Beatty Lane, 1921I wrote a post over at Forbidden Vancouver on some of Vancouver’s more intere
Beatty Lane, 1921I wrote a post over at Forbidden Vancouver on some of Vancouver’s more interesting alleys. One of them, Beatty Lane, first came to my attention when I mapped out where black folks lived based on data from the 1911 census. Beatty Lane was between the 500 blocks of Cambie and Beatty streets, but addresses in the lane were the 100 block. The most significant address was 534 Cambie Street. This is the only photo I could find of it, captured in a 1921 panorama photo by WJ Moore. The house was the family home of Martha Scurry after her husband Hiram died. They were one of Vancouver’s original black families that were here before the city incorporated. Joe Fortes considered the Scurrys family, and lived with them before he moved into his cabin on English Bay. Martha’s granddaughter, BC Sports Hall of Famer Barbara Howard, passed away this January at the age of 96. Martha’s son, Lige Scurry, was another interesting Vancouver character who also lived at 534 Cambie. Beatty Lane disappears from the directories in 1914, and the Scurry/Howard family are gone by 1918. The house was replaced by a two-story office building in 1925 that’s still there. The taller Victorian house to the left of 534 Cambie in the above photo was demolished sometime after 1981. Here’s how it appeared on 27 May 1974: By looking at the 1912 Goad’s fire insurance map, it appears that that house was already sandwiched between two brick buildings back then, or perhaps built on top. Looking there today, it seems that the house was knocked down to make one continuous and extremely bland building on the site.Source: Top photo by WJ Moore (cropped), City of Vancouver Archives #N220B; colour photo: City of Vancouver Archives #778-55 (cropped). -- source link
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