Wednesday, September 22, 2010
53 Years on Tempe Crescent

Tempe Crescent is one of three Crescent shaped streets south of East 29th Street in the City of North Vancouver.  The crescent streets, Somerset Street, Brand Street, and Tempe Crescent, start and end on East 29th Street.  The house at 452 Tempe Crescent is just about at the most southern point of these three crescent streets.

There is no entry for the 452 Tempe Crescent address in either the Building Permit Book or the 1950 City Directory at the North Vancouver Archives.  However, in the 1955 issue Rex W. and Gwen M. Johnston are listed as owners.  They are also listed as the owners in the 1960 issue.  During this time Rex Johnston was a branch manager at the Royal Bank.  

In 1964  the Knowles family bought the house.  The move was an easy one since for the previous 7 years they had lived just a few door away at 440 Tempe Crescent. In fact, in 1960 Allan R. and Wilhehmina Knowles were reported as the owners of the 440 Tempe Crescent home.  By 1965 they were listed as the owners at the 452 Tempe Crescent residence.  During  this time Allan Knowles was employed as an accountant at the Bank of Nova Scotia. In the 1971, 1980, 1991, and 1995/1996 City Directories the owner was listed as Mrs. Wilhelmina Knowles.   In 1991 and 1995/1996 Wilhelmina (Billie) Knowles was employed by  North Shore Home Support Services.  Two other residents listed in the 1995/1996 City Directory were Samuel C. Knowles, a gardener, and Akiko Takemoto, a student.

Billie Knowles continued to live at the 452 Tempe Crescent address until September 2010.  Although she will still be living on the North Shore the move will be more extensive than the one from 440 Tempe Crescent in 1964.  She has had to pack up not only her possessions but family heirlooms.  One of these was  the 1869 Christening dress of her grandfather Charles Wood Rogers.  Her grandmother's wedding dress has previously been donated to a museum.

With the 7 years the Knowles lived at 440 Tempe Crescent and the 46 years they lived at 452 Tempe Crescent, their total time on the street was 53 years.

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

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

West of Fell

The grey stucco and green cedar clapboard house behind the fence at 741 West 20th Street was built up the hill from Capilano Mall in the City of North Vancouver.  It is also just a couple blocks to the east is the lower end of the extensive Mosquito Creek Park.  Mosquito Creek Park eventually stretches all the way to the mountains above the District of North Vancouver.

There is no entry in the Building Permit Book at the North Vancouver Archives for this home.  There is also no entry of the 741 West 20th Street address in the 1950 City Directory.  But in 1955 Paul and Alvele M. Dahl are listed as owners.  Paul Dahl worked as  a millwright at King Lumber.  The Dahls continued to own the house in 1960.  But now, Paul was listed as working as a millworker at King Lumber. In 1971 Arthur and Florence Munro were owners of the house.  They reported that they were a retired couple.  The owners in 1980 were Danny G. and Ann E. Keeble.  Danny Keeble was employed as an electrician at Vancouver Shipyards.

About 1988 John G. Morrison started living in the house on West 20th Street.  The City Directories and  North and West Vancouver Phone  Directories seem to indicate he lived there until at least 2006.  John Morrison's place of employment at least during 1991 and 1995/1996 was The Goalnet, a sports and marine equipment company at 1624 Pemberton Avenue in North Vancouver.

Demolition:  Permit applied for in September 2010.
Photo: Taken in September 2010 by SW.



Monday, September 20, 2010
Oliver, Smith, Forbes, Wetzler

The title says it all.  The City Directories reveal little about the ownership of the  interesting house at 761 East 12th  Street. The Building Permit book at the North Vancouver Archives starts out strong listing G. Oliver at the owner when the $5000 house was built in 1953.  He was also the owner for the building of a $400 addition and $400 garage in 1955.

After 1955 the City Directories seemed to have collected little information.  In 1960 R. C. Smith was the resident.  In 1980 Rory J. Forbes a broker at The Permanent was living in the house.  And in the 1995/1996 edition S. Wetzler reported that he had lived there  for 4 years.

In the 1955 City Directory there is no entry for the address.  In 1971 there is "No Return" listed.  And in 1991 the house at both 761 and 760 East 12th Street are  listed as "Vacant".

The 1955 addition may be the one that is on the rear of the house and prominent in both the photos in this post. It almost doubled the size of the original single storey house and added a second storey at least in the addition portion.  The large windowed rear wall and veranda both look out onto the back yard.  In September of 2010 what looked like renovations to the garage seem to be started, with a glass wall facing the back yard.

The Remax Real Estate web site listed the house for sale at $670,000

Addition on Back of House

Demolition Permit: Applied for from the District of North Vancouver in September 2010.

Photos: Taken in September of 2010 by SW.

Sunday Church Feature

Mount Baker Presbyterian Church

Concrete, Washington

"Concrete is a town located in north-central Skagit County, Washington, United States. At the time of the 2000 census, the town's population was officially at 790 residents within the town-limits. The town of Concrete is included in the Mount Vernon-Anacortes, Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area." (See Link.)

Mount Baker Presbyterian Church "Built in 1908 with a log-hewn outer structure. The church's first minister, Reverend L.C. Michaels did most of the carpentry work and assisted in bringing the logs for the construction down from the surrounding hills on horseback. Originally built for a capacity of 310, the full-basement houses a kitchen, restrooms, and meeting area. The building has been since remodled and some of the original log-structure no longer visible." (See Link.)

Photo: Taken in Concrete, Washington in September 2010.

Link 1: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Concrete,_Washington
Note: For more about Concrete, Washington see Blog Post September 18, 2010
"Saturday Travel Feature, Concrete Grade School, Concrete, Washington."

Saturday Travel Feature

Concrete Grade School

Concrete, Washington

"The town of Concrete has undergone several incarnations, the earliest being a settlement at the northwestern junction of the Baker and Skagit Rivers, known as "Minnehaha". Amasa "Peg-Leg" Everett was one of the earliest settlers and in 1890, the townsite was platted by another settler, Magnus Miller. Shortly thereafter, a post office was established and the town name changed to "Baker". In 1905, a settlement across the Baker River came into being due to the building of the Washington Portland Cement Company and was named "Cement City". After the Superior Portland Cement Company plant was built in Baker in 1908, it was decided to merge the two towns.Inhabitants of the new community settled on the name "Concrete" and the town was so christened and officially incorporated on May 8, 1909....

"On April 27, 2008 at approximately 1:45 p.m., the historic Concrete grade school building was reported to be on fire and according to fire officials, was fully engulfed in flames within twenty minutes. Despite the efforts of five fire departments (including Concrete, Burlington, Sedro-Woolley and two rural fire districts), the building was a total loss. Not able to enter the intensely heated building, the firefighters could only contain the fire within the concrete exterior walls in order to keep it from spreading to the adjacent buildings and trees that are located around the structure's perimeter.Demolition: Demolition began on August 4, 2009.

"After investigation by the ATF, Skagit County Fire Marshall and the Skagit County Sheriff's office, officials determined that arson was the cause of the blaze. According to the Skagit County Sheriff's Department in a press release, three pre-teen boys admitted during an interview that they had been playing with lighters and set a mattress left inside the building on fire. The boys maintained that they believed the fire they started had been extinguished before exiting the building.[12]


"The twenty-year owner of the property had initially intended to remodel the exterior of the building with a castle motif. This plan, however, was abandoned sometime in the 1990s, and the property sat uninhabited and the remodel incomplete for an extended period of time. In the years before the fire destroyed the landmark, the building had become known to out-of-towners and locals alike as an eye-sore. Since the fire, the building has been slated for complete demolition. As of August 4, 2009, the long-awaited demolition of the buildings damaged by the fire began under the direction of Lautenbach Industries." (See Link.)

Demolition: Started August 4, 2009.
Photo: Taken in Concrete, Washington in September 2007.

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

Friday, September 17, 2010
North Shore Hospice

Several houses in the 300 block of East 13th Street and 14th Street have been demolished to make way for the North Shore Hospice. "The 1,400 square metre (15,000 square foot) hospice is being built on Lions Gate Hospital land located one block east of the hospital on East 14th Street in the City of North Vancouver.

"It will contain 15 spacious and comfortable private rooms and shared gathering areas including a living room, kitchen, a healing garden and a sacred space. The hospice features leading-edge design by award-winning architects, engineers and consultants and will be consistent with standards set by Community Care Facilities Licensing. " (See Link.) As of September 2010 the Hospice was still under construction.


One of the houses demolished for the Hospice was at 332 East 13th Street. There is no record in the Building Permit Book at the North Vancouver Archives as to when it was built. There is also no listing in the 1940 or 1945 City Directories of that address. But by 1950 the owners of 332 East 13th Street are listed as Thomas A. and Dorothea A. Cummings. Thomas Cummings was employed by Wrigley Printing.


In 1960 the owners were Nels and Ethel Oie. Nels worked as a carpenter. In 1971 the owner was Gemma V. Phillips. Gemma Phillips was a secretary for Freeman Freeman Silvers and Koffman. The resident in 1980 was Thomas Gillis, a laborer for Pacific Elevators. In 1991 the City Directory reported that the house was "Vacant". Richard A. Campbell must have moved in the next year. For in the 1995/1996 City Directory he reported living there for 4 years. In 1995/1996 Alysa Golden also lived at the 332 East 13th Street address.

In the photo above is a streetscape of the 300 block of East 13th Street. It was a series of typical 1950's stucco homes.

Demolition Permit: Applied for from the City of North Vancouver in 2007.
Photos: Black and White taken by SW in 2007 as part of the Demolition and Construction Project for the North

Vancouver Archives, Roll #85 negative 24 and 28. Colored digital photo taken in August 2010 by SW.

Link:http://www.vch.ca/about_us/news/media_contacts/news_releases/construction_begins_on_north_shore_hospice

Anton Frank in Front of Original Grocery Store

on Tobacnoir Street 1908

Special Birthday Feature

Happy Birthday Suzanne

The Frank Compound

Kaukauna, Wisconsin

The Frank Family Compound started in 1888 when Peter Frank and his family moved from Sherwood, Wisconsin to Kaukauna, Wisconsin and he and his son John purchased the grocery store on Tobacnoir Street.  They not only owned and operated the store until 1907, but bought a family home around the corner at 806 Oviate Street. 

In 1908 Peter Frank moved to Shawano, Wisconsin and sold his co-ownership to his son Anton Harold Frank.   Anton Frank is pictured in front of the store in that year. Then Anton Frank also purchased the house on Oviate St. from his brother and father.  Anton, his wife Dorothea, and their children, Emmet, Orville, Harold, Geneafava, Elaine, and Dorothy May moved into the house.

Original Store on Tobacinoir Street Converted to Apartment Building

In 1926 a red brick grocery store was built on the corner of Tobacnoir Street and Oviate Street. The symbol on the second floor above the front doors states the 1926 date. On the ground at the front doors was the name "Frank" in mosaic tiles.  The original red brick store had two large front store window and the check out counter was in the center. In 1930 when his father Anton Frank died, Harold Frank became the store manager. He ran the store for his mother Dorothea Frank until she died in 1968 and the store was sold.  By 1994 the building housed a laundomat.

1926 Grocery Store On Corner of Tobacnoir and Oviate Streets

The Frank family home originally had brown siding. There was a large glassed in porch all the way across the front of  the first floor and a porch on the second floor. The back of the house was also a glassed in porch. Inside on the first floor of the house was a living room on the right, a dining room on the left and behind it a kitchen and small bedroom. In these rooms is where Orville Frank and Hazel Juergenmeyer (Suzanne (Frank) Wilson's parents) were married. Between the living room and the dining room was a large center stairway with an open railing on the livingroom side. Other bedrooms were upstairs. After Anton died, his wife Dorothea (Suzanne (Frank) Wilson's grandmother) "took to her chair". A lift was installed on the center stairway and from then on she greeted her grandchildren and twisted colored foil onto wheat seeds on stalks to make bouquets from a chair next to a table in the living room.

Frank Family Home at 806 Oviate Street

The large flower garden between the 1926 red brick store and the family home completed the compound.

Photos: Top-Old family photo of Anton Harold Frank, grandfather of Suzanne
                           (Frank) Wilson 1908 in front of first Frank Grocery Store on the
                           100 block of Tobacnoir  Street in Kaukauna, Wisconsin.
                2nd-Store from 1908 now turned into a building with apartments. 
                          Sold in 1968.  Photo taken in 2006 by SW.
                3rd-1926 Frank Grocery Store.  Sold in 1968. Photo taken in
                         2006 by SW.
               Bottom-Frank family home at 806 Oviate Street.  Sold in 1968.
                         Photo taken in 2006 by SW.
Note: Suzanne(Frank) Wilson is the daughter of Orville Carlton Frank, the
              granddaughter of Anton Harold Frank, and the great granddaughter of
              Peter Frank.
Thank You: To Karen (Frank)  Hull for family history information.