Front, 426 East 1st Street

Friday, November 12, 2010

High on the Hill

The homes on the north side of the 400 block of East 1st Street are perched high on the hill with spectacular views of the Georgia Straight and across the water to Vancouver.  To get to the front door of the home at 426 East 1st Street you need to climb up 40  steep steps.  This home is not only one home, it is two.  The front home, 426,  is accessed from the steps on East 1st Street. The back home is much easier to enter as it is on the top of the hill and off the lane; this its address is 428 East 1st Street.

There are no listings of either address in the Building Permit Book or the 1950 or 1955 City Directories at the North Vancouver Archives.  But then in 1960 Robert N. and Florence Cumming were reported as the owners of 426 East 1st Street.  Robert Cumming worked as a laborer for North Vancouver City.  In 1971 the resident at 426 was Donald Read, a representative for Burroughs Business Machines.  In 1980 Henry Funk and Jean Stuedore were the residents of 426.  In 1991 an owner was reported at 426, Blair Holme.  In 1995/1996 426 was reported as being "Vacant".

Rear, 428 East 1st Street

The rear address on the house, 428 East 1st Street reported  residents in 1960, Avid E. and Beryl A. Safstron/m.  Avid Safstron worked as a crusher foreman at Dawson Wade and Company.  In  1971 the owner of 428 was H. Funk. (Note that in 1980 he  moved to the 426 address.)  In 1980 the 428 residents were Alex and Beth Fish.  In 1991 the 428 address was not listed in the City Directory.  In 1995/1995 the 428 owner was a truck driver, Tom McCaffrey.  He reported that he had owned the home for 4 years.

In October 2010 Rupert Legge applied for a Permit for Demolition of the 426 East 1st Street property.

Demolition: Permit applied for in October 2010.

Photos: Taken in November 2010 by SW.

Remembrance Day
The Wall

This is a story of my family.  My grandmother, Marie,  was born on a farm in Petasky, Michigan.  She had 5 brothers and 4 sisters.  She moved to Wisconsin as a bride and died in 1952 at age 67 in Kaukauna, Wisconsin.  My mother kept in touch with several of her brothers and sisters.  One of these was her Uncle Charlie who had moved to Rapid City South Dakota. In 1956 when I graduated from high school and my brother graduated from grade school my mother took us by train and then bus to visit the Black Hills, Yellowstone Park, and her Uncle Charlie.

I had heard about her Uncle Charlie over the years.  He and his 1st wife Kate had never had children.  Then in his 60's they were divorced and he married his second wife, the young Kate.  Kate had been a nurse in the Korean War.  Her 1st husband had been a pilot who was killed in that war.  She had a son, Alan, from that marriage. Kate and Uncle Charlie also had a son, of course, named Charlie. Charlie had red hair and freckles, was rambunctious and looked like "What me worry?"  This great gift to Uncle Charlie so late in his life became his life.  Alan was 9 and Charlie was about 5 when my mother, brother, and I visited this family.

Many years after this visit I heard that Charlie, the great gift to my mother's Uncle Charlie, was killed in Vietnam.  My prayers went out to Uncle Charlie in his grief and Kate who had suffered such a loss in the Korean War.

When the Vietnam War Memorial was installed in Washington D. C. an accompanying "Moving Wall"  went on tour.  The replica was true to the original, a long rambling wall of black with the names of those that sacrificed their lives in the Vietnam War.  A soldier stood on guard with eyes on the wall. This "Moving Wall" came to Vancouver in 1988 and was mounted in Sunset Beach Park.  It was here that I visited the "Moving Wall".  I approached the soldier on guard who took me to the spot where "Charlie Reberg" was carved into the black surface.  I touched his name and thought of the little five year old with red hair and freckles and his parents who adored him.  And I prayed for them and all the other parents who had such a loss.

In 1998 the US Government offered rubbings of the names of those on the wall on request.  I gratefully received a copy of "Charlie Reberg" as it appears on "The Wall".  It can be seen in the photo below.

Each Remembrance Day, I remember.  I remember the sparkle in Uncle Charlie's eyes as he watched his five year old Charlie play in the front yard of their Rapid City home.  I remember that quietness of 9 year old Alan that seemed to reflect the death of his father in the Korean War. I think of the grief of young Kate and her double sacrifice.  And I pray for all the other families that have made this sacrifice.  Let us remember.

Photo: Taken of Suzanne Wilson's copy of "Charlie Reberg's" name on the Vietnam Memorial, "The Wall."
Link:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam_Veterans_Memorial

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Doors of Green and Brown

Perhaps the duplex with the brown and green doors was not the first home to be built at 430/432 West 6th Street.  In this area north of the Native Lands and east of St. Thomas Catholic Church and school there is evidence that a home was at 430 West 6th Street in 1931. 

There is no building permit, but in the 1931 City Directory J. C. Haines was listed as the owner.  In 1940 his widow Mrs. Clara E. Haines was the owner of the home at 430 West  6th Street.  In 1945 and 1950 Don W. Smith Jr. and Margaret Smith were the owners at 430 West 6th Street.  In 1945 Don Smith worked as a welder for Burrard Dry Dock in North Vancouver.  In 1950 he was the general plantman at Home Oil Distributors.  In 1960 and 1971 Ambrose and Margaret Lee owned the house at 430 West 6th Street.  They were retired.  During all these years, 1931 to 1971 there was no listings for a 432 West 6th Street address.

Then in 1980, 430 West 6th Street was listed as "No Return" and 432 West 6th Street was a listing in the City Directory with Sian Lip and Hetty Boen as the owners.  In 1991 there was a listing for the 430 West 6th Street address; Nancy Findlater of Capilano College was the owner. However, the 432 West 6th Street address was reported as "Vacant".  Perhaps, it was just previous to 1980 that the duplex was built.

In the 1995/1996 City Directory both addresses were reported as occupied.  At 430 West 6th Street the residents were Hugh L. Soko a recording engineer at Freeland; Lori A. Duggan, a student; and Leslie Bogula, a student.  At the 432 West 6th Street address the occupants were Michael Porowski, working at Horen Services, and Lois Campbell, a truck driver at Horen Services.

In October 2010 Peter Mah applied for a demolition permit for the property at  430 West  6th Street.

Demolition: Permit applied for from the City of North Vancouver Oct. 2010.
Photo: Taken in November 2010 by SW.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010
The Spence House

The white house with an attic space and a basement at 415 West 16th Street was built before 1939 by J. Spence.  In 1939 a permit for building a $40 garage was applied for.  And in 1941 a permit for building a $25 house addition was applied for. J. Spence had built a previous home in North Vancouver at 223 East 28th.  In 1915 he built a $1500 home there. In 1922 he added a $50 garage and a $50 house addition.  The Spence family lived in their 415 West 16th Street home until this year, at least 70 years.

In 1945 and 1950 J. and Martha Spence owned the house.  J. Spence worked as a driver for North Vancouver Cartage.  By 1960 the owners were Robert W. and Valera J. Spence. Robert W. Spence worked as a salesman for Dairyland.  Robert J. Spence, a student, also lived in the house.  In 1971 and 1980  Robert W. Spence was working as a salesman for the Fraser Valley Milk Producers Association, FVMPA.  In 1991 and 1995/1996 Robert W. and Valera Spence reported to the City Directory staff that they were retired. 

The 2008/2010 North and West Vancouver Phone Directory lists only V. J. Spence at the 415 West 16th Street address.  The company applying for a demolition permit in November of 2010 is A-1 Group of Companies Dev. Lt.

Demolition: Permit applied for from the City of North Vancouver in Nov. 2010.
Photo: Taken in November 2010 by SW.

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