Majestically situated where the mountains meet the sea, Vancouver is home
to over half a million people. As the central business district of British
Columbia and the third-largest city in Canada,
Vancouver is in a region of over 2 million people and covers a land area of
a hundred and thirteen square kilometers. With its rich diversity and urban
splendor, Vancouver may just be coming of age as a city but its history spans far
back in time.
From time immemorial segments of the Coast Salish people, the ancestors of the
Squamish, Burrard, Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, Lillooet, Coquitlam, Katzie, Tsawwassen, Semiahmoo and other native bands resided in the area now known as the City of
Vancouver. They settled along the Fraser River, Burrard Inlet and English Bay
where a rich source of salmon lush forests wildlife and seafood provided
abundant West Coast living. European explorers didn't arrive in the area
until the late 1700s. Britain and Spain were in a race to claim the northwest
coast and its potential trade routes. In 1778, Britain's Captain James Cook set
foot on Nootka sound on Western Vancouver Island but didn't reach the
mainland. In 1791, José María Narváez of Spain became the first European to reach
this region. In 1792, British captain George Vancouver explored and mapped the
Pacific northwest coast. He entered Burrard inlet and named many local
sights. The British and Spanish explorers maintained a friendly relationship but
eventually Spain withdrew from further exploration of the region.
When the city was named it was Captain Vancouver who was recognized.
Fur trading posts were established inland during the 1800s but it wasn't
until gold was discovered on the Fraser River in 1858 that settlement really
took off. By the 1860s lumber mills were sprouting up along the shorelines
bringing with them more settlers and businesses. The first saloon was built on
Burrard inlet by riverboat captain John gassy Jack Dayton the area was dubbed
Gastown and grew steadily into a town site called Granville. When the Canadian
Pacific Railway agreed to extend its TransCanada rail line from Port Moody
West to the Granville town site the area was transformed. With a population of a
thousand, on April 6 1886, Granville town site was officially incorporated as the
city of Vancouver. Only two months later Vancouver was hit by a massive fire that
destroyed most of the buildings including City Hall but the fire didn't
slow progress just days after the blaze City Council held a meeting using a tent
as a makeshift council chamber. A year later electricity is switched on for the
first time in Vancouver and water arrives from the Capilano River piped
under the first Narrows Bridge the following spring. Just before the turn of
the century, more than a hundred thousand people headed to the Yukon for the
Klondike Gold Rush. Vancouver enjoyed a population and business boom when many
of the prospectors settled here. The construction of the National Railway and
the growth of fish canneries and other industries in Vancouver brought waves of
immigrant workers mostly from China Japan and India. The ethnic minorities
suffered racial discrimination and segregation. Race riots define the city's
darkest days in its struggle toward maturity.
When the Panama Canal was opened in 1914 it brought more shipping to Vancouver
and helped establish the city's position as a leading port however, the city's
growth was halted by the outbreak of World War one. In 1936, a new city hall
was completed replacing the one that was located near the Carnegie center in
Chinatown. City halls design features Art Deco details a lobby with imported
Italian marble and bronze doorknobs and locked plates.
vancouver suffered through the depression of the 20s and 30s like
cities around the world but World War II reignited the economy people from other
parts of BC and Canada streamed into Vancouver to work in shipyards and
munition plants. The post-war era saw Vancouver grow by leaps and bounds. In
1954, Vancouver hosted the British Empire Games and constructed Empire Stadium for
events. This was where sprinters Roger Bannister of Britain and Australian John
Landy ran the Miracle Mile in under four minutes for the first time in
history. In the following decades high-rises and office buildings popped
up all over the downtown core and the West End was on its way to becoming one
of the most densely populated urban areas in North America. Many community
projects such as Granville Island and Robson Square were developed. Through the
60s and 70s Vancouver became known for activism and counterculture and was
dubbed the hippie capital of Canada. In 1967 an environmental group was born
here that would become the internationally known Greenpeace
Foundation. In 1986 Vancouver's celebrated its 100th
birthday and boosted its international profile by hosting the Expo World's Fair.
Along with Expo came new construction as Vancouver added BC Place Stadium, Science
World, the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre and the SkyTrain
system to its landscape. The immigration that built the city has continued
steadily and made Vancouver a vibrant multicultural family of communities. More
than one-third of residents speak a language other than English. Made up of
23 diverse neighborhoods and governed by the mayor and 10 councillors elected
at-large every four years, Vancouver is also the only city in Canada to have an
elected Board of Parks and Recreation. The Park Board maintains over 200 Park
including the city's crown jewel Stanley Park and 40 recreational facilities
adding to the city's cultural richness and splendor. While the industries that
originally fueled the city, forestry, fishing and trade, are still key parts of
Vancouver's economy, the city has enjoyed the growth of new industries and is one
of the most popular tourist destinations in North America. Vancouver has blossomed
into a city of parks and glass towers and neighborhoods adorned with greenways
and winding sea walls where people live work and play nearby. It is known for its
high density livability and inviting urban design features at the street
level that define the westcoast lifestyle. It's been coined the Vancouver
model by planners and urban designers around the world. In 2010, Vancouver
hosted the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. Preparations included improvements
to the city's infrastructure such as the new rapid transit line from downtown to
the airport as well as the construction of various Olympic venues. The 2010 Games
celebration brought international attention to Vancouver, billions in
economic benefits and invigorated a heightened sense of pride residents have
in their city and in the privilege of being a Canadian citizen. The games
infused lasting physical social economic and environmental legacies that will
help Vancouver continue to be one of the most spectacular places in the world
to live. As we look to the future, we've come to realize how important it is to
be a sustainable city. Vancouver has set an ambitious goal to
become the greenest city in the world by 2020, to ensure a healthy natural and
built environment for generations to come. We're integrating sustainability
into all aspects of the city's operations and development,
with goals to reduce vehicle traffic and plan primarily for walking cycling and
transit use. We're incorporating new green technology and office buildings
and housing and creating a green economy.
As we move through the second decade of the 21st century Vancouver is the city
it was always meant to be, dynamic and vibrant, welcoming to people from around
the world, purposefully sustainable, and naturally beautiful.