In 1892, the area was incorporated into the Municipality of South Vancouver. Upon incorporation, South Vancouver stretched from Boundary Road on the east, to Point Grey on the west. It encompassed all of what is now Collingwood, Cedar Cottage, Fraserview, Marpole, Dunbar and West Point Grey. In 1929, the municipality changed once again, this time through amalgamation with the City of Vancouver.
Victoria-Fraserview was mostly undeveloped to the end of World War II. However, in the late 1940s there was a sudden shortage of housing for returning war veterans. Victoria-Fraserview, (and its eastern neighbour, Sunset), suddenly became home to 1,100 new homes to meet the demand. Begun in the 1940s, and completed in the 1950s, this large influx of new housing was not welcomed by many area residents. The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation expropriated 182 hectares (450 acres) to implement this controversial housing scheme.
Traditionally, Victoria-Fraserview has had a strong industrial presence along the north arm of the Fraser River. However, since the late 1980s, there has been a marked decline in industrial uses and a trend towards re-use of industrial lands for residential development. A new comprehensive residential development, Fraser Lands, is proceeding along the Fraser River. Former industrial lands are being transformed into the city's newest waterfront neighbourhood.
Did you know?
- The Victoria Drive Theatre once stood on the southwest corner of 41st and Victoria. When it opened in 1926, the Charlie Chaplin movie "The Gold Rush" was playing.
- When federally funded housing was developed to house returning veterans, it was assigned based on the number of children a veteran had, their length of overseas service, and the urgency of need.
- In the early 1950s, Fraserview became known as "diaper town" because there were so many children living in the new subdivision.
- Because of its proximity to the Fraserview Golf Course, all the new streets in Fraserview subdivision were named after golf courses from around the world.
- Many bus shelters in the area have been decorated as part of a community beautification project. Community groups, schools, and other organizations, adopted a bus shelter and a theme. Images that can be seen on shelters include frogs, cows, dancing people, and a giant waterfall.
Victoria-Fraserview
Victoria-Fraserview was originally part of the South Vancouver Municipality; historically a rural community of modest homes and scattered farms. Wales Street has two important reminders of the community's earliest days. The Avalon Dairy, at 5805 Wales Street, is B.C.'s oldest continuously operating dairy outlet. The dairy and farmhouse are still owned and operated by the Crowley family.
