Wednesday, September 8, 2010

A Week of Black and White

Cement on West 6th

The original house at 454 West 6th Street was built by J. Gibson in 1924 for $2000. The architect was O. Markle. In 1925 Jacob Gibson was living in the house. He was a foreman at Lonsdale Coal. By 1931 the resident was Daniel Dumaresq, a logger. In 1940 the residents were Robert M. and Doris Robinson. Robert Robinson was employed as a clerk. And in 1950 the owner was Mrs. W. Gibson, widow of J. Gibson.

In 1955 owners of the house at 454 West 6th Street are listed in the City Directory to be Antonio J. and Olive M. Calla. (Note: Although there is no documentation at the North Vancouver Archives the 1955 home of the Calla family looks to be a new house built about that time. This large home with the south facing front widows and the veranda across the upstairs living area seems typical of this era.) The Calla family is also listed as the owners in the City Directories for at least the next 35 years and for all those years Antonio Calla worked as a cement contractor. In 1955 Antonio Calla was listed simply as a cement contractor. In 1960 he was a cement contractor "of Calla Bros, 502 East Keith Rd." And in the 1971 and 1980 City Directories the entry reads "president Calla Brothers Cement Contractors."

The "New Neighbor" designation was given to Frank and Barbara Hampton in 1991. Frank Hampton reported that he was retired. They seem to have lived there until the time the house was demolished in 2007. This was indicated by the listing of Frank Hampton at 454 West 6th Street in the year 1999/2000 and 2006/2007 North and West Vancouver Phone Books.

By 2010 a side by side duplex with the addresses 456 and 458 West 6th Street were built on the lot that had been 454 West 6th Street.

A Week of Black and White

The Black and White photos of all the homes this week were taken in July of 2007 as part of the Demolition and Construction North Vancouver Archives Project by Suzanne Wilson. On notification of City and District applications for Demolition Permits the photos were taken and documented. Negatives and contact prints were filed at the North Vancouver Archives as part of their permanent photo collection. The project ran from 2001 to 2010.


Demolition Permit: Applied for in 2007.
Photo: Band white photo Demolition and Construction Project photo Roll # 85 Negative 23 on file at the North Vancouver Archives. (The photo above was taken of the contact sheet with a digital camera.)