Bell's Drygoods Store
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Description
- Bell’s Drygoods Store is a typical commercial false front, single storey, wood-frame building that has been relocated to the Burnaby Village Museum.
- Associated Dates
- 1922
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Other Names
- Whitechurch Hardware Store
- Repository
- Burnaby Heritage Planning
- Other Names
- Whitechurch Hardware Store
- Geographic Access
- Deer Lake Avenue
- Associated Dates
- 1922
- Formal Recognition
- Heritage Designation, Community Heritage Register
- Enactment Type
- Bylaw No. 9807
- Enactment Date
- 23/11/1992
- Description
- Bell’s Drygoods Store is a typical commercial false front, single storey, wood-frame building that has been relocated to the Burnaby Village Museum.
- Heritage Value
- The value of the Bell’s Drygoods Store lies in its significance as one of the last remaining intact false front retail structures of its time to survive in Burnaby. Additionally, it remains as one of East Burnaby’s few surviving early commercial buildings and is representative of other typical commercial structures of the period.
Originally located on Sixth Street in East Burnaby, in a small commercial district that served residents located along the streetcar line between New Westminster and Edmonds, its proximity to the streetcar served to draw customers into the store. This store also served as the location of the East Burnaby Post Office, one of a number of local post offices located throughout the municipality during the early twentieth century.
Clifford Tuckey constructed the building in 1922, with a small lean-to structure on the back housing a kitchen and bedroom. The store was sold soon afterwards to William and Flora Bell, who then lived and worked here for a number of years. It represents a traditional relationship of the owner’s home to the store during this period, indicating the modest means of the owners and their commitment to running the business. The building was later sold to Maurice and Mildred Whitechurch, who ran it for many years as a hardware store.
In 1974, the structure was relocated to its present site at the Museum. The heritage value for this structure also lies in its interpretive value within the Burnaby Village Museum. The site is an important cultural feature for the interpretation of Burnaby’s heritage to the public. Between 1993 and 1996 the building was restored to its 1925 appearance.
- Defining Elements
- The character defining features of Bell’s Drygoods Store include its:
- rectangular form and simple massing
- commercial false front parapet
- front gable roof with cedar shingle cladding
- horizontal lapped wooden siding
- recessed main central entrance flanked by large storefront display windows
- V-joint tongue-and-groove wood interior paneling
- interior separation between commercial and residential space
- Locality
- Deer Lake Park
- Historic Neighbourhood
- Burnaby Lake (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Morley-Buckingham Area
- Organization
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Function
- Primary Current--Museum
- Primary Historic--Shop
- Community
- Burnaby
- Cadastral Identifier
- P.I.D. No. 011-030-356
Legal Description: Parcel 1, District Lot 79 and District Lot 85, Group 1, New Westminster District, Reference Plan 77594
- Boundaries
- Burnaby Village Museum is comprised of a single municipally-owned property located at 6501 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby.
- Area
- 38,488.63
- Contributing Resource
- Building
- Landscape Feature
- Structure
- Ownership
- Public (local)
- Documentation
- Heritage Site Files: PC77000 20. City of Burnaby Planning and Building Department, 4949 Canada Way, Burnaby, B.C., V5G 1M2
- Names
- Bell, William
- Bell, Flora
- Whitechurch, Maurice "Maury"
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Street Address
- 6501 Deer Lake Avenue
Less detail
Picnic at Horseshoe Bay
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 1939
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : sepia (Kodatone) ; 7 x 9.5 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of Bill and Flora Bell, May Walker Long and Bruce Walker sitting at a table outside in a garden at Horseshoe Bay.
receipt
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Accession Code
- BV985.5294.1
- Description
- Whitechurch Hardware - Receipt -- [1968]. Handbill for Whitechurch Hardware Store at 7665 6th Street in Burnaby. The receipt was for January 11th, 1968. The total owing was $4.71 and it was paid in cash. The receipt was number 30 within the series.
- Object History
- William and Flora Bell built this dry goods store on Sixth Street in East Burnaby circa 1918. This street was a small commercial district that served residents located along the streetcar line between New Westminster and Edmonds. This store also served as the location of East Burnaby Post Office, one of many subpost offices located throughout the municipality during its early days. This building remains as one of South Burnaby's few surviving early commercial buildings and features a "false front" and recessed main entrance. The building was later sold to Maurice and Mildred Whitechurch, who ran it for many years as a hardware store named Whitechurch Hardware Store. In 1974 the building was moved to the Burnaby Village Museum.
- Subjects
- Documentary Artifacts - Receipts
- Names
- Bell's Dry Goods
- Bell, William
- Bell, Flora
- Historic Neighbourhood
- East Burnaby (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Second Street Area
Less detail
sign
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Accession Code
- HV974.96.2
- Description
- Exterior hanging sign; "Whitechurch Hardware" name.
- Object History
- The Bell's Dry Goods building was built in 1922 by Clifford Tuckey with a small lean to structure on the back housing a kitchen and bedroom. The building was located on the northwest corner of Sixth Street and Thirteenth Avenue in Burnaby. William Bell (1884-1952) and Flora Bell (nee Connell) (1889-1953) immigrated to Burnaby from Scotland between 1917 and 1918. In about 1924, the building was purchased by William and Flora Bell. Flora operated "Bell's Dry Goods" store out of the building and the couple lived at the back of the store. William worked as a driver for a local lumber mill. Bell's Dry Goods was in operation in this one storey building between 1925 and 1937 with the building address, 1314 Sixth Street (later 7695 Sixth Street). In 1927, they moved to a house located on Thirteenth Avenue while they converted the back of the store to include the East Burnaby Post Office.
In 1937, the Bells moved the one storey "Bell's Dry Goods" building a little further north and built a two storey building on the corner. Flora continued to operate Bell's Dry Goods on the ground level of the new building until 1941 and the couple lived upstairs. The new two storey building assumed the address of 1314 Sixth Street (later 7695 Sixth Street) and the older one storey building obtained a new address of 1316 Sixth Street (later 7685 Sixth Street). The East Burnaby Post Office continued to operate at 1314 Sixth Street until about 1954.
On December 1, 1937, Maurice Whitechurch moved his Whitechurch Hardware store into the one storey building which he rented out from the Bells. In 1943, Maurice Whitechurch purchased the building from the Bells and Whitechurch Hardware store continued to operated at this location until the Spring of 1973. In June 1973, Mr. Fergie Will bought the store and the building was donated to Heritage Village (Burnaby Village Museum). In August 1974, the building was relocated to Heritage Village and opened as a carpentry shop exhibit in 1975. The building underwent several repairs and restorations over the years. After it was moved to Heritage Village, a lean to was built on the back of the building by museum staff. The lean to was demolished between 1993 and 1994 after the building was put on a new foundation. In 1995, it underwent a series of structural repairs to restore it to Bell's Dry Goods store, opening on August 6, 1996.
- Category
- 06.Tools & Equipment for Communication
- Classification
- Written Communication T&E
- Object Term
- Sign, Identification
- Subjects
- Communication Artifacts
- Names
- Bell's Dry Goods
- Bell, William
- Bell, Flora
- Historic Neighbourhood
- East Burnaby (Historic Neighbourhood)
- Planning Study Area
- Second Street Area
Less detail
William and Flora Bell
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Date
- 1946
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 10.5 x 6 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of William and Flora Bell standing together in a parking lot at an unidentified location. Flora is wearing an overcoat over a dress, glasses and a hat. William is wearing a three-piece suit with a hat and has an overcoat draped over his left forearm.
The Bells were the proprietors of Bel…
- Repository
- Burnaby Village Museum
- Collection/Fonds
- Burnaby Village Museum Photograph collection
- Description Level
- Item
- Physical Description
- 1 photograph : b&w ; 10.5 x 6 cm
- Scope and Content
- Photograph of William and Flora Bell standing together in a parking lot at an unidentified location. Flora is wearing an overcoat over a dress, glasses and a hat. William is wearing a three-piece suit with a hat and has an overcoat draped over his left forearm.
The Bells were the proprietors of Bell's Dry Goods store located on the northwest corner of Sixth Street and Thirteenth Avenue in East Burnaby and in operation between 1926 and 1941.
- Names
- Bell, Flora
- Bell, William
- Accession Code
- BV995.11.1
- Access Restriction
- No restrictions
- Date
- 1946
- Media Type
- Photograph
- Scan Resolution
- 600
- Scan Date
- 01-Jun-09
- Scale
- 100
- Notes
- Title based on contents of photograph
- Note in blue ink on recto of photograph reads: "Mr. + Mrs. Bell. 1946"
Less detail
Burnaby's heritage : an inventory of buildings and structures