, lived in this house in Strathcona for a time.

www.heritagesitefinder.ca

The Fountain Chapel was built in 1904, serving Vancouver’s Black community, and by around 1914, the historic Hogan’s Alley was well established. It was home to much of Vancouver’s Black community until the middle of the 20th century. In fact, local resident Nora Hendrix, who moved to Vancouver in 1911 from Tennessee, played an instrumental role in founding the church. Herself a vaudevillian, singer and dancer, her grandson was musician Jimi Hendrix, who occasionally visited her house in East Van.

And in 1910, the first Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) opened in Hastings Park. Inaugurated by Canadian Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the PNE was designed to showcase Canada and Vancouver to the world, and remains popular today.

Also around 1911, Commercial Drive gained its current name. First called Park Drive, the name was likely changed to avoid confusion with many other streets named “Park” in Vancouver. It was originally used to drag logs to the harbour, but some real estate speculators around that time tried to turn it into an up-market area. A financial crisis in 1914 caused that plan to fall through, though.

Meanwhile, the Vancouver port’s location just north of East Van led to the area seeing employment and residential gains, as well as increasing transport links. Pacific Central Station opened in 1919 and the construction of Ballantyne Pier in 1923 meant Vancouver was home to the most advanced port facilities in the British Empire for a time. The pier was Vancouver’s cruise ship terminal from 1996 until 2014, when Canada Place opened. The heritage pier building still survives today.

By the 1920s, a streetcar ran down the full length of Main St., and by the 1930s the port had become Vancouver’s largest economic sector. While the last streetcars ran in 1958, Vancouver’s trolley bus system, including the #3 buses running down Main St., can be traced back to the streetcar lines. Plus, in 1938, the Rio Theatre opened, and has been there ever since.

1945 – 1980s

Activism and action.

The post-war era saw the arrival of many Italian immigrants to the Commercial Drive area, leading to it becoming known as “Little Italy.” While the area is not as much of a hub for Italian residents of Metro Vancouver today, it retains many Italian restaurants and is host to the annual Italian Days festival. And around the 1960s, the East End became known as Strathcona, after the local school.

Urban renewal schemes also came to the neighbourhood around this time, with the construction of the Georgia Viaduct in the 1970s destroying much of Hogan’s Alley. The rest of the neighbourhood was threatened by a plan to extend the viaduct and build tower blocks and an urban freeway system. Persistent protest by the Strathcona Property Owners and Tenants Association (SPOTA), created by Mary Lee Chan, managed to stop the scheme. Unfortunately, it was too late to save Hogan’s Alley, but it led to the preservation of much of historic Strathcona, Chinatown and other East Van areas. This is a major reason why many heritage homes still exist in the neighbourhood.

Also at this time, mothers in East Van noticed their children had to cross railway tracks to get to school. Obviously a dangerous situation, they organized as the Militant Mothers of Raymur to compel the city to address the situation. This led to the construction of the Militant Mothers of Raymur Overpass, which crosses the tracks between Raymur Ave. and Keefer St.

House prices were lower compared to other areas in the city, too, especially the western portions of town. As a result, East Van remained a working class area home to a diverse population.

In 1985, the Skytrain opened its original line, now called the Expo Line. It served East Van at Broadway station (now Commercial-Broadway) and made it easier to get to and from the neighbourhood.

1990 – Today

East Van moves forward.

The arrival of SkyTrain service spurred some additional density in East Van, with condo developments popping up. The area also boasts many duplexes, triplexes and higher density homes on single-family lots. Townhomes are popular, too and development applications for many kinds of properties crop up often.

In the upcoming years, expect to see even more activity around SkyTrain stations as the Broadway Plan unfolds. And with whispers of another SkyTrain line eventually rolling down East Hastings St., the area will likely undergo further transformation.

East Van remains proud of its working class roots today, even as properties get more expensive. You can still enjoy restaurants that serve the area’s many immigrant communities, while coffee shops and ice cream parlours cater to families and business professionals. But no matter what happens, it’s likely someone from East Van – and you, if you choose to move there – won’t be shy to share where they’re from.