Timeline

1792 George Vancouver names Point Atkinson
1872 James Blake preempted the first 65 hectares of land
1875 First lighthouse at Point Atkinson
1898 Mr. Francis Caulfeild was put ashore at Skunk Cove
1903 Navvy Jack Thomas, a Welsh deserter from the Royal Navy, was the first Caucasian resident of West Vancouver, offered first ferry service to Vancouver in a rowboat. Their house still stands today at Ambleside
1905 John Lawson, a local leader settled at foot of 17th street
1908 First pier, Hollyburn Pier
1909 West Vancouver Transportation Company was formed, provides ferry service across harbour to Vancouver
1909 "Real estate boom" lots sold for at little as $450 and as much as $4,500
1910 Water systems started at Caulfeild and Ambleside
1911 First primary school, Presbyterian Church at Dundarave
1912 West Vancouver separated from North Vancouver and incorporated on March 15, 1912.
1912 Population was aproxamently 1,500 people
1912 First Municipal election
1912 Council appointed John Teare as the first police constable on May 17th. F.H. Kettle was appointed the second constable on May 28th
1914 First known settlement, the Coast Salish village at Sandy Cove
1914 Pacific Great Eastern Railway in service
1914 Colonel Albert Whyte pressed for a spelling change from White Cliff City to Whytecliff
1915 Dundurave Pier built
1915 Marine Drive was officially opened by Premier Richard McBride
1916 West Vancouver Municipal Transport bus service started operation
1922 BC Hydro started electrical service
1924 House numbering scheme started
1926 Marine Drive extended to Horseshoe Bay
1926 Town Planning Act banned any new industry forming an exclusively residental community with minimum lot sizes
1927 Inglewood High School built
1928 Direct telephone service to Vancouver operational
1930 Septic tanks are mandatory
1930 Only 48 of West Vancouver's 100 kilometres of roads paved
1931 Dan Seawell opened his marina and the Whytecliff Lodge
1932 1,600 acres of land bought by A.R. Guinness-Br. Pacific Properties bought for $50 a hectare, they have been developed as the British Properties
1934 First police car
1936 Hollyburn Post Office built at 17th street and Marine Drive
1938 Lions Gate Bridge finished, opened May 29th. The bridge cost a total of $6 million to build
1947 Ferry service stopped due to lack of demand after bridge constructed
1950 West Vancouver Memorial Library opened on November 11th (Remembrance Day). The library loans more books per capita than any other library in Canada
1950 Park Royal Shopping Centre, Canada's first shopping centre opened
1954 Public Safety Building opened. It housed the West Vancouver Police and Fire Departments
1959 Rezoning allowed 78 apartment buildings in Ambleside
1961 The Crescent Apartments, West Vancouver's first high rise apartment opened
1962 Park Royal Shopping Centre enclosed
1963 Tolls on Lions Gate Bridge lifted on April 1st
1967 Fire hall was built and opened on November 22, 1967 at 16th and Fulton Ave. The Police Department remained in the Public Safety building

The Municipality of West Vancouver was incorporated on March 15, 1912, after separating from the District of North Vancouver. The first municipal election was held on April 6, 1912. In November of 1938, the Lions' Gate Bridge was opened to traffic, allowing extensive growth of the semi-populated community, only previously accessible by ferry. Some homes in West Vancouver date back to the 1920s and 30s, though most of the currently existing dwellings were built in the 1970s and 80s, and mostly in British Pacific Properties' developments.

West Vancouver has operated Canada's longest running municipial transportation system and was Canada's first 100% wheelchair accessible transit system. The Blue Buses are the only municipal public transit system in the Greater Vancouver Regional District although they are part of the TransLink system and fares can be used on other buses.

West Vancouver, British Columbia. (2006, July 18). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 00:25, July 19, 2006, from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=West_Vancouver%2C_British_Columbia&oldid=64443071.