During the Edwardian era, the western provinces were experiencing unprecedented population growth, and in response, in 1904 the Vancouver-based B.C. Mills, Timber and Trading Company patented a modular prefabricated building system that could be adapted to provide everything from modest one-room cottages to churches, schools and banks. Wall panels were assembled from the short mill ends of lumber and siding, until then just waste material that piled up in the millyard. These panels were bolted together on site, with the joints between the panels covered by distinctive vertical battens. Wall panels were assembled at the mill, pre-painted, and packaged with the other components and the instructions necessary to assemble the building. The disassembled building was then shipped to the waiting customer. As western settlements became established, labour and materials were more freely available and local construction companies could be more competitive in their costs. By 1910, this prefabricated system was rendered obsolete. The Smith Residence is a beautifully-preserved example of a B.C. Mills house, and is one of the models that featured a gambrel roof and a full open front verandah. This house was built by local contractor Mr. MacLean for James Smith, a ship’s engineer on the Empress of Japan, and his wife, Agnes. Agnes Smith continued to live here after her husband’s death and sold the house and property in the late 1920s with two of the acres being purchased by her daughter, Grace and husband Henry Pletcher to build a neighbouring house.
Photograph of a group of four children in the woods. The woods are thick with ferns, lichens and mosses. Two boys and two girls standing in a line. They each carrying a hat in their hand, except for one girl who is wearing hers. An annotation on the back of the photograph reads: "In the woods. …
Photograph of a group of four children in the woods. The woods are thick with ferns, lichens and mosses. Two boys and two girls standing in a line. They each carrying a hat in their hand, except for one girl who is wearing hers. An annotation on the back of the photograph reads: "In the woods. S. side Deer Lake / Arthur Morrow, Kingsley Hart, Florence Hart, and KM [Katherine Maude "Kitty"] Hill. App. 1908."
1 photograph : b&w ; 12.3 x 17.6 cm, mounted on cardboard 22.7 x 27.3 cm
Scope and Content
Photograph of Deer Lake and the shoreline. An annotation on the front lower left of the original photograph reads, "Deer Lake, Burnaby, B.C." An annotation on the back of the card reads "Deer Lake as it was in 1908."
1 photograph : b&w ; 12.3 x 17.6 cm, mounted on cardboard 22.7 x 27.3 cm
Scope and Content
Photograph of Deer Lake and the shoreline. An annotation on the front lower left of the original photograph reads, "Deer Lake, Burnaby, B.C." An annotation on the back of the card reads "Deer Lake as it was in 1908."
4 plans on 4 sheets : col. lithographic prints ; 63.5 x 53.5 cm folded to 53 x 31.5 cm
Scope and Content
File consists of four pages of plans removed from a bound book containing a series of fire insurance plans of the Municipality of Burnaby. Page "D" is titled: "GREATER VANCOUVER B.C. / VOLUME XVI / Surveyed _ May 1927 / MUNICIPALITY OF / BURNABY / PLAN DEPT. FIRE BRANCH _ B.C. INSURANCE UNDERWRITE…
4 plans on 4 sheets : col. lithographic prints ; 63.5 x 53.5 cm folded to 53 x 31.5 cm
Material Details
Scale [1:1200] and [1:6000]
Scope and Content
File consists of four pages of plans removed from a bound book containing a series of fire insurance plans of the Municipality of Burnaby. Page "D" is titled: "GREATER VANCOUVER B.C. / VOLUME XVI / Surveyed _ May 1927 / MUNICIPALITY OF / BURNABY / PLAN DEPT. FIRE BRANCH _ B.C. INSURANCE UNDERWRITERS ASSN." / KEY PLAN". Plans covered in this "Key Plan" are numbered 1601 to 1626, 1632 and 1651 covering District Lots: 15; 31; 100 to 102; 114; 141 to 144; 147 and 148; 209 to 214. Plan "E" is part of "GREATER VANCOUVER B.C. / VOLUME XVII / Municipality of Burnaby / May 1927" and covers plans: 1701 to 1705; 1711 to 1715; 1723 to 1727; 1729 to 1733; 1737 to 1742 and District Lots: 68 to 74; 80 to 84; 32 to 35 and 38 to 39. Plan marked "F" is a key plan titled: "GREATER VANCOUVER B.C. / VOLUME XVII / Surveyed _ May 1927 / MUNICIPALITY OF / BURNABY and covers plans: 1706 to 1710; 1716 to 1722; 1734 and 1735; 1743 to 1752 and District Lots: 42 to 44; 59; 75 to 80; 83 to 87; 89 to 93 and 130. Plan "1729" is part of "GREATER VANCOUVER B.C. / VOLUME XVII / Municipality of Burnaby / May 1927" and covers District Lots 34 and 35.
Photograph of a couple, two older boys, and two younger boys and a girl standing on a frozen lake, wearing skates. The three boys have hockey sticks in their hands.
Photograph of a couple, two older boys, and two younger boys and a girl standing on a frozen lake, wearing skates. The three boys have hockey sticks in their hands.
An annotation on the back of the photograph reads: "Skating scene, Kitty Hill's mother centre? Deer Lake ?" An earlier catalogue record conjectures perhaps Kitty Hill's mother is pictured in the centre, and the location is Deer Lake.