Monday, November 8, 2010

Red Maple Leaves

The white house on the south side of  the 300 block of East 26th Street sat at the corner with St. Andrew's Avenue.  Three tall cedar trees (in photo below) and a red maple tree graced the front yard. East 26th Street is two blocks above the Upper Level's Highway and in the Upper Lonsdale area of the City of North Vancouver.

Three Tall Cedars

The Building Permit Book at the North Vancouver Archives indicated that in 1911 a $500 house was built by owner G. Avery at 303 East 26th Street.  However, there is no listing in the 1912 through 1925 City Directories of G. Avery.  In fact the 1950 City Directory does not even list the address.  

By 1955 G. Lloyd and Margorie E. Patton lived in the house at 303 East 26th Street. G. Lloyd Patton was employed as an engineer at  Cemco Electric. In 1960 the owner was R. G. Smith.

Then in 1971 and 1980 Thomas and Iris Pennington were reported as living in the house.  Thomas Pennington worked as a lather.  In 1991 they were reported as owning the house at 303 East 26th Street and Thomas was working in construction.  Thomas Pennington was reported at that address in the 2008/2010 North and West Vancouver Phone Directory.  That is about 40 years for the Pennningtons at the white house with the tall cedar trees on the corner of East 26th Street and St. Andrew's Avenue.

On November 2, 2010 the City Council approved the building of a Katimavik Group Residence at the 303 East 26th Street address.  "Katimavik offers Canadian youth the opportunity to contribute to the sustainable development of communities across Canada through challenging volunteer service programs." (See Link.)

Demolition: Permit applied for from the  City of North Vancouver in October   

                          2010.
Photos: Taken in November 2010 by SW.
Link : http://www.katimavik.org/

Sunday Church Feature
St. Joseph Catholic Church
Leavenworth, Washington

Leavenworth, Washington is a town in north central Washington State that reinvented itself as a Bavarian tourist destination when its lumber industry died.  The landscape of high mountains gave the setting and the citizens added facades and paintings to their buildings to transform the town into this Alpine delight.  Some even incorporated some of the original heritage buildings of the area.  One of those was the hotel Pension Anna.

In 1992 the owners of Pension Anna moved the abandoned St. Joseph's Catholic Church to their site one block south of the Front Street.  Here they added it to their hotel space and named it  the Old Chapel Suite.

The church building is distinctive with its Russian onion shaped steeple. A painting of St. Joseph decorates the south exterior wall of the church.  It was original built at the north east corner of Evans and Cascade Streets, an area known as Leavenworth Gardens,  in 1910.  The building was "26 by 38 with a vestibule and tower at the entrance. Sacristy, 14 X16, will be located opposite the entrance.  Cost approximately $2000. (The Sacristy is presumable the small structure attached at the rear of the building.)... church received a handsome altar from Seattle...1913 The bell arrives, largest in town, weighing nearly 1000 pounds..the church bell now (2010) resides in Our Lady of the Snows Catholic Church at 145 Wheeler St., Leavenworth." (Reference.)

"Saint Joseph (Hebrew יוֹסֵף, "Yosef"; Greek: Ἰωσήφ), often clarified as Saint Joseph the carpenter, is an important figure in Christian belief, the husband of Mary, mother of Jesus. According to Christian tradition he was not the biological father of Jesus, but acted as his foster-father^[1] and as head of the Holy Family. According to Christian tradition, Jesus was referred to as the son of Joseph during his public life,^[2] though in Mark he is referred to as Mary's son (Mark 6:3).^[3] Joseph is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Anglican, and Lutheran churches." (See Link 1.)

Reference and Thank You: To Leo Bodvin of south of Yakima.

Photos: Taken in Leavenworth in October 2010 by SW.

Link 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Joseph

Link 2: http://www.pensionanna.com/rates.html

See Blog Post November 6, 2010 "Saturday Travel Feature, The Gazebo, Leavenworth, Washington" for more information on the history of Leavenworth.

Saturday Travel Feature
The Gazebo
Leavenworth, Washington

"Leavenworth is a city in Chelan County, Washington, United States. It is part of the Wenatchee–East Wenatchee Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,074 at the 2000 census.

"The first route across Stevens Pass was built by the Great Northern Railway in 1892. The townsite was across the Wenatchee River from Icicle and was named Leavenworth the same year the rail construction began. Captain Charles Leavenworth, president of the Okanogan Investment Company, purchased the land in the present-day downtown and laid the streets parallel to the new railroad tracks.

"The railroad construction was completed during the winter of 1893. Lafayette Lamb and his brother, Chauncery Lamb arrived in 1903 from Iowa to build the second largest sawmill in Washington state.

"Leavenworth was officially incorporated on September 5, 1906. A small timber community, it became the headquarters of the Great North Railroad in the early 1900s. The railroad relocated to Wenatchee in the 1920s, greatly affecting Leavenworth's economy.

"The city struggled until 1962, when the Project LIFE (Leavenworth Improvement For Everyone) Committee was formed to transform the city into a mock Bavarian village to revitalize its economy.^[3] Owen and Pauline Watson, owners of a business on Front Street, formed the committee after visiting Solvang, California in 1958 and thought it was an excellent idea for Leavenworth.

"Leavenworth is home to the Leavenworth Nutcracker Museum, which opened in 1995 and contains more than 5,000 nutcrackers dating from prehistoric to modern.^[4] Leavenworth's annual Oktoberfest celebration is claimed to be one of the most attended in the world outside Munich, Germany.^[5] Leavenworth's transformation into a theme town was inspired, and assisted, by Solvang, California. Later the Washington town of Winthrop followed Leavenworth's example and adopted a town theme.^[6]

"In November 2007 Good Morning America went to Leavenworth for Holiday Gifts for the Globe where GMA helped light up the town for the Christmas Holiday. Leavenworth was also named the Ultimate HolidayTown USA by A&E." (See Link.)

The Gazebo is in the square in the center of Leavenworth.  It is alive with concerts art exhibits.

Photos: Taken in October 2010 by SW.

Link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leavenworth,_Washington



BDD Coppersmith Shop #4, January 23, 2003

(East side of foot of Lonsdale Avenue)

Friday, November 5, 2010

Burrard Dry Dock #4 and #10

Burrard Dry Dock, BBD,(See Link.) extending on the shoreline of North Vancouver between St. Georges Avenue and Lonsdale Avenue dates back to 1911.  At this time the first two buildings were constructed, the Wallace Shipyard Offices  #1 and the Wallace Machine Shop #14A.  Building #4 (in photo above) was built in 1943 as the Coppersmith's Shop.  In 1991 it was used for Storage. 

Page 159

Building #10 (in two photos below) was built in 1925 with an addition in 1943.  It was built as a Machine Shop and in 1991 continued to be used as a Machine Shop.

Outlook August 9, 2001

(Rear building-BDD #10 Machine Shop)

BDD #10 Machine Shop, January 23, 2003

Burrard Dry Dock built "over 400 ships-from small tugs to naval construction and vessels for BC's fleet-were  hammered, riveted and welded by thousands of workers." (See Reference 2.)

Demolition and Construction: BDD building #10 has been demolished and BDD building #4 has been rebuilt. Staff at the adjacent Pinnacle Hotel reported that the new building will house a Pinnacle restaurant. 

Photos: Skeletons of #4 and #19 BDD buildings taken in 2003 by SW.

Photo: Outlook Newspaper, August 9, 2001.

Reference 1: City of North Vancouver Heritage Inventory 1994, page159.

Reference 2: Launching History, The Saga of Burrard Dry Dock, by Francis Mansbridge, page xi.

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrard_Dry_Dock

An Independent Woman
1101 Prospect Avenue
November 4, 2010

Appendix

1940     no address on the block of Prospect Avenue only "ss" and

              P. A. Hartney noted as owner.

1950     no listing of address by there is of 1071 Prospect Avenue
              and K. Dinham owner.

1955     1071 Prospect Avenue Ken Dinham (Dorothy M.) , salesman
               Enamel and Heating Products.

1960     1071 Prospect Ave., Mrs. Dorothy Dinham, receptionist 4th Ave.
               Vet Hospital.

1971     1101 Prospect Ave., Mrs. D. M. Dinham, owner, The Signman of the 
              North Shore.

1980     1101 Prospect Ave., Mrs. D. M. Dinham, owner.

1990     1101 Prospect Ave., Mrs. D. M. Dinham, owner, retired.

1995/1996    1101 Prospect Ave., Mrs. D. M. Dinham, owner, 9+ years, retired.   

Research by Suzanne Wilson at the North Vancouver Archives, 2010.

Thursday, November 4, 2010
An Independent Woman

The house at 1101 Prospect Avenue is across the street from Cleveland Park at the base of Grouse Mountain and has been there since 1936.  That is when it was built for $400 by P. P. Hartney.  At that time it was sitting on 5 lots. (PO) And that might explain why two addresses seem to be reported for it when listed in the City Directories.  Another factor is that there is no cross street between the 1000 block and the 1100 block on Prospect Avenue. 

In the 1940 City Directory no address is listed for the 1000 block of Prospect Avenue.  However P. P. Hartley is listed as an owner on the "ss" in that block.

Back of house facing south

The Dinham's bought the house in 1945. (PO)    In 1950 again there is no listing for 1101 Prospect Avenue, but there is for 1071 Prospect Avenue.  The owner at that time was still listed as  K. Dinham. It is possible that because of the size of the property, 5 lots, that 1071 was the address for this home at that time.  Again in 1955 the 1101 address is not listed.  And again the 1071 address is with owners Ken and Dorothy M. Dinham.  In 1960 again the pattern is repeated with Mrs. Dorothy Dinham listed as the owner.  

In 1971 the City Directory finally lists 1101 Prospect Avenue as the address of the Dinham house.  It seems that Dorothy Dinham, an independent woman, continued to own the house  until her death on January 12, 2010.  By this time the house was on only 2 lots.  

Dorothy Dinham was born on May 4, 1915 in Kitsilano, Vancouver.  Her family, parents, mother's name was Bedova (PO) and brothers Carl and Hal and sister Beatrice,  were the Ansell's of which Ansell Place on the West Vancouver coast north of Horseshoe Bay was named.  When Dorothy moved to Prospect Avenue and went to downtown Vancouver she would ride her bike.  During this time  she worked as the paymaster at McNair Logging. (PO.) In 1960 Dorothy Dinham was a receptionist at the 4th Avenue Veterinary Hospital in Vancouver. In 1971 Dorothy Dinham worked at the Signman of the North Shore.   She also worked at the Capilano Heights Chinese Restaurant until she was 80. (PO) Her obituary in The Vancouver Sun mentions how "she enjoyed the outdoors and gardening as she had lots of knowledge she would share."

Garage to the west of house

The tall cedar trees in the front yard (to be saved by the new owners) were topped years ago which has given them their unusual shape. The multiple branches at the top of the cedars look like the struts of an umbrella. (See photo below.)

Topped cedar trees

Thank you: To new owners for their recollections of  Dorothy Dinham.  The two lot property will be divided and a home built on each lot. Reference-PO



Demolition: Permit applied for in October 2010.

Photos: Taken in October 2010 by SW.
Appendix: City Directory research by Suzanne Wilson available on request
                       by e mail.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010
One Block From Lynn Canyon Park

The corner house at 3945 Lynn Valley Road was built in 1949 for $4,500 by owner R. D. Lee.  In 1950 Robert Lee also applied for a Building Permit for a $300 garage. In 1950 Phyllis E. Lee, a student,  also lived at 3945 Lynn Valley Road.

In 1960 the residents of the house  were Herbert E. and Louise E. Bowley.  Herbert Bowley was a printer at Pacific Press.  The 1971 owners were David R. and Marion G. Matthews.  David Matthews was a letter carrier for the Post Office.  In 1980 the residents were Barry and Jill Urquhart.

In 1991 the owners were Stephen J. and Lydia B. Thomas.  Stephen Thomas worked as a sprinkler fitter at National Installation.  Lydia Thomas was employed as a stenographer clerk in ticket reservations for Yugoslavian Airlines.  In the 1995/1996 City Directory the owner was reported as Audrey J. Shippard, an Xray technician at Holy Family Hospital.  She bought the house in 1991.

This one storey home on the corner of Lynn Valley Road and Kilmer Road was set in a yard of ferns and tall trees.  A stone path rambled through the front side yard that led to Kilmer Road. Tall trees stood in the front yard like soldiers protecting the cosy home.



The three bedroom, one bathroom home at 3945 Lynn Valley was listed for sale on the Web at $630,000. "Hiking and biking at your door step."

Demolition:Permit applied for in October 2010.
Photo: Take in October 2010 by SW.