Vancouver / Names / B / Black / Granville Street

A family name on Granville Street, Downtown, Fairview, Shaughnessy, Kerrisdale, Oakridge and Marpole

The Blacks

In the city directories 1940 · six people at five addresses

The directories print six people named Black at five addresses in 1940, all on Granville 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 87 other streets too, all listed on the Black 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 Blacks 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

    750 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Alfred R Black, an assistant manager at the Castle Hotel 1940

    Next door in 1940: Castle Cigar Stand at 748 and Mrs M Dickey at 752. The block, door by door

  2. 2

    926 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Roy Black 1940
  3. 3

    1155 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Mrs Edith Black 1940

    Next door in 1940: Bank of Montreal at 1149 and W Bailey at 1157. The block, door by door

  4. 4

    1161 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Mrs Clara Black, a maid at the St Helens Hotel 1940
    • Irene Black, a maid at the St Helens Hotel 1940

    Next door in 1940: St Helen's Cigar Stand at 1159 and French Way Clnrs at 1167. The block, door by door

  5. 5

    1369 Granville Street

    Downtown, 1940

    • Melville T Black, a carpenter at Black Bros Motor Products 1940

    Next door in 1940: Hemphill Diesel Engineering Sch at 1365 and Paint & Display Quarters at 1385. The block, door by door

What they did

The name section prints a trade for four of the six: a maid (2), an assistant manager and a carpenter. Two of them worked for St Helens Hotel.

Their neighbourhoods

The addresses are in Downtown (5). 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 Alfred R Black at 750 Granville Street, an assistant manager at the Castle Hotel. The 1940 name section lists Roy Black at 926 Granville Street. The 1940 name section lists Mrs Edith Black at 1155 Granville Street. The 1940 name section lists Mrs Clara Black at 1161 Granville Street, a maid at the St Helens Hotel, with Irene Black, a maid at the St Helens Hotel.

The 1940 name section lists Melville T Black at 1369 Granville Street, a carpenter at Black Bros Motor Products.

Today

1155 Granville and 1161 Granville still have their buildings from before 1946, 1161 Granville on the Vancouver Heritage Register; the City no longer lists 750 Granville, 926 Granville and 1369 Granville, so those buildings are probably gone (inferred).

Riders in uniform lead a parade along Granville Street, past crowds on the sidewalk
1917 Riders in uniform lead a parade along Granville Street, past crowds on the sidewalk. Not at the house at 1161 Granville: no archive photo of the 1100 block is known that we can show. City of Vancouver Archives, CVA 99-350. Public domain.

Every line as printed

All 6 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 Blacks

Every directory, as one book

The family book reads the Black 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.

We're opening orders soon. Join the list to be first in line; we expect about $29 a family.

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.