A Vancouver time travelogue brought to you by Past Tense.
According to a recently posted development application sign, the 119 year old building on the northwest corner of Main and Keefer isn’t long for this world. It was built in 1893, which makes it older than both the Carnegie building and the Pantages Theatre, and Charles Woodward’s store would still be a block away at the corner of Westminster and Harris (East Georgia) for another decade before moving to Hastings and Abbott.
The first directory listing for this building (originally 555 Westminster Avenue), was “Alex McKelvie & Co., machinists” and a pharmacist named H. McDowell. By 1899, McKelvie had relocated to the 800 block, making room for James Manning to open a grocery store. By 1906, a north side addition had been added for Winnipeg Rooms. Subsequent tenants included second hand stores, electricians, a tobacconist, plumbers, and Asahi & Co. bamboo work. In recent years it has housed Sing Tao newspaper and several other businesses.
Construction next door in 2003 briefly revealed three extremely well preserved ghost signs on the north wall that date to the early 20th century, at least before 1910 when the street changed from Westminster Avenue to Main Street: a private liquor store, a plumber, and a real estate agent whose logo was “We Sell the Earth.”
After City Council increased allowable building heights in Chinatown last year, Solterra Development purchased 539 Main for $6.5 million and is now proposing to replace it with a ten story condo development.
Source: Middle photo: RedPistol on flickr; bottom: detail from Panoramic view of the city of Vancouver British Columbia, 1898, World Publishing Co., Library & Archives Canada #25023, via Wikipedia.
