PGE Station, back at foot of Lonsdale, 2010

Sunday, December 26, 2010
Happy Boxing Day
The North Vancouver Archives

The origin of the North Vancouver Archives began on October 24, 1968 when a public meeting was held to discuss the possibility  of its formation.  In 1971 the Centennial Committee established to form a museum and archives under the direction of Bill Baker. (REF 1.)

 July 22, 1972 was the official opening of the Museum and Archives in North Vancouver.  It was originally housed in the old Pacific Great Eastern Train  Station that had been moved from the foot of Lonsdale up to Mahon Park.  Its name at this time was the North Shore Museum and Archives.  The PGE museum and archives site had little space available for the archives and no research space. (REF 2.) The Archivist when the archives opened was Don Bourdon.  He had been working on  the archives as a volunteer since the 1970's.(REF 2.) 

During this time the City Hall of North Vancouver City was at 204 West 4th Street, 1915 to 1975. (REF 4.)  The building was originally  built as the  North Vancouver School circa 1902. In 1907 there were alterations and additions and the name changed to Central School. (REF 4.) While it served as the North Vancouver City Hall it also housed the jail for the Provincial Police who did the policing in the City during that time. (REF 2.) The jail had its own entrance on the south west side of the building.  There were two holding cells and the bull pen/exercise room with a window with bars on it.  The window had a wooden sill in which the inmates carved their names. One name was "Cecil Mark".  The bars and carved wooden sill can still be seen in 2010. (REF 3.)  The jail was not needed after 1961 when the RCMP building opened on East 13th Street in 1962. (REF 2.)

Presentation House 2010

In 1976 the museum and archives moved to the old City Hall building that by this time had become Presentation House.  The Archives was housed in what had been the bull pen area of the jail and officially opened in 1978.  The Archivist Don Bourdon moved to Calgary in 1980 and June Thompson was appointed to that position.  She had been volunteering since 1979.  She continued as Archivist until 1994 when Francis Mansbridge was hired for that position.  June Thompson then became a part time assistant Archivist until 2003.  Francis Mansbridge retired in August of 2006. (REF 2.)

North Vancouver Community History Centre 2010

In 2006 the Museum and Archives moved to a brand new state of the art facility in Lynn Valley.  The exterior of the  building was the 1920 Lynn Valley Elementary School at 3203  Institute Rd. It had been pared down to its original building, gutted and refitted, and a rounded storage area added to the north end of the building.  The wood of the school's gym floor addition had been saved and used for the first floor of the new facility.  This facility was named the Community History Centre and the Archives occupies the second floor.  The new Archivist is Janet Turner.          

Note:  After the Museum and Archives moved to Presentation House in 1976, "additional exhibit space was retained in the station museum for many years." June Thompson.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Demolition: Of 1950's additions to 1920 Lynn Valley Elementary School building and interior of 1920 building completed with opening of Community History Centre in 2006.
References: 1.North Vancouver Museum and Archives Fonds 38
                         2. June Thompson
                         3. Cecil Halsey-NVMA Photographer-Technician
                        4. City of North Vancouver Heritage Inventory 1994-pages 88, 89.  
Photos: Taken in 2000 and 2010 by SW.  
Link 1: http://www.northvanmuseum.ca/about.htm

THANK YOU     

Thank you for following my blog, Demolition Mama, a tribute to the home owners of North Vancouver.  A hard copy of North Vancouver posts will be on file at the North Vancouver Archives in 2011.  Although there will be no further posts after December 31, 2010 the Blog will continue to be available at this URL.

PLEASE JOIN ME

My new Blog is starting Sunday, January 1, 2011 and will be published each Sunday.  The Blog is "Churches on Sundays" and will feature a photo I have taken when visiting and a brief history and description of the architecture.  I hope you will join me.