End of Month Index

January 2010

Arranged by Subject and Address; Country, State/Province, City, Street:numerical East, alphabetical, numerical West.

CANADA

British Columbia

City of North Vancouver

805 East 5th Street, The Tiny House, 1/4/2010

365 East 9th Street, Turquoise on a Heritage Street, 1/27/2010

258 East 11th Street, Last House on the Block, 1/14/2010

1805 ChesterfieldAvenue, Pink Posies on Chesterfield, 1/21/2010                      

440 Hendry Avenue, Moved Not Demolished, 1/12/2010

384 East Keith Road, Mirror Image, 1/5/2010
1920 Mahon Avenue, Start the Demolition, 1/11/2010

1033 St. Georges Avenue, 104 Fires in the City, 1/7/2010

1044 St. Georges Avenue, St. Andrew's United Church, 1/24/2010

North Vancouver District

1526 Bruce Street, Seylynn Cottage, 1/18/2010

2888 Crescentview Drive, Round 4 Pane Window, 1/28/2010

1502 Fern Street, Seylynn at Fern, 1/20/2010

222 Kensington Court,  Ship Shape, 1/29/2010

981 Leovista Avenue, The James Residence, 1/26/2010

1300 block Marine Drive, Marine Drive Strip Mall, 1/15/2010
600 block Mountain Highway, Lynnmour United Church, 1/17/2010
652 Mountain Highway, St. Denis/Mountain Highway, 1/19/2010

1550 Phillips Avenue, Jehovah Witness's on Phillips, 1/10/2010
4041 Prospect Road, A Gate in the Bush, 1/15/2010

1089 Ruthina Avenue, $125,000 Buys Ruthina, 1/8/2010

649 Sylvan Avenue, Upper Mosquito Creek, 1/6/2010
3015 Woodbine Drive, Where did all the gas stations go?, 1/25/2010

1398 West 15th Street, Sunday Church Feature, St. Richard's Anglican

          Church, St. Richard's of Norgate ,1/3/2010

Vancouver

801 Georgia Street, Special Feature, Wrapped in the Canadian Flag 1/1/10

923 Georgia Street, Special Feature, Georgia Medical Dental Building,
              1/22/2010

UNITED STATES

California

Balboa Island, Balboa Island Cottage, 1/30/2010

Catalina Island, Catalina Casino, 1/9/2010 
San Diego, Old Town San Diego, 1/16/2010
San Francisco, San Francisco Cathedral, Cathedral Hill Hotel, 1/23/2010

Washington

Spokane Washington, Saturday Travel Feature, Spokane Railroad Tower,
                  1/2/2010

FEATURES
 Friday Special Features

Georgia and Howe, Special Feature, Wrapped in the Canadian Flag, 1/1/10

Georgia and Hornby, Special Feature, Georgia Medical Dental Building, 1/22/2010

Saturday Travel Features

Spokane Washington, Spokane Railroad Tower, 1/2/2010
Balboa Island, Balboa Island Cottage, 1/30/2010

Catalina Island, Catalina Casino, 1/9/2010
San Diego, Old Town San Diego, 1/16/2010

San Francisco, San Francisco Cathedral, Cathedral Hill Hotel, 1/23/2010

 Sunday Church Features

600 block Mountain Highway, "Lynnmour United Church", 1/17/2010.

1550 Phillips Avenue, "Jehovah Witness's on Phillips", 1/10/2010.
1044 St. Georges Avenue, "St. Andrew's United Church", 1/24/2010.

1398 West 15th Street, Sunday Church Feature, "St. Richard's Anglican
          Church, St. Richard's of Norgate" ,1/3/2010.

Photo: English Bay Inukshuk Y2K by SW.

Saturday Travel Feature

Balboa Island Cottage

Take a close look at the three houses in the picture above.  Note the horizontal shiplap siding, the shutters, mulltipane windows, tiny strips of front yards with fences and gates.  These are common to most of the cottage type houses sandwiched on to the .2 square miles that is Balboa Island, part of the Newport Beach community on the coast south of Los Angeles.

Balboa Island is man made, built on a sand bar/sand spit that was once swallowed by the high tide.  Its development started  in the early 1900's and the land subdivided into a grid of the small lots, which are evident in the photo, and narrow street.  Many of the homes of the 3000 residence  have been designed by one man, Ian Harrison.  The lots originally sold for $350 to $750 with one as low as $25.  Now the real estate listings are houses in the $1,000,000 to $3,000,000 range. 


At first the Island was only accessible by boat.  But in 1912 the first bridge to the Island was built and in 1929 a cement bridge was completed.  However you can still go by a small ferry that even accomodates up to 3 cars. 


The local delicacy is the chocolate dipped frozen banana on a stick.  It is the favorite of the local residents.
 

Photo: Taken May 2007 by SW.

Link: http://www.balboa-island.net/h.htm
Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balboa_Island,_Newport_Beach,_California

Friday, January 29, 2010
Ship Shape

This ship shaped house is at 222 West Kensington Crescent. This street is just off Lonsdale Ave. at West Braemar Rd. in the North Lonsdale area of the District of North Vancouver. The distinctive house was built by H. Lancaster in 1956 for $12,000. The construction company was Robin Construction Ltd. at 892 East 12th Street. The style of the house with its rounded living room area and port hole windows in the front door may indicate that it is a Streamline Modern residence. A few of these had been built in North Vancouver 1940-1945.

Two other Streamline Modern residences, pictured in the City of North Vancouver Heritage Inventory 1994, are the 1945 Cunningham Residence at 172 East 25th Street, architect H. L.S. McCullough and the 1941 Logan Residence at 508-519 St. George's Avenue designed by Hal Norman of the Streamline Construction Company. The Logan Residence was modified in 1959 for use as a duplex. Both of these homes exist today and have the same rounded style of the house at 222 Kensington Crescent.

H. Lancaster lived in the house for at least a year. Then the 1960 City Directory lists Dora and Raymond E. Phillips as owning 222 Kensington Crescent. They actually bought the home in 1958. (Ann Mossop, daughter of Dora and Raymond Phillips.) Raymond taught in the North Vancouver School District. In 1970 Raymond was teaching in the West Vancouver School District. The Phillips family continues to own the house and will be building a new two storey home on the property. That is 52 years and counting for the Phillips family. Beyond the high thick shrub hedge on the west side of the house lies a dramatic view of The Lions and Vancouver. And from the living room the view includes downtown Vancouver, Stanley Park, and Vancouver Island. Both views are spectacular.

The 222 Kensington Crescent home is featured in the book "The Modern Architecture of North Vancouver 1930-1965", Heritage Building Inventory by Donald Luxton and Associates. (See the entry below.)

The interior architectural details of the 1950's period in which 222 Kensington Crescent was built remain. (See photos below.)

Demolition Permit: Applied for November 2009.

Photo: Taken December 1, 2009 by SW.
Thank you: To Ann Mossop, daughter of Dora and Raymond Phillips, for the tour of the interior of her home at 222 Kensington Crescent.

Thursday, January 28, 2010
Round 4 Pane Window

The house at 2888 Crescentview Dr. was built in 1950 for $9000 by H. Williamson.  It features the welcoming round four pane window and windowed front door of eight panes. In 1955 Chas and H. Jocelyn Crocker were living in the house.  Chas was an engineer at B.C. Equipment. By 1960 the City Directory indicates the resident was Mrs. A. R. Daly.  And in 1970 there was no reply to City Directory inquiries.


The  Crescentview Drive house sits on the north side of the ridge above Murdo Fraser Golf Course in the District of North Vancouver.  It is only accessible by both the east and west intersections with Edgemont Blvd.  and is in walking distance to Edgemont Village. The village has an abundance of shopping: supermarket, children's shop, jeweler, produce market, book store, drug store, garden shop, dress shop, bakery, liquor store, and convenience store.  It also has a bank, restaurants, coffee shops, and a library. It is a perfect  business or leisure destination.


Murdo Fraser Golf  Course is a 9 hole course with a pond and an off the cliff  T-off.


Demolition Permit: Applied for October 2009.

Photo: Taken October 24, 2009 by SW.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Turquoise on a Heritage Street

Little is revealed in the Archive documents about the modest turquoise horizontal clapboard and white stucco house behind the chain link fence at 365 East 9th Street.  There is no listing in the Building Permit book and the first listing in the City Directories is around 1970.  All that is known at that time is that the house was occupied by R.E. Davies. However, the history of its neighbors is a different story.

The City of North Vancouver Heritage Inventory of 1994 includes a total of six heritage homes in the 300 block of East 9th Street.  321 with its second floor balcony and saddle bag dormers and 336 with a porch across the front were both built in 1910. The 348 F. Tarn Residence was designed and built by Frederick Tarn for himself in 1911.  The 345 Chubb Residence was designed and contracted by F. W. Garnett in 1913.  This craftsman style house has articulated eave brackets, notched verge boards and window boxes and exposed rater ends. The 334 K. Stewart Residence was designed by F.J. King and later owned by Mr. Darwin who was a principal at Ridgeway School. The last is the 335 home that was built in 1926.

A neighbor reported that he thought two or three homes would be built on the lot at the corner of 365 East 9th Street and Ridgeway Avenue.  The homes will be facing Ridgeway Avenue and the playground of Ridgeway Elementary School.  The school is now undergoing seismic upgrading. 

Demolition Application: Applied for October 2009.

Photo: Taken October 24, 2009 by SW.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010
The James' Residence

The house at 891 Leovista Avenue is truly the James' Residence. D. A. James built the house for $8500 in 1951.  Nine years later, in 1960, he built a $2500 addition.  For both jobs the builders were Bridgeman and Williams.  In 1955 Doug was working as an adjuster for Turner Meredith  and Co., and he and his wife Norma were living in the house.  In 1960 Doug and Norma still lived  at 891 and he was the casualty manager for Underwriters Adjustment Burrard.  Ten years later, in 1970, the D. in D. James was David and he was a student.  After another 10 years, in 1980, only Norma James was listed at the Leovista Avenue James' Residence. So, after building the house a member of the James family lived there at least for 29 years.

Leovista Avenue  continues to be a desirable place to live.  It is north of and convenient to Edgemont Village and just off Highlands Blvd, west of Mosquito Creek.  The new house being built at 891 Leovista by Noort Homes will be considerably larger than the James' Residence.  It will be 5487 square feet with four bedrooms, a den and four full bathrooms. Perhaps the new owners will enjoy the quiet and convenient location for 29 years as well. 

Link: http://www.noorthomes.com/index.cfm?method=residential.list&cityid=FB3FE305-36CC-4E4B-B486-22A7CCBDE26D
Demolition Permit: Applied for October 2009.
Photo: Taken October 24, 2009 by SW.

Monday, January 25, 2010
"Where did all the gas stations go?"

Three, count them 1, 2, 3. Three gas stations have been closed in North Vancouver in the last four months of the year 2009. The Shell Station on the corner of East 13th and Lonsdale Avenue in the City of North Vancouver closed first, in September 2009. The Esso Station on the corner of West 3rd Street and Chesterfield Ave. also in the City of North Vancouver and the Petro Canada Station on the corner of Queens Road and Woodbine Avenue in North Vancouver District closed soon after.


The Shell Station has all ready been demolished. And following an environmental impact study the Esso Station will also be demolished. Both City lots will be sold for development. The Esso Station will be remembered for its Car Wash facility. It was the only car wash in North Vancouver where customers could put coins in a slot and use a wand to wash the car themselves.


The Petro-Can Station at 3015 Woodbine Drive is the gas station in the photo above. The sign in the photo says "Temporarily Closed", however, Celia at the Petro-Canada office in Alberta states the gas station will be demolished and the property sold for development. That is three for three.

Photo: Taken Fall 2009 by SW.
Demolition: All three demolished in 2010.

Sunday, January 24, 2010
Sunday Church Feature
St. Andrew's United Church

St. Andrew's United Church at 1044 St. George's Avenue in the City of North Vancouver was built in 1912.  The architects were Alexander and Brown.  However, the first St. Andrew's, which at that time was a Presbyterian Church, was located on East 6th Street facing Victoria Park and built in 1904.  The "new" church built in 1912 is the one we see today, a shingle-clad adaptation in the Gothic Revival style.


In 1925 the Presbyterian, Methodist, and Congregational Churches in Canada joined together to form the United Church of Canada.  The following year, 1926,  two churches in North Vancouver, Sixth Street Methodist at the south west corner of St. Georges Avenue which has opened in 1910, and St. Andrew's Presbyterian joined to form St. Andrew's United Church.   At the time of the union, St. Andrew's had a membership of 340 and the value of its property was $19,000.  Sixth Street Methodist had a membership of 140 and the value of its property was  $7,050. 

In the early 1970's there was some talk of the St. Andrew's United Church  being demolished and an apartment building being built on the site.  The church would continue at that address, but in the street floor of the new building.  This idea was never carried out.

Directly behind the church and across the lane to the north is the St. Andrew's United Education Centre. Here over the years many programs have been provided for the community. In the 1970's there was the Margaret Fulton Centre, an adult day care to give a daytime break to adult children caring for senior parents that benefited from supervision.  To the east of the Church Hall is St. Andrew's Park, a children's park where in recent years an annual Teddy Bear's Picnic has been held. From the front steps of the church you can look down St. George's Avenue right to the blue waters of Burrard Inlet.


Today the inspiring church spire of St. Andrew's continues to act as a witness to the Christian Community in North Vancouver. 

Book: Heritage Inventory, City of North Vancouver 1994.
Reference: St. Andrew's United Church, North Vancouver, 1925-1975 a history by J.S. Terry. 
                 Available at the North Vancouver City Library.

Photo: Taken March 2002 by SW.

Saturday Travel Feature

San Francisco Cathedral

The Cathedral Hill Hotel entertained its last guest October 31, 2009.  This 44 year old San Francisco hotel opened its doors in April 1960 as the Jack Tar Hotel.  It remained under that name for 22 years. The 12 story hotel  on Van Ness at Geary just off Union Square included 400 rooms, a mezzanine ballroom, and a fourth floor outdoor pool and plaza that could be rented for weddings. At one time it had a rooftop skating rink.   As the Jack Tar it was painted pink and turquoise and then as the Cathedral Hill Hotel painted beige. Some called the hotel's modern architecture "ugly".  It was even nicknamed "The Ralston Checkerboard Square" and  "the box that Disneyland came in".  The hotel was  San Francisco's first  with air conditioning.  It also boasted an indoor parking garage, a rarity in San Francisco.  The Jack Tar name remained part of the Cathedral Hill Hotel in the naming of  the Jack Tar Bar and Grill.  

"Jack Tar was a common English term used to refer to seamen of the Merchant or Royal Navy,  particularly during the period of the British Empire.  Both members of the public and seafarers themselves made use of the name in identifying those who went to sea. It was not used as an offensive term and seafarers were happy to use the term to label themselves." Wikipedia.

The Cathedral Hotel will be demolished and the California Pacific Medical Center will be built.  The 555 room hospital is expected to be ready for occupancy in 2015.  A glass and steel design is planned. 

Resource: The San Francisco Gate Newspaper 

Photo: Downloaded from www.hotels.com 

Link:  en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Tar

         

            

Special Friday Feature

Georgia Medical Dental Building

The stately fifteen storey George Medical Dental Building  stood proudly at 923 Georgia Street on the corner with Hornby Street from 1929 to 1989.  It was just what its name said it was,  a building of offices of doctors and dentists.  In fact it even contained a hospital and auditorium.  But what was really distictive about the modern skin of this pink terra cotta and brick building was the art deco decoration. Giant white nurse sculptures watched Vancouverites from three corner parapets nine storeys above the street.  They were nicknamed the Rea sisters, Pya, Dya, and Gonna.  White cement icing  gracing the top of the building completed the art deco facade.  

The original Rea sisters were cast in terracotta and filled with concrete.  These were no frail women; they each weighed 5000 pounds.  When the building was demolished in 1989 they  bcame the property of the Vancouver Museum. However, the molds belong to Cathedral Place. A 500 pound fiberglass replica can be seen at ItalDecor Ltd. on East Hastings Street at Sperling Avenue. Yes, a larger than life Georgia Medical Dental Building nurse is standing in the Hastings Street yard amid cement urns, gargoyls, and fountains.  Whether she is Pya, Dya, or Gonna, is unknown.

In 1989 the 1929 Georgia Medical Dental Building was deemed "economically unsaveable"  because of skyrocketing prices of downtown office space.  The demolition was dramatic and took place Sunday morning at 7:45 am on May 28, 1989. It was done by a "controlled explosion", an implosion.  The streets around the building were filled with people who had come to honor the building and wonder at what an implosion looked like.  The crowds were not disappointed and gasped as the gutted 15 storey building quickly crumbled. Then some went across the street to the Vancouver Hotel for breakfast.

Later in the year the framed set of four photos by Graham Hollins was sold in local stores.  The photos show not only the original building and the stages of implosion, but also an interesting shadow in the south wall of the pink windowed Park Place building at 666 Burrard Street.  Look closely and you can see the outline of the Vancouver Hotel, just the roof in the first photo and then gradually the whole building.  

The building that now stands on the site on the north west corner of Georgia and Hornby is the 23 storey Cathedral Place.  A sculputed bust of a nurse sits in the lobby as a very small tribute to the original 1929 Geogia Medical Dental Building.

 

Photo: Copy of framed photo taken Sunday May 28, 1989 by Graham Hollins.

Books:  Exploring Vancouver 2 by Harold Kalma, 1974.

              Vanishing Vancouver by Michael Kluckner, 1990.

Research: Thank you to Mario at ItaliDecor Ltd.

Linc:  http://925westgeorgia.com/

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Pink Posies on Chesterfield

Pink posies in a rock planter grace the front of the pink house at 1805 Chesterfield Avenue.  It could be called the Blanchett House, since Sid and Charlotte built it and lived in it for over 30 years.  The house was built in 1947 for $5000.  At that time Sid was a carpenter.  In 1955 Sid was working for Leslie Construction. By 1970 it seems he was a building contractor out on his own with Blanchett Construction.  Blanchett Construction is again listed in the 1980 City Directory under the name of Sidney G. Blanchet.

Chesterfield Avenue runs north from Esplanade near the waterfront up the base of the mountain and crossing the Upper Levels Highway and Queens Road and then all the way to Osborne Road.  Although most of Chesterfield Ave. is in the City of North Vancouver, at the north side of 29th Street is extends into North Vancouver District.  The whole way it is parallel to Lonsdale Avenue which is the main drag of  the City of North Vancouver.  At one time Chesterfield Avenue was a street of homes. Much of the street as far up as the Upper Levels Highway is now lined with apartment buildings.  With the shops, library and recreation center just a block away on Lonsdale Ave. Chesterfield Avenue is a desirable and convenient place for a denser population.

A prominent complex on Chesterfield Avenue between West 3rd and 4th Street  is Presentation House, the home of the North Vancouver Museum, an art gallery and a theater.  On its campus is the old Church of St. John the Evangelist.  Presentation House was built as Central School in 1902 and has been the home of the North Vancouver City Hall,  jail, and the North Vancouver Archives. 

Demolition Permit: Applied for September 18, 2009.

Photo: Taken October 4, 2009 by SW.

Book: Heritage Inventory City of North Vancouver 1994 

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Seylynn at Fern 

The house at the corner of Mountain Highway and Fern Street is addressed 1502 Fern Street. It was built in 1931, a garage was added in 1940, and a green house in 1974.  The first listing for Fern Street in the City Directories was found in 1949.  In 1955 the address is listed at 1602, with the resident being Mathew Watson, a notary Public. The address and resident remained the same in 1960.  In 1970 the address had changed to 1502 and the residents were Doreen and Ervine Demers.  Ervine worked as a mechanic.

Fern Street now leads from Mountain Highway to the on ramp to the Upper Levels Highway.  However, until a few years ago, the on ramp was at the end of Keith Road just after the bridge across Lynn Creek.  It will be the southern border of the new Seylynn Village.  Demolition of the homes on Fern Street has begun.

Thank you to Elaine Oakes, RM Clerk, Admin. Svcs. NVD.

Photo: Taken August 30, 2008 by SW.

 

Tuesday, January 19, 2010
St. Denis /Mountain Highway


Today this bright white house with its broad front port sits in Seylynn at 652 Mountain Highway.  It was built for $1000 by E.C. Cave in 1925. At that time it was listed as a commercial property. E. Cave lived there until at least 1931. the City Directories indicate that Irene and Arlo Barkley lived in the house from 1952 to the 1970's.  Arlo was a shipper at Burns and Co.  By 1980 Terry Green was the resident at 652 Mountain Highway.  Behind the house are two out buildings.  One looks like a little house with a door between two windows.  It even has a mailbox. The other building is a small one car garage. Both have entrances on Bruce Street.


Mountain Highway was not always called that. As Mountain Highway wove its way down from Lynn Valley, its name changed in Lynnmour to St. Denis. The City Directories list the Lynnmour Grocery which is the southern neighbor of 652 as being on St. Denis up to 1948.  In 1949 the address was listed at Mountain Highway.  However, remnants of St.Denis Avenue still exist on the east side of the Upper Levels Highway. The 2007 Greater Vancouver map book by MapArt Publishing  indicates that St. Denis Ave. is the northern end of East Keith Rd. and extends into Inter River Park.


It seems therefore that when E. C. Cave built the house it was on St. Denis and when the Barkley's lived there is was on Mountain Highway.  The house didn't move, only the address changed.


Researcher:  Thank you to Jim Lawrence.
Photo: Taken August 30, 2008.

 

Saturday Travel Feature

Concrete Grade School

Concrete, Washington

Photo: Taken in Concrete, Washington in September 2007 by SW.

Link:

Monday, January 18, 2010

Seylynn Cottage

This perky bright blue cottage with its white picket fence is at 1526 Bruce Street.  "The property at 1526 Bruce St. was formerly addressed as 1460 Bruce St. and was built in 1935, in 1946 a garage was added.  Later in 1959 the garage was moved to the neighbouring lot.  The Willow Tree Family Daycare operated at this address from 1994 – 2006." Elaine Oakes, NVD.  It is a house that grew and grew as west side and back additions were built.  

The house and Bruce Street are the area deigned to be Seylynn Village.  The area was first known as Lynn Creek, which runs to the west through Bridgeman Park.  Next it was called Lynnmour and finally this section of Lynnmour was named Seylynn.  A Sey-Lynn Hall was built in 1950 and remains in the park on the west side of Mountain Highway across from Fern Street which is the street south of Bruce.  A 1961 building permit indicates there was a library in that building.  

Seylynn Village calls for the demolition of the 25 homes on Bruce St., Fern Street, and Mountain Highway to the east of Bridgeman Park and stretching the one block east to the Upper Level's Highway.  It seems only the Lynnmour Grocery store will remain.  The environmentally friendly, mixed use complex to be built includes numerous community amenities and 690 units, 70 of which will be affordable housing.  (North Shore News Oct. 26, 2009.)

Thank you to Elaine Oakes, RM Clerk Admin.Svcs. NVD.

Photo: Taken August 30, 2008.  

Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sunday Church Feature
Lynnmour United Church

According to the City Directories, Lynnmour United Church on Mountain Highway started out as River Avenue Methodist Church in Vancouver on River Ave. east of Fraser St. This was 1915 and the Rev. Wm. Pearson was the pastor. During the 1920's although the location and name remained the same the address listing changed to 941 River Ave., then to 900 East River Ave., then to 945 River Ave. East, and finally to Marine Dr. East. In 1926 the church became the River Avenue United Church with Rev. B. Black as pastor. In 1929 the address was listed as 1195 block East Marine. And finally in 1930 with only a Sunday School listed the address was 1195 Marine Dr. That address was vacant in 1931.

The big change for the church came in 1933. This was the year the building was "taken apart, hauled away to North Vancouver and resurrected at Lynn Creek" (North Shore news 9/21/62). Here at E/S St. Denis it became Lynnmour United Church. In 1944 the church address was listed as both E/S St. Denis and E/S Mountain Highway with Rev. Allan as pastor. The address changed to 700 block in 1957 and 600 block in 1959. 

1103 Mountain Highway

1962 Church Building

At Easter in 1962 a new church at a different site "up the hill" at 1103 Mountain Highway. The West Lynnmour United Church, was announced in the North Shore News. The pastor was Rev. Allan I. V. Dawe.  The congregation finally joined that of the Lynn Valley United Church in 1966.

In 1964 the old church was vacant. And in 1964 the first of a series of businesses bought the building. They included Inanex Woodwork Shop, Pragon Electric, Metallic Design, and finally from 1975 to 1998 Bero Mettalic Design. The building was demolished in the spring of 2004. Now in 2010 the land will be part of the new Seylynn Village Project.


Researcher: Thank you to Jim Lawrence.
Photo: Top photo, copy of photo in The Province, September 21, 1962.  Bottom photo taken in 2005 by SW.  The building is now a residence.

Saturday Travel Feature

Old Town San Diego 

Old Town State Historic Park is north of downtown San Diego and accessable by a special trolley car.  It is where  the city of San Diego began.  The original mission and presidio were nearby.  The town developed as retired soldiers and setters built homes  there.  Old Town recreats life there as it was in 1821 to 1872.  It became a historic park in 1968. 

Casa de Pedrorena de Altamirano was built in 1869 by Maguel Pedrorena Jr.  It was the last adobe structure built in Old Town.   Maguel Pedrorena gave the building to his sister Isabel and her husband Antonio Altamirano.  Their father, also Maguel Pedrorena, represented the San Diego area at the California State Constitutional Convention held in 1849.  Antonio Altamirano came to San Diego in 1849 to explore the mining possibilies of the area. The Historican Landmark Marker, number 70, describes these events.  The actual address of the house is 2616 San Deigo Avenue and can be seen above the front door.

Today the Casa de Pedrorean de Altamirano  is a shop with its wares advertised on signs hanging from the roof above the front steps: Jewelry, Gems, Beads, and Carvings.   But on the wall behind the right post next to the front steps  there is perhaps an echo of Antonio Altamirano's mining pursuits, the Assey Office sign.  Other historic buildings that line the street include: a theater, a barn, a school, a newspaper office, a museum, an outdoor market, and a church.  It is all a step back into 1800 San Diego history.

Links: http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=11777

Photo:  "Casa de Pedrorean de Altamirano" was taken in 2008 by SW.

Friday, January 15, 2010
A Gate in the Bush

The gate in the bush could be found at number 4041 about half way up Prospect Road in North Vancouver District. And Prospect Road can be found as far up the mountain east Mosquito Creek as residential streets go. It is the first right turn  after the top of Lonsdale Ave. Many of the other houses on this street at the top of the world would sell for a million dollars. Then there was the overgrown lot with the deserted ramshackled house. The bush grew all the way up to the street and the vertical board gate and fence was wedged between their branches. The deep and steep lot may have revealed a view of Burrard Inlet and Vancouver Island if it weren't for the tall and thick overgrowth. Only parts of the house could be seen. In the back of the house the cream colored exterior was covered in horizontal shiplap at the bottom and shakes on the second floor. The sides of the house seemed to be all shakes. Because it was on a steep slope the one floor Prospect Rd. side of the house seemed to extended to the back as two floors. Multipaine windows wrapped around the south west back corner of the second floor and looked out at the view. A brick chimney seemed to stick out from the very top of the roof.  This chimney was added the year after  the house was built in 1923.  Before that there was only a pipe from the stove.


Thanks to historian Roy Pallant we know who lived  in this mysterious overgrown house.  His report at the North Vancouver Archives indicates the house with a timber foundation was built by local carpenters. According to the neighbors he interviewed Dorothy "Dot" Fraser lived there.   Her family moved to B.C. in 1889 and she was the great-aunt of Senator George Van Roggan (Liberal) who was active in Canadian-American affairs.  "Dot" spent her life as a governess and a nurse and in later years a nurse-companion.  She was known by the local people for her regular habit of walking, complete with silver-knobbed walking cane and fox pelt scarf. The creek which runs past this property is still known locally as Miss Fraser's Creek.  "Dot" was also a regular attendee at St. Martin's Church.  Dorothy Kathleen Fraser died in Beacon Hill Lodge in 1983 at age 100.  In the 1955 City Directory she is listed as Miss K (Kath) Fraser. She remained the owner  until at least 1970.  In 1980 the resident is listed as A. Zalemanis. There was no listing in 1998.

Research:  Thank you to Roy J. V. Pallant.Demolition Permit: Applied for September 2009.

Demolished: January 2010.

Photo: Taken October 4, 2009 by SW.