15 vintage pictures of Vancouver in the winter, then and now
With snow capped mountains glowing outside our window and chilly temperatures forecasted throughout the week, it’s beginning to feel a lot like winter. While Christmas has come and gone, we still have a few cold months ahead of us, making us feel nostalgic for snowy winters of the past.
Personally, I recall two legendary winters during my lifetime. There was the “Blizzard of ’96” when Vancouver received 65 cm of snow in 24 hours. The mounds of snow lining our my family’s driveway were taller than me. I may or may not have even gotten “lost” in the snow for a few hectic moments, but building a full-size igloo that lasted for months made it all worth it.
The winter of 2008-2009 was also one for the books. I’m not joking when I say I literally had to walk to school uphill both ways in two or more feet of snow for at least two months of the winter. I know compared to many places in Canada we have little to complain about, but Vancouver has a tendency to be a real diva when it comes to snowfall.
While Vancouver isn’t often known for extreme winter weather, we do know how to put on quite the show. Even when there’s no snow on the ground, we’ve always made do with mountain activities, holiday celebrations and lots of misty fog.
Scroll through winters scenes of the past and see how they compare to the Vancouver we know and love today.
Lost Lagoon (1924)
Image: City of Vancouver Archives
Lost Lagoon (2014)
Image: Harron Bux via Flickr
Bird’s eye view of Kitsilano (1912)
Image: City of Vancouver Archives
Bird’s eye view of Kitsilano (2008)
Image: Evan Leeson via Flickr
Interior of Grouse Mountain Chalet (1924)
Image: City of Vancouver Archives
Interior of Grouse Mountain Chalet (2014)
Image: Grouse Mountain
Crossing Lions Gate Bridge (1938)
Image: Heritage Vancouver Society via Flickr
Crossing Lions Gate Bridge (2014)
Image: Iwona_kellie via Flickr
Shaughnessey Hospital at Christmas (1920)
Image: City of Vancouver Archives
St. Paul’s Hospital at Christmas (2014)
Image: Ross G. Strachan via Flickr
Skiing on Grouse Mountain (1929)
Image: City of Vancouver Archives
Skiing and boarding on Grouse Mountain (2012)
Image: Christopher Langmuir via Flickr
The Stanley Theatre at Christmas (1940s)
Image: City of Vancouver Archives
The Stanley Theatre (2012)
Image: David Wong via Flickr
Looking up Granville Street from Pender (1909)
Image: Vancouver Public Library
Looking up Granville Street from Pender (2014)
Image: Vancity Buzz
Waiting for a bus on Denman Street (1955)
Image: Vancouver Public Library
Waiting for the bus on Broadway (2011)
Image: Wikipedia
The Courthouse (now Vancouver Art Gallery, 1916)
Image: City of Vancouver Archives
Vancouver Art Gallery (2014)
Image: Vancity Buzz
View of Vancouver from Grouse Mountain (1915)
Image: City of Vancouver Archives
View of Vancouver from Grouse Mountain (2007)
Image: Payton Chung via Flickr
Bridges in Stanley Park (1939)
Image: City of Vancouver Archives
Creek in Stanley Park (2013)
Image: Rikki / Julius Reque via Flickr
English Bay (1919)
Image: Photograph by Walter E. Frost
English Bay (2014)
Image: Ruth Hartnup via Flickr
Gastown Steam Clock (1980)
Image: Mickey G. Ottawa via Flickr
Gastown Steam Clock (2008)
Image: Carlos Leopoldo Magaña Zavala via Flickr
Stanley Park storm knocks over landmark tree (2006)
Image: Tom Szymanski via Flickr
The same tree (2010)
Image: Vancouver Daily Photo
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