History & Heritage
History
Known as the`East End' - the original East End School which gave the
area its name was at the corner of Powell and Jackson - well into the
1950s, Vancouver's first neighbourhood grew up around the Hastings Mill
and expanded southward from Burrard Inlet. It has always been a diverse
neighbourhood where a succession of immigrants including the British,
Irish, Russian, Croatian, Greeks, and Scandinavians, Japanese and Chinese
have lived before moving on to other parts of the city.
In the 1950s, City planners earmarked the neighbourhood (now calling
it Strathcona because of the 1897 elementary school at Jackson and Keefer)
for a massive redevelopment scheme of public housing. The project would
have featured block upon block of identical apartments buildings and townhouses.
Combined with this proposal were plans for an inner city freeway which
would have included the destruction of Gastown and Chinatown.
Strathcona residents mobilized in opposition. They argued for the retention
and renovation of the area's eclectic mix of housing but by the time the
redevelopment proposals were shelved 15 blocks of the neighbourhood had
already been demolished. In 1968, the community convinced federal, provincial
and municipal governments to support a $5 million rehabilitation project
that included homes, street and sidewalk repairs, and the creation of
new parks.
Heritage
Strathcona has one of the largest concentrations of 19th and early 20th
century buildings in Vancouver. The area bounded by Pender and Prior Streets,
Campbell and Jackson Avenues, and two blocks south of Prior Street, was
identified as a character area in the 1986 City of Vancouver Heritage
Inventory because of its unique mix of building styles.
Styles range from small cottages and modest vernacular houses to large
"Queen Anne" homes decorated with elaborate brackets and shingle
work.
Some significant heritage buildings include:
Lord Strathcona School: built in 1897 is one of the oldest standing
school building in Vancouver
The Seymour School No. 1: Built in 1900, the school is the oldest
wooden school building in Vancouver.
Seymour School No. 2: built in 1907 to the designs of W.T. Whiteway
St. Francis Xavier Church, at 579 E. Pender Street, was built
in 1919. Once the home of Swedish, Greek and Ukrainian congregations,
the church now serves the Chinese-Canadian Catholic community.
The Principal's House, at Princess and Keefer opposite Strathcona
School was built by the school's principal, Gregory Tom in 1900.
Detailed information on the city's heritage and a complete list of heritage
buildings is available at City
of Vancouver Heritage.
Additional information is available through the City
of Vancouver Archives.
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