Monday, July 12, 2010

Big Changes On Bewicke-1

Many of the streets in the City of North Vancouver were named in 1891 to honor major landowners. These included: Heywood Street, Lonsdale Avenue, Fell Avenue, and Mahon Avenue. Others were chosen to recognize men of business. These included: Hendry Avenue, Moody Avenue, and Bewicke Avenue. Percival Henry Bewicke was involved with the Moodyville Lands and Sawmill Company and was a major landowner.(See Reference 1.)

Bewicke Avenue, runs north and south in the western part of the City of North Vancouver. Its southern border is on Burrard Inlet at Bewicke Park on Native Lands. It then runs north to cross the commercial intersection of Marine Drive and West Keith Road and finally ends two blocks north of Larson Road. At this point it is just west of Wagg Creek and East of Mosquito Creek. The 1400 block of Bewicke Avenue is one block north of the intersection of Marine Dr. and West Keith Road.

This 1400 block of Bewicke Avenue was bush until the mid 1950's. There is no record at the North Vancouver Archives of any home at that address in the Building Permit Book or in the 1950 or 1952 City Directories. Then in 1955 six address appear: 1404, 1416, 1428, 1436, 1444, and 1456. Now all of these homes are slated for demolition and new multifamily units will be built.

The home at 1404 Bewicke Avenue is on the north east corner of Bewicke Avenue and West 14th Street. In 1955 the owners were Alfred H. and Jean E. Richardson. According to the City Directories and phone book they continued to live there until at least the Year 2000. That is 45 years for the Richardson's at 1404 Bewicke Avenue. In 1955 Alfred Richardson was employed as a machinist at M W and D. In 1960 he was a mechanic at Cummins Diesel. And in 1971 and 1980 he was employed as a mechanic at C P Air. In the 1991 and 1995/1996 City Directories Alfred Richardson reported that he was retired.

Demolition: Permit applied for in 2009.
Photo: Digital colored photo above was taken in 2010 by SW. A black and white negative and photo on a contact sheet taken in July 2009 as part of the Demolition and Construction Project 2001-2010 is on file at the North Vancouver Archives.
Reference 1: "The Ambitious City/A History of the City of North Vancouver" by Warren Sommer.
Reference 2: See Blog Posts July 13, 14, 15, and 16 for more information about the homes in the 1400 block of Bewicke Avenue.