final report

Powell Street (Japantown) Historical and Cultural Review (4 mb)

Appendix A (151 kb)
Appendix B (659 kb)
Appendix C (150 kb)
Appendix D (691 kb)
Appendix E (586 kb)
Appendix F (244 kb)

Detailed Historical overview

Several phases of growth and development have occurred over the years:

Nihonmachi: The Early Years

Powell Street - Growth, Prosperity and Loss

Powell Grounds - Asahi and the Labour Movement

Church and Cultural Precinct

Map of Character Buildings in the Area

Powell Street: Evaluation of Historical & Cultural Significance presentation (2.78mb)

Oppenheimer/Japantown

POWELL STREET - HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL REVIEW

The objective is to achieve a greater understanding of the area’s historical and cultural components that ultimately will allow for a more comprehensive planning strategy to be developed.

The intent is to discover what is of importance to the community from an architectural, historical, cultural, social and spiritual perspective. A context statement is derived from these values; broader themes are developed and priority places are identified that reflect the themes. This will include community consultation.

Study Area

The study area focuses on the 300 and 400 blocks of Powell Street and Oppenheimer Park. It also includes adjacent sections of Alexander Street, Gore, Dunlevy and Jackson Avenue and East Cordova Street, as shown below.

Historic Resources and Cultural Importance

There are 53 buildings and one site (Oppenheimer Park) within the study area identified as worthy of further evaluation: 21 are on the Vancouver Heritage Register, and seven are legally protected. Within this there are several distinct areas: the Powell Street commercial corridor, the religious, cultural and institutional uses along Cordova and Alexander Street and remnants of original housing around the perimeter.

The two most significant cultural groups are the Japanese-Canadian community that settled here beginning in the 1890s and whose businesses thrived in the early 1900s, and First Nations communities that have called this home for a number of decades. It remains a distinctly working-class neighbourhood, proud of its identity, with a strong immigrant component.

The review of the area’s historical and cultural significance is based on this context.