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- source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
- source: Family History Library Catalog
- the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is to the northwest of the city of Vancouver on the northern side of English Bay and the southeast shore of Howe Sound, and is adjoined by the District of North Vancouver to its east. Together with the District of North Vancouver and the City of North Vancouver, it is part of a local regional grouping referred to as the North Shore municipalities, or simply "the North Shore".
West Vancouver is connected to the downtown city of Vancouver via the Lions Gate Bridge. Originally named First Narrows Bridge, its completion in 1938 allowed the people of the North Shore municipalities to cross of the Burrard Inlet to the city.
West Vancouver has a population of 42,694 (2011 census). Cypress Provincial Park, mostly located within the municipal boundaries, was one of the venues for the 2010 Winter Olympics. West Vancouver is also home of Canada's first shopping mall, Park Royal Shopping Centre, and also of the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal, one of the main connecting points between the British Columbia mainland and Vancouver Island.
History
- the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia
The Municipality of West Vancouver was incorporated on March 15, 1912, after separating from the District of North Vancouver. The first municipal election was held on April 6, 1912. In November 1938, the Lions Gate Bridge was opened to traffic, allowing extensive growth of the semi-populated community, previously only accessible by ferry. Some homes in West Vancouver date back to the 1920s and 30s, though most of the currently existing dwellings were built in the 1970s and 80s, and mostly in British Pacific Properties' developments.
Timeline
- 1792: Captain George Vancouver names Point Atkinson
- 1866: Navvy Jack Thomas, a Welsh deserter from the Royal Navy, was the first Caucasian resident of West Vancouver, offered first ferry service to Vancouver in a rowboat. His house still stands today at Ambleside and there is a Navvy Jack Point. Thomas' nickname Navvy Jack today remains used in British Columbia English to mean washed pea gravel used in construction and landscaping trades, as he was the original supplier of the material to Vancouver and mined it from coves in West Vancouver.
- 1872: James Blake preempted the first of land
- 1875: First lighthouse at Point Atkinson
- 1898: Mr. Francis Caulfeild was put ashore at Skunk Cove
- 1905: John Lawson, a local leader settled at foot of 17th street
- 1908: First pier, Hollyburn Pier
- 1909: West Vancouver Transportation Company was formed, provides ferry service across harbour to Vancouver
- 1909: "Real estate boom" lots sold for as little as $450 and as much as $4,500
- 1910: Water systems started at Caulfeild and Ambleside
- 1911: First primary school, Presbyterian Church at Dundarave
- 1912: West Vancouver separated from the District Municipality of North Vancouver and incorporated on March 15, 1912.
- 1912: Population was approximately 1,500 people
- 1912: First Municipal election
- 1912: Council appointed John Teare as the first police constable on May 17. F.H. Kettle was appointed the second constable on May 28
- 1913: Hollyburn Elementary School structure built, facility of the longest existing school in West Vancouver
- 1914: First known settlement, the Coast Salish village at Sandy Cove
- 1914: Pacific Great Eastern Railway in service from North Vancouver to Caulfeild and Horseshoe Bay
- 1914: Colonel Albert Whyte pressed for a spelling change from White Cliff City to Whytecliff
- 1915: Dundarave Pier built
- 1915: Marine Dr. was officially opened by Premier Richard McBride
- 1916: West Vancouver Municipal Transport bus service started operation
- 1922: British Columbia Electric Railway starts electrical service
- 1923: Adopted STV for city elections (discontinued in 1930)
- 1924: House numbering scheme started
- 1926: Marine Drive extended to Horseshoe Bay
- 1926: Town Planning Act banned any new industry forming an exclusively residential community with minimum lot sizes
- 1927: Inglewood High School built
- 1928: Direct telephone service to Vancouver operational
- 1930: Septic tanks are mandatory
- 1930: Only 48 of West Vancouver's 100 kilometres of roads paved
- 1931: Dan Sewell opened his marina and the Whytecliff Lodge
- 1932: of land bought by A.R. Guinness-Br. Pacific Properties bought for $50 a hectare, they have been developed as the British Properties
- 1934: First police car
- 1936: Hollyburn Post Office built at 17th street and Marine Drive
- 1938: Lions Gate Bridge finished, opened May 29. The bridge cost a total of $6 million to build. It was financed by the Guinness family, in conjunction with the development and marketing of the British Properties.
- 1947: Ferry service stopped due to lack of demand after bridge constructed
- 1950: West Vancouver Memorial Library opened on November 11 (Remembrance Day). The library lends more books per capita than any other library in Canada
- 1950: Park Royal Shopping Centre, Canada's first shopping centre opened
- 1951: Hollyburn Mountain opens first chairlift
- 1954: Public Safety Building opened. It housed the West Vancouver Police and Fire Departments
- 1959: Rezoning allowed 78 apartment buildings in Ambleside
- 1961: The Crescent Apartments, West Vancouver's first high rise apartment opened
- 1963: Tolls on Lions Gate Bridge lifted on April 1
- 1967: Fire hall was built and opened on November 22, 1967 at 16th and Fulton Ave. The Police Department remained in the Public Safety building
- 1973: Clyde McRae completes a world record walk across Canada on Ambleside Beach.
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