Vancouver / Names / A / Alto

A family name in Vancouver's city directories

The Altos

In the city directories 1940 · three people at two addresses

The directories print three people named Alto at two addresses in 1940 in Hastings-Sunrise. No first name or initials tie one address to the other: we can't tell if they're one family.

Reserve this family's book, freeThe name in every directory we hold from 1901 to 1945, at every address, each line with its page, to read here or save as a PDF. About $29 when orders open.

Where the Altos lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    3356 Adanac Street

    Hastings-Sunrise, 1940

    • V Alto 1940
    • Mrs Milja Alto, proprietor of Columbia Cafe 1940

    Next door in 1940: E Ogg at 3346 and W J Fleeton at 3376. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    2813 Wall Street

    Hastings-Sunrise, 1940

    • Edward Alto, a physician instructor at the BC Government 1940

    Next door in 1940: M A Ovens at 2811 and C S Ovens at 2875. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for two of the three: a physician instructor and a proprietor.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Hastings-Sunrise (2). Each neighbourhood's page shows its trades, its people and every street in it, the way the directory printed them.

The story, address by address

In 1940 the directory lists V Alto at 3356 Adanac Street; the 1940 line is marked *: some member of the family owns the property, to the best of our knowledge (the directory's own mark). The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Viano Alto there as the householder, with Mrs Milja Alto, proprietor of Columbia Cafe. The 1940 name section lists Edward Alto at 2813 Wall Street, a physician instructor at the BC Government.

Today

The City no longer lists 2813 Wall, so that building is probably gone (inferred); for 3356 Adanac, its page says what we could and couldn't match to today's buildings.

Every line as printed

All 4 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, street section

The book of the Altos

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Alto name in each Vancouver directory we hold from 1901 to 1945: everyone printed under it at every address, their work from the name sections, who lived next door, and the page behind every line, to read here or save as a PDF to print or give.

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Another name, or a house

Sources

Henderson's and successor city directories for Vancouver, read by us line by line: the street sections for 1905, 1915, 1925, 1935, 1940 and 1945, and the name section for 1930 and 1940 where we've read it (Vancouver Public Library, BC City Directories). Names are shown through 1945, as printed. Close spellings are grouped, as on the house pages, since a family's name was often spelled differently from one year to the next; one name can still be several families, and we join lines only where the first names or initials agree. Many Chinese, Japanese and other residents weren't named by the canvassers, so they can't be listed by name: their houses' pages say where. More family names under A. Want a name removed? Tell us.