Monday, April 5, 2010

Stone Wall, Horseshoe Gate

"Vacant" for 367 East 5th Street in 1960 was the first listing found in the City Directories at the North Vancouver Archives. And then by 1971 the Anderson family moved into this North Vancouver City home. First it was Kurt. M. Anderson who was employed as a department manager for CP Air. Then by 1991 it was E. L. Anderson who in the 1995/96 City Directory was reported to have lived there more than 9 years.

Perhaps from the time this house was built or earlier the lane behind the house hinted at a more interesting story. Along the back of the lot was built a roughly made stone wall. The corner of the lot was marked with a tall pyramid shaped pillar on top of the wall. It had the look of a chimney. But it was the entrance to the lot that had the most interesting feature. The entrance opening was topped with what looked like a hand poured cement horseshoe. A wrought iron gate closed off the lot from people walking by. So although the house looked contemporary with the 1960's, the stone wall with its unique entrance looked like something from a previous era. Perhaps it was. Down the street and on the same side of 387 East 5th Street a once grand home in a Tudor Revival style was built in 1908 for J. H. and Mary Elizabeth Hoare. The City of North Vancouver Heritage Inventory 1994 page 75 shows a photo of the house and states "due to subdivision of the original property, the structure now faces the alley between 4th and 5th Streets." Could it be that the old stone wall at 367 East 5th Street was once part of this original Hoare Residence property?

 

The photos at 367 East 5th Street were taken by Suzanne Wilson as part of her Year 2000 Photography Project, Your House/Our Home. 2000 photos of homes in the City of North Vancouver were photographed.


In the month of June 2007 Suzanne Wilson celebrated the City of North Vancouver's 100 birthday by distributing to their home owners copies of 1000 photos taken for the Y2K Project. At this time it was discovered that the home photographed at 367 East 5th Street had been demolished and a new duplex had been built. The stone wall in the lane had also been demolished.


Photo: Taken in the year 2000 by SW.
Reference: The Year 2000 project was donated by Suzanne and Alan Wilson to the North Vancouver Archives and is available for viewing.