Vancouver / Names / B / Bell / Main Street

A family name on Main Street, Riley Park, Strathcona, Downtown, Mount Pleasant and Sunset

The Bells

In the city directories 1940 · seven people at six addresses

The directories print seven people named Bell at six addresses in 1940, all on Main Street. No first name or initials tie one address to another: we can't tell if they're one family. The directories print the name on 137 other streets too, all listed on the Bell name's own page.

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 Bells lived

Each pin is on its own block, numbered as the households below. One address isn't on today's map, so it has no pin. Today's land, parks, main roads and local areas: City of Vancouver Open Data (Open Government Licence – Vancouver).
  1. 1

    2721 Main Street

    Mount Pleasant, 1940

    • Henry Bell, a decorator 1940

    Next door in 1940: R Williamson at 2715 and A W Waldron at 2729. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    3272 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • S C Bell, a baker 1940

    Next door in 1940: Lee Go at 3268 and 4 listings at 3278. The block, door by door

  3. 3

    3290 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • S C Bell 1940

    Next door in 1940: Mrs E R Young at 3288 and Sun Shoe Repr at 3294. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    3914 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • Mrs E Bell 1940

    Next door in 1940: H L Saint at 3910 and J E Allison at 3934. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    4394 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • S Bell, a watchman at Simmons 1940
    • Donovan L C Bell, a helper at Simmons 1940

    Next door in 1940: J Walden at 4386. The block, door by door

  6. 6

    4491 Main Street

    Riley Park, 1940

    • Robert Bell, proprietor of Reconditioned Used Car Sales 1940

    Next door in 1940: F G Lycett at 4431. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for four of the seven: a decorator, a helper, a proprietor and a watchman. Two of them worked for Simmons.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Riley Park (5) and Mount Pleasant. 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

The 1940 name section, where each person's work is printed, lists Henry Bell at 2721 Main Street, a decorator. S C Bell, a baker, is listed at 3272 Main Street in 1940. In 1940 the directory lists S C Bell at 3290 Main Street.

Mrs E Bell is listed at 3914 Main Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Mrs Emily Bell there as the householder. S Bell is listed at 4394 Main Street in 1940. The 1940 name section lists Stan Bell there as the householder, a watchman at Simmons, with Donovan L C Bell, a helper at Simmons.

The 1940 name section lists Robert Bell at 4491 Main Street, proprietor of Reconditioned Used Car Sales.

Today

3272 Main still has its building from before 1946, dated 1908 by the City's record; 3914 Main (1969) has a newer building, by the City's record; the City no longer lists 2721 Main, 3290 Main, 4394 Main and 4491 Main, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Streetcars on Main Street, past a row of billboards
March 1940 Streetcars on Main Street, past a row of billboards. Not at the house at 4394 Main: no archive photo of the 4300 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 136-513. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 9 lines printed under the name through 1945, each with its page at the Vancouver Public Library.
1940

British Columbia and Yukon Directory, name section, where each person's work is printed

The book of the Bells

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Bell 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 B. Want a name removed? Tell us.