Reading the Parks' Plaques - History Revealed

January 21, 2008 - Winter is the perfect time to visit Stanley Park when the crush of tourists has evaporated with the chill of the season. It's the best time to look beyond the budding trees and shrubs of spring or lush colourful floral displays of summer and view the real "bones" of the park.

The monuments, memorials and statues found on Stanley Park's eastern sector, make a wonderful tour for those interested in Vancouver and its early history and what better time to take an unimpeded walk than a mid-week winter day?

Take time to read the plaques because herein lie the stories of a pioneer town and its people, destined to be one of the great cities of the world.

Start near the Georgia Street entrance to the park. You can find the statute of Lord Stanley, the park's namesake, just up the hill at the end of the pedestrian overpass, which was the original entrance to the park before motorized vehicles became a more popular mode of transportation. Next find the Robbie Burns statue, arms folded as he surveys Coal Harbour. Not far ahead on the left of Park Drive you'll see the memorial to Queen Victoria, once a working fountain. Up the hill toward Malkin Bowl near the Stanley Park Pavilion you'll be surprised to find a grander monument erected to the memory of Warren Harding, the first US President to ever visit Canada in the early 1920s. His death five days later prompted a tremendous outpouring of sympathy and the words chiseled in stone here, is a moving testament to two nations sharing the longest undefended border in the world. Just down from the Pavilion as you approach the Vancouver Aquarium you will see the elegant and iconic Japanese Memorial dedicated to Vancouver's Japanese Canadians who lost their lives in the Great War - World War I. The famous battles with French place names are even more poignant in context of the internment of Japanese citizens during the next war. Head toward Brockton Point and take in the magnificent stand of totem poles brought to the park over the span of a century bringing our diverse First Nations culture from the Province's upper reaches to Vancouver's first park. The new interpretive court here will help visitors place each totem pole on a large-scale map of British Columbia. Just across from the poles overlooking Coal Harbour is a statue honouring local runner Harry Jerome and heading toward the lighthouse at the Point it will be easy to read the plaques at Hallelujah Point and the famous Nine O'clock Gun.

These are but a few of the monuments found in Stanley Park. To design your own custom tour visit the Stanley Park Landmarks web page.

And always remember, if you listen, you will hear the voices of past generations through these many park landmarks.