Item is a thirty-nine page booklet describing and illustrating British Columbia Electric Railway Company operations and development in the Lower Mainland between 1910 and 1923.
Item is a thirty-nine page booklet describing and illustrating British Columbia Electric Railway Company operations and development in the Lower Mainland between 1910 and 1923.
Photograph of a BC Electric Railway timetable for the Lulu Island Branch, Eburne, and New Westminster Line, including a Sunday schedule and freight schedule.
Photograph of a BC Electric Railway timetable for the Lulu Island Branch, Eburne, and New Westminster Line, including a Sunday schedule and freight schedule.
Photograph of two British Columbia Electric Railway Company timetables for the Central Park line, one "corrected to October 15, 1933" and the other "corrected to May 16, 1946." Also in the photograph are two tickets, one reads, "Good for one fare at 10 for $1.25 between Vancouver and Burnaby North…
Photograph of two British Columbia Electric Railway Company timetables for the Central Park line, one "corrected to October 15, 1933" and the other "corrected to May 16, 1946." Also in the photograph are two tickets, one reads, "Good for one fare at 10 for $1.25 between Vancouver and Burnaby Northwest Zone" and the other reads, "Good for one fare between Vancouver and Park Ave."
The Central Park Entrance Gate is the ceremonial entrance to Burnaby’s historic Central Park from Kingsway, and consists of two massive stone pillars, approximately 7.5 metres high and 1.8 metres square, adjacent gate posts and a low flanking stone wall that curves into the park to the east.
The Central Park Entrance Gate is the ceremonial entrance to Burnaby’s historic Central Park from Kingsway, and consists of two massive stone pillars, approximately 7.5 metres high and 1.8 metres square, adjacent gate posts and a low flanking stone wall that curves into the park to the east.
Heritage Value
The Central Park Entrance Gate is significant as a ceremonial entry to a major park, for its connection with the early history of the British Columbia Electric Railway (BCER) and as an important design by an accomplished British Columbian architect.
When the original interurban line between Vancouver and New Westminster was constructed in 1891, one of the first stations was located where the tramway crossed the Vancouver-Westminster Road (now Kingsway) within the newly-created Central Park. The interurban line ran through the park on a diagonal right-of-way (the current SkyTrain line, opened in 1986, follows this original alignment). In 1912 an agreement was reached between the successor interurban company, the BCER, and the Central Park Provincial Park Board, to deed additional land for an expanded right-of-way through the Park in exchange for improvements that included the construction of an ornamental stone wall and gate with an iron arch, with an illuminated 'Central Park' sign, adjacent to the interurban station on Kingsway. This was an early and rare example of an electric sign used for a public recreation facility.
The Gate is also significant as a surviving early design by Robert Lyon (1879-1963), an Edinburgh-born and trained immigrant who was one of the most accomplished of British Columbia's early architects. After he moved to Vancouver, he was employed by the BCER from 1911 until 1918, and worked on a broad range of projects including some of the grandest and most innovative local industrial structures of the time. The arch was built by the Westminster Ironworks Company, one of the leading firms of its kind in Western Canada, operated by John Reid of New Westminster. The Gate was completed in 1914; in 1968 the decorative ironwork was removed due to corrosion and placed in storage.
Defining Elements
Key elements that define the heritage character of the Central Park Entrance Gate include its:
- two subtly tapered massive stone pillars, which rise in stages from a larger base to a shaft with random coursed multi-coloured granite with roughly formed grey granite quoins, to a top formed of finely finished grey granite blocks with a coved and bracketed cap
- adjacent gate posts with monolithic pyramidal granite caps
- low flanking stone wall that curves into the park to the east, constructed of random coursed multi-coloured granite with a river rock triangular cap
P.I.D. No. 017-767-172
Legal Description: Block B of Lot 2 Except Firstly: Part on Plan 8669 and Secondly: Part on Plan LMP4689 District Lot 151, Group 1, New Westminster District, Plan 3443
Boundaries
The property (Central Park) is a municipally-owned park that lies at the western edge of Burnaby, between 49th Avenue to the south, Kingsway to the north, Boundary Road to the west and Patterson Avenue to the east.
The Thomas Irvine House is a very small, two room wood frame cottage, originally located on Laurel Street in Central Burnaby (now the site of the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex - West), and now relocated to the Burnaby Village Museum.
The Thomas Irvine House is a very small, two room wood frame cottage, originally located on Laurel Street in Central Burnaby (now the site of the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex - West), and now relocated to the Burnaby Village Museum.
Heritage Value
The Thomas Irvine House is representative of an extremely modest, vernacular working-class cottage of the early twentieth century, once common but mostly now demolished. Irish-born Thomas Irvine (1864-1964) and his friend, Robert Moore, constructed the house in 1911 to suit the simple needs of a bachelor. Irvine worked on the construction of the British Columbia Electric Railway Burnaby Lake Interurban Line and was a pile driver by trade. The house consists of two rooms, a living room/kitchen and a bedroom. There were some improvements made throughout the fifty years Irvine lived there, such as running water in 1929, and electricity in the 1950s, but the essential character and form of the house remained intact. Irvine was a well-known local character and pioneer of Burnaby.
The heritage value for this house 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. The Thomas Irvine House was moved to the Burnaby Village Museum in 1975 and was restored to its 1920s appearance.
Defining Elements
The character defining elements of the Thomas Irvine House include its:
- rectangular form and simple massing
- bellcast hipped form with cedar shingle cladding
- cedar shingle cladding stained dark brown
- double-hung 1-over-1 wooden-sash window on front facade; simple double wooden-sash casement on west facade
- interior layout of the house with 2 rooms, a living room/kitchen and bedroom
- V-joint tongue-and-groove wood interior paneling
The Vorce Station is a modest utilitarian passenger tram shelter, originally constructed at the foot of Nursery Street as part of the British Columbia Electric Railway Company’s Burnaby Lake Interurban Line. In 1953, it was moved to a local farm by the Lubbock family, and in 1977 it was relocated t…
The Vorce Station is a modest utilitarian passenger tram shelter, originally constructed at the foot of Nursery Street as part of the British Columbia Electric Railway Company’s Burnaby Lake Interurban Line. In 1953, it was moved to a local farm by the Lubbock family, and in 1977 it was relocated to Burnaby Village Museum. The wood-frame structure has a rectangular plan and hipped roof. It is enclosed on three sides, with an open side for access to the train platform and a single long built-in bench across the back of the station.
Heritage Value
The heritage value of the Vorce Station is as the last remaining interurban station in Burnaby and one of the few extant structures left in the Greater Vancouver region that were once part of the extensive British Columbia Electric Railway (BCER) interurban system. The Vorce Station was designed and built by the BCER, and is typical of the small local passenger stations on the Burnaby Lake and Chilliwack interurban lines. It was named after C.B. Vorce, the Chief Engineer for the company.
The impact of the interurban line on local development was extremely significant, as it connected the cities of New Westminster and Vancouver, and enabled the residents of Burnaby to form a cohesive municipality from the mainly rural lands remaining between the two larger centres. Much of the early development in Burnaby was due to the growth of the interurban rail lines.
The heritage significance for this station also lies in its interpretive value within the Burnaby Village Museum. The Vorce Station is an important cultural feature for the interpretation of Burnaby’s transportation history to the public, and is an important surviving feature of the BCER interurban system.
Defining Elements
The character defining features of the Vorce Station include its:
- rectangular form and pyramidal roof with overhanging eaves
- simple vernacular design and utilitarian nature
- cedar shingle wall cladding
- cedar shingle-clad roof with galvanized pressed tin roof ridges
- interior vertical tongue-and-groove panelling
- heritage graffiti: initials and messages carved and scrawled on the walls
- identifying sign with large letters visible at a distance
Photograph of members of the Alta Vista Baptist Church Sunday school class at the Jubilee Interurban train Station, on the way to a Picnic at Second Beach. Included in the photograph are, from left; Pearl Christian, Joy [last name unknown], Phyllis Smith, Ivy Smith, Dorothy Douglas, Grace Harrison,…
Photograph of members of the Alta Vista Baptist Church Sunday school class at the Jubilee Interurban train Station, on the way to a Picnic at Second Beach. Included in the photograph are, from left; Pearl Christian, Joy [last name unknown], Phyllis Smith, Ivy Smith, Dorothy Douglas, Grace Harrison, [unidentified]. Mrs. Nellie Davis [not pictured] taught this class.
Item is a photographic postcard of an open sightseeing car operated by the BC Electric Railway Company. The car is full of people and travelling down in a street in Vancouver with B.C. Electric conductor Teddy Lyons at the controls at the head of the car and another conductor standing next to the …
Item is a photographic postcard of an open sightseeing car operated by the BC Electric Railway Company. The car is full of people and travelling down in a street in Vancouver with B.C. Electric conductor Teddy Lyons at the controls at the head of the car and another conductor standing next to the car.
Photograph of Boundary Road, Park Avenue Interurban station, and the surrounding area, looking north from Kingsway. The Coburn house, built in 1906, is at the top of the hill on the right, current address 5170 Boundary Road.
Photograph of Boundary Road, Park Avenue Interurban station, and the surrounding area, looking north from Kingsway. The Coburn house, built in 1906, is at the top of the hill on the right, current address 5170 Boundary Road.
Photograph of the Burnaby Lake Interurban in the snow. The house in the background is 2231 Fareham Street, a short street that ran behind Elwell and the tram tracks about midway between the Cumberland Road and Hill Street Stations. This rail line route is now the route of Highway 1 through Burnaby.…
Photograph of the Burnaby Lake Interurban in the snow. The house in the background is 2231 Fareham Street, a short street that ran behind Elwell and the tram tracks about midway between the Cumberland Road and Hill Street Stations. This rail line route is now the route of Highway 1 through Burnaby. The uppermost window in the house was the donor's bedroom.
Photograph of a destination sign that reads "Burnaby Lk" on a British Columbia Electric Railway tram. Just below the sign is a label that reads, "BCER 1231-B48." An earlier catalogue record notes the nameplate would have been placed at the front or back of the tram that could have travelled betwe…
Photograph of a destination sign that reads "Burnaby Lk" on a British Columbia Electric Railway tram. Just below the sign is a label that reads, "BCER 1231-B48." An earlier catalogue record notes the nameplate would have been placed at the front or back of the tram that could have travelled between Vancouver and Burnaby.
"Approved and prescribed by the Board of Transport Commissioners for Canada by General Order No. 113537 dated the 17th day of February, 1964"
"Approved and prescribed by the Department of Commercial Transport for the Province of British Columbia by Certificate 1149 dated the 27th day of April, 1964"
"EFFECTIVE 1st August, 1964"
"The rules in this book have the same numbers as the corresponding rules in "Uniform Code of operating Rules" approved by General Order of the Board of Transport Commissioners No. 873 dated 15th day of November, 1961."
Photograph of British Columbia Electric Railway Company labourers constructing the Hastings Streetcar line extension along Hastings Street at Holdom. The Dunsford House, home of the Holdom family is visible on the left along with a wooden plank roadway and sidewalk, with the Holdom family standing …
Emulsion measures 11 x 15.5 cm on the glass; entire glass plate measures 12 x 16 cm
Description Level
Item
Record No.
487-031
Access Restriction
No restrictions
Reproduction Restriction
No known restrictions
Accession Number
2008-18
Scope and Content
Photograph of British Columbia Electric Railway Company labourers constructing the Hastings Streetcar line extension along Hastings Street at Holdom. The Dunsford House, home of the Holdom family is visible on the left along with a wooden plank roadway and sidewalk, with the Holdom family standing on their front porch. Walter Holdom built Tea Rooms (partially visible on the far left) on his property to entertain prospective real estate buyers. This photograph was taken looking east towards Burnaby Mountain.