Vancouver. History. Recent events

History. Salish Indians lived in what is now the Vancouver area for more than 2,000 years before white explorers arrived. In 1791, Don Jose Marie Narvaez, a Spanish explorer, became the first European to see the area. Captain George Vancouver sailed into Burrard Inlet in 1792.

The settlement that became Vancouver was founded in 1865, when a sawmill company built Hastings Mill on the site. In 1867, John Deighton, a former English sailor, built a saloon nearby to serve the loggers. He had the nickname "Gassy Jack" because he was so talkative, and the community soon became known as Gastown.

Early growth. In 1884, the Canadian Pacific Railway chose the site of Vancouver as its western terminal. The young lumber town was incorporated as the city of Vancouver in April 1886. At that time, about 2,000 people lived there. A fire destroyed most of Vancouver two months later, but the city was quickly rebuilt.

The first Canadian Pacific Railway train reached Vancouver from eastern Canada in 1887. The city's population rose to 8,000 in 1889. In 1891, ships of the Canadian Pacific Steamship Company started to sail between the city and Asia. By 1901, the population of Vancouver had soared to 42,000.

The great boom. Between 1900 and 1910, job opportunities made Vancouver the fastest-growing city in Canada. The salmon-canning and wood-processing industries created many of these jobs. Immigrants poured into the city from China, India, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1904, the Great Northern Railway linked Vancouver with Seattle and other U.S. cities. By 1911, about 86,000 people lived in Vancouver.

The opening of the Panama Canal in 1914 greatly increased business for Vancouver's port. The canal provided a cheaper way to ship fish, grain, and lumber from western Canada to eastern Canada, Europe, and the eastern United States. By 1921, Vancouver had 163,220 people. In 1929, the neighboring communities of Point Grey and South Vancouver became part of Vancouver. In 1931, nearly 250,000 people lived in the city.

The mid-1900's. Vancouver suffered severely during the Great Depression of the 1930's. Thousands of unemployed and homeless people moved to the city from other parts of Canada to seek jobs and relief from the cold winters. Many of these people found no work and took part in several demonstrations against the provincial and federal governments.

World War II (1939-1945) brought prosperity to the city as shipbuilding and other industries expanded. During the war, Vancouver served as headquarters of the coastal defense staffs of the Canadian Army.

The city changed rapidly after the war. Tall apartment buildings appeared in the West End, and modern office towers replaced old structures downtown. Shopping centers were built near many residential areas.

Vancouver's seaport grew in importance in the 1960's because of a rapid growth of trade between Canada and Japan. In 1970, a coal-loading terminal equipped to handle the world's largest cargo ships opened just south of Vancouver at Roberts Bank.

During the 1960's and 1970's, private developers erected more tall apartment buildings in the West End and office towers in the downtown area. The downtown developments included Pacific Centre and Royal Centre. In 1974, the city prohibited automobile traffic on part of Granville Street and turned this section into a mall.

Recent events. Canada Place was constructed on the Vancouver waterfront in the mid-1980's. The complex includes the World Trade Centre office building, a hotel, a convention center with an unusual sail like roof, and docking facilities for cruise ships. Expo 86, an exposition of communication and transportation technologies, attracted more than 22 million visitors to Vancouver in 1986.

Four major construction projects were completed in Vancouver in 1995. These developments were Library Square, a new public library; General Motors Place, a sports arena; Ford Centre, a theater; and a new terminal for Vancouver International Airport. See also British Columbia (pictures); Canada (picture); Park (picture: Urban parks).

Colorful totem poles stand in Vancouver's Stanley Park. Stanley Park is the city's main recreational area and one of the largest city parks in Canada. The park covers 1,000 acres (400 hectares).

Vancouver (pop. 143,560) is a port city on the Columbia River in southwestern Washington. It lies across the river from Portland, Oregon (see Washington [political map]). Vancouver is also an important banking and railroad center for southwestern Washington.

Nearby Bonneville Dam, a large federal power project on the Columbia River, helps provide electricity for the region. The area's main industries include a paper mill and electronics companies.

Vancouver is the oldest continuously occupied settlement in the state of Washington. The city grew up around Fort Vancouver, which was completed in 1825 by the Hudson's Bay Company, a British trading firm.

The fort was named for Captain George Vancouver, a British explorer who had sailed along the coast of Washington in 1792. Vancouver was incorporated as a city in 1857. It is the seat of Clark County and has a councilmanager form of government.